Another weekend another weekend adventure! This weekend we are trying out a local venue that we have not tried before, we are relaxing at the St Augustine KOA. Just the next exit down from Stagecoach, this park had not hit our radar previously.

Nestled about three quarters of a mile form St. Augustine Beach and one block off of A1A, this place is a bit of an oasis surrounded by typical beach small businesses and a unique blend of residential neighborhoods. There is a nice selection of conveniences ranging from a CVS across the street to Domino’s pizza next door.

However, in the campground the scenery is very much camping oriented with a nice mix of pull-through sites, KOA Kabins and a few tent sites. The grounds seem clean and reasonably maintained. Our site, #35 is paved and relatively close to the entrance. The sites are a little on the small side, but great for us. There is limited to no natural barriers between sites, giving little site privacy, but nothing out of the ordinary.

In the middle of the campground is a small lake with a fountain and small paddleboat rentals. The facility has a nice pool at the entrance that seems clean and maintained. It would surely be popular with the kids at the campground in the evenings, but is not much competition for the beach and ocean just down the street.

In researching local campgrounds this seems to have mixed reviews. The guides all give this place high ratings, but comments across the Internet seem to paint a mixed picture. From our experience this seems to be a nice place. Nothing extraordinary, but still a nice place.

They do have a fire pit at each site, so I may try my hand at preparing our fish on a charcoal fire this evening. It may also be a chance to get out the tiki torches and play some Buffett on the ukulele after dinner. Who knows!

This was our first towing experience with the new tires on the ML 350. Everything seemed to pull along the highway without issue. The original Continental Contact 4×4 tires were pretty well gone after 36,000 miles. I replaced them with Yokohama YK 850’s as I had on a prior ML 350. The only difference (which may all be in my head) is that these seem a little more “squishy” than the previous tire. I think that is largely due to the amount of tread on these tires compared to the worn Conti’s. It seems we get a little more yaw, but nothing significant.

Anyway, we we are enjoying ourselves again away from home on a hot 94 degree Florida day with the all the conveniences of the “rolling condo” and things could not be better. See you again soon.

Thanks,

Captain Skip

The Island Time at St Augustine KOA Site #35

KOA Kabin at St Augustine KOA

Shark Fin Drive at St Augustine KOA

Yellow KOA Sign Against a Blue Sky with a Palm Tree

Office and Pool at St Augustine KOA

Lake and Kabins at St Augustine KOA