roadtripper5291431

We stayed for one week, in July 2014, while we sold our house and began to transition into Full-Timers. We used Passport America and we think it was about $20/night. We then returned for a month in October 2014, for a special rate of $299 for the 30 days! But then we returned for 30 days during peak season, January - February at $845.
This is really a "settlers" village, as the majority are permanent sites, but over half of it is a manufactured homes park. The ambience is very nice in the manufactured homes park, but where the mobile RVs and permanent RVs isn't so attractive. But the amenities are very nice. The comfort stations were recently remodeled and are nice. We love the pastor, Dr. Hess, and enjoy the Sunday church service. The laundry room is the BEST of all! There are so many washers and dryers, even when there are a lot of people, you can always find a machine. The dryers are 25 cents for 10 minutes and the washers are $1.50 for about 30 minutes. There is only one large washer that has been broken for over a year. This is also one of 2 or 3 hotspots and the signal is good in the room. There are a lot of activities but we never participated.
The thing we do like the best is the ability to get in a good 3 mile walk! There is a nice path along the lake, then you have to walk in the manufactured home park to the nature trail. It goes behind the houses. Then you have to return to the road and we go back down to the lake to make it 3 miles. We really liked it the first two stays, but during peak season, we were nearly hit by the wild golf cart drivers. They think they have the right of way and do nearly run us off the nature trails! It is ridiculous and we did make management aware of it. This last time, there were three large and aggressive dogs staying in a trailer. We know people who complained about them so we didn't. They were left alone with the doors open and barked constantly. But the worst was our last night there where they began barking at 11:00 pm. There is more to say, lets just say that it ruined our time there.
While we are there, we are visiting family, friends, seeing our regular doctors and dentist as needed! We just slept at the park.

Have you ever had a love at first site experience in a campground? We had ours here. We generally don't make reservations until we're headed there. So from the first conversation, we liked this place! Not everyone is super receptive when you say you will be there in less than an hour (go figure). What was so special was that they said they had a prime spot for us on the lake! Upon arrival, they confirmed we had a really great site. We've always wanted to back up to a lake, so this was our first time...and last until we return!
What we loved: The staff was the best ever. Very positive and helpful. The campground is just beautiful. It's small and it really didn't look like any place was bad. Very well designed. Quiet and serene. The laundry room was convenient and adequate. WIFI at our site. There was a nice fenced in Bark Park that had a happy dog prancing in it. The drive there was just so beautiful, but there are two ways to get there. GPS did fine. We love to hike so there was fabulous hiking not too far away. We also attend church on Sundays, so we were happy there was a warm welcoming one not too far away.
Nothing they could do to make it better or negative, except being a KOA, the price is always a bit higher than other resorts. We had KOA points so it wasn't too much for us. But whatever the price, we loved it and look forward to returning.

We discovered this campground using Passport America ($16/night for 2 nights and $32 for Good Sam the next night). It seems to now be in our regular routes as we try to explore the southeast. We stayed twice in 2014 and then tried to get back in 2015. Finally, we made it back and had hoped to stay a week. But we had to meet up with friends down the road, so back to just three nights. We loved going downtown where they have modeled much of it after the Andy Griffith Show's Mayberry....but of course, Andy Griffith modeled Mayberry after his home town, Mt. Airy!
ARRIVAL: This was why we come back. The checkin is so wonderful, met with cheery smiles and they will do all they can to help you pick the best sit.
TIPS TO MAKE IT BETTER: They had new WIFI, but we couldn't get it to work in our camper. They could suggest dog owners to please keep them quiet! They are so kind and accommodating (and have a dog themselves, who never barks BTW), they don't have the rules and regs like many campgrounds about not letting them bark. We actually changed sites because we parked next to one who loved to let us know he was in charge of his camper!
FAVORITE THING: For us, we love to hike and we love history. We thoroughly enjoyed the Andy Griffith Museum which includes other famous and infamous residents! We also enjoyed just walking around the town and the visitor's center. It is all "small town" Americana! The bakery is lethal...wow, just too tasty to resist! You do have to drive 15-25 miles for great hiking but it was all worth it for us.
NEGATIVES: You do have to drive a bit to get the best hiking, but everything else made up for it.

