Riverboat clothing-optional club and campground is located on Caliente Blvd. off  U.S. 41 on the north side of Land O’Lakes, Fla. Unlike the very-upscale Caliente and The Woods, Riverboat is what is known in nudist parlance as “rustic,” which means it’s by no means upcale but not a dump either.

There’s an area apparently reserved for full-time RV residents, and others park around the lake.

River Boat Club

The spots around the lake are great, especially in springtime; we spent a few days there last week and enjoyed nature’s air-conditioning while watching the osprey, crows, cardinals and the bathtub-sized alligator.

The RV sites around the lake have been plagued by low voltage/low load conditions but Hyker (the owner) says he’s upgrading the electric service. Last year we discovered a 50A outlet that it seems no one else knows about so we always plug in there.

I did mention that this is a clothing-optional park. It’s just that, you can wear or not wear whatever you want including green hair and a white rat. Riverboat Club is sort of unique in that the only real rule, the first rule on the signboard, is “Do not disturb the peace and tranquility.”

Many clothing-optional/nudist parks are tremendously bound up in rules and regulations; Riverboat’s approach seems to work far better than the others.

The denizens of the park are an eclectic mix; they range from 20-somethings usually clad in black garb to 65+ retirees, all living in harmony.

On the weekend of April 17 they’re putting on the first nude version, live on stage, of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”    The actors are a real theatre troupe and they won’t really be naked…they’ll have their costumes painted on. And when they have a scene change they’ll have entirely new costumes painted on.

But I digress; we went for a complete, total getaway, and that’s what we had. Enjoying nature.

Speaking of nature, there’s a resident sandhill crane with a story…

Charlie!

He showed up on the deck of Hyker’s house last year with a broken knee; he flopped across the deck and knocked on the door. When Hyker opened the door he found a crane needing help, and nursed him back to health. He has trouble walking and passing cranes pay no attention to him but he’s become a world-class moocher; in the picture above he’s getting crumbs out of our carpet and trying to take the whole carpet along.

If you’re into this sort of thing, check Riverboat out at www.naturallynude.com or give ’em a call at 813-996-6008. I’m not sure they’re really capable of taking a reservation but we’ve never had any problem just driving in. Riverboat ain’t upscale but it’s real.