For the price we paid, we felt we were overcharged. Very basic campground but the location was great. While we say we will stay again, we will try to find a cheaper campground as we want to return to this area. There may have been amenities but we didn't stay long enough to find them.

Our motorhome took up the entire site, but since we were on an end, we had plenty room. We were allowed to park our car in the next site. If it was full, we would have been cramped! But the site was flat. However, utilities are on one side so we had to run our hose under our rig.

The staff and reception was excellent. We called several times and they always answered and wanted to help in anyway possible. However, since we were still very new at driving our new 40' motorhome, the entrance way had a sharp turn in and down a bit of a hill. We have been asking about the entrance but were assured no problem. Well, not if you are used to driving your rig...but we did it OK. The only tip to make it better was to be prepared for the sharp turn once you enter the campground.

The location was just so convenient, easy drive to and from the interstate. It is near the Bristol Speedway so there is that noise. Since the weather wasn't so great, they had stopped the races.

We're not sure why it was so problematic making our reservation here and finding the actual campground, but it set a really bad tone! The address we were thought was for the campground took us on a 15 mile road to nowhere. It was all just so confusing. I called and spoke to a ranger and he sort of helped us - he couldn't really figure out where we were. So by the time we finally checked in, we were not really greeted like we were welcome, that we were more of an inconvenience. Maybe whoever was checking us in was having a bad day. We just found the people running the check in were less than helpful. Even when I tried to get info on hikes, we were mislead!
This is a HUGE campground and it seems it is more for locals. If you know where you are going, it probably is great. So suggestion for a better experience, treat your campers like a valuable customer.
We loved all the area had to offer, but we discovered it all when we stayed up the road at the Canal Campground. We did get in two great hikes, but we stumbled on them ourselves.
Normally, your neighbors are very friendly or at least nice. When it was time for us to pull out of our site, a truck was blocking our access on the road. I pulled up in the car and asked when they would be moving. He said in a few minutes. Husband pulled behind me and we still had to wait about 7 minutes. I think he wanted to finish his cigarette. He was just downright rude.

We stayed here for free for 2 nights as our first trip in our new 5th Wheel in September 2013. We practically had the place to ourselves! The staff and ground crew were amazing and helped made our maiden voyage exceptional. We didn't know what we were doing! We loved the location, down the road from Camping World (where we bought our RV) so we went back for more supplies, but we found a great park to spend the day in nature, Lettuce Lake Park.
We returned in January 2015 so we could attend the Florida RV Super Show. It was 8 miles away. Now we got to see how the park is in peak season and we were less than impressed.
What we liked: There was free wifi; the laundry room we were near was spacious and enough washers and dryers with a full campground; lots of great walking areas; we made new friends!
What we didn't like: There are three "villages" so to speak. No one guided us to this "off site" and it was confusing trying to find our site. Once we found it, we couldn't get into it. All the neighbors came out and tried to help, but none of them spoke English. We thought we were in the Village of Quebec! We had to call and ask for another site. They asked if someone was there helping us from the campground. NO! It's never fun to start off this way.
As it turned out, this was a better place to park. Where we were before, near the main entrance, it is very MUDDY! So use caution with you site.

First the good: Upon check in, our site was changed, and for the better! We were initially assigned a very wet and muddy lot. We were moved onto a concrete pad. Then the electric didn't work, but my husband discerned it was a blown fuse. A new fuse was brought and installed with in minutes. Everyone was very friendly. The laundry room was pretty good. There were enough machines, washing was $1.25 for about 35 minutes, and the dryers cost the same for 45 minutes. The bath house was adequate. This is a fisherman's and boaters paradise. We are neither, thus our title. Cable TV had enough stations.
Now what we didn't like: While our original site was very long and more room, the concrete site was somewhat better. But it was tight. In fact, the worst part about the campground, during peak season was that most sites were tight. There was a nice big pond in the middle but it was so full of algae it was not all that nice. We did stick our feet in the swimming pool and hot tub and the water was good for the cold temperatures. They have wifi for a $3/day fee.
I'll let some pictures tell a better story.

This is one of the best landscaped RV Campgrounds we've stayed in, except one on the gulf of Mexico in Florida. It is so very well maintained, has full hook ups and is big rig friendly. What was sad was that we stayed here over the 4th of July and they weren't full booked! But then there are a number of other campgrounds in the area.
Our arrival was great, met by a work camper, who was just so cheerful and couldn't do enough to make our stay pleasant. She had a stack of brochures to help us acclimate to the area and was willing to answer all questions. Later, we learned she is a recent breast cancer survivor! She KNOWS how precious life is and she just exuded joy. I actually thought she was the owner.
There was nothing they could do to make it a better experience. We came to spend a lot of time hiking in the Mammoth Cave State Park. As it turned out, hiking there was a bit of a challenge. We've written several posts in our blog about it, attached.
The worst part about the area was typical rural Kentucky we've now learned. Another couple missed the actual exit sign off the highway. The signs just aren't that clear. But we were given GREAT directions from the office and I would recommend following it to the letter (turn at the McDonalds and ignore your GPS).
We had all the connectivity we needed, Wifi included in the price and no problems with Direct TV satellite signal.

Arrival at this fabulous park can be a little daunting if you don't realize you first turn into the park, pull over into a designated area - while trying to talk to the Ranger - but only pull over. After you pull over, then get out and go inside the Ranger station. We pulled up to the Ranger - who stands outside to greet you as they see you coming. But then he said to pull over, but we had to back up our rig to pull into the spot for RVs. Then you have to turn around, and cross over A1A. The Rangers are the best at welcoming you and answering any questions.

Little Talbot Island State Park campground is what you might expect on a Little Island; but it has water, electric, picnic tables, clothes line and a fire ring as well as relatively clean bathrooms and showers. We were glad we were in an RV, but this campground seems better designed for tents or pop-ups. We thought we had one of the best sites for an RV, except it was narrow. It was very private, with only one neighbor out our back window. But there was enough space and foliage to not make it "in the window." We had rain and/or clouds every day. Aside from the weather, here are the good points:
-Private
-full of nature
-family oriented
-fabulous outdoor activities from beach combing, kayaking, hiking in a hammock, fishing, birding, bike riding, small museum, wildlife, knowledgeable Park Rangers
-Relatively quiet, in most parts of the campground (but A1A borders the outside and there were a few hot rods/motorcycles that like to drive a bit too fast/noisily)
The only negatives:
-if it rains, it can be pretty miserable if you are in a tent. The road and ground is sandy/dirt. So you will have ruts and a bumpy ride in and puddles for the children to splash in!
-the sites are narrow and some are close together.
-when it rains, it is hard to keep the floors in the bathrooms and showers clean.
I've uploaded a blog that tells all about the State Park which has so much to offer if you like nature and the outdoors.

Date of stay: May 13-20, 2016.

All of our interactions with the staff were very good, from making our reservations and our arrival. It was well marked where to pull up to while you checked in. The only issue is if it is really busy, it could get to be a bit problematic. There were just two of us, but the people who pulled in behind us didn't understand we were going to unhook our car as we had a back in site. They pulled a bit close to us!

We liked this location because it was centrally located to the places we wanted to see and it was an easy in and out, in a car or a motorhome.
Our only incident was that there was a thunderstorm and apparently it tripped our 50 amp meter. We were gone from Friday until Monday morning. We did let our neighbors, who were work campers (and let the office know) we would be gone those few days. We were upset upon our return to see the items in the freezer were melted! We didn't have much in the fridge, thankfully. I guess how would they know they should have checked our meter? Lesson learned and hopefully if it happens again, they will check the meters of anyone who planned to be gone a few day!