Relaxing
As I sit here on one of the best lots at Chester Frost in Chattanooga TN, having a nice German Style Pilsner from Barrique Brewing, listening to Jimmy Buffet radio on Apple Music. I’m enjoying the cool breeze blowing off the lake. Listening to the waves crashing on the rocks. The lake is literally five steps away. Big waves are splashing the back of the camper. I have to say this is the most relaxing few hours I’ve had in the last eight weeks.
I’m still amazed that I got two of the best sites here for the next 15 days. I just booked yesterday. I’m not sure how I was so fortunate but I’m not going to look the gift horse in the mouth. We were not able to extend where we were and I was late asking but man is this better than a narrow lot in the RV park we were on. Let me just remind you that Chester Frost is one of the best campgrounds you will find anywhere and I’m happy to be back here for a few weeks before we hit the road for a trip.
I mentioned that life injected itself into our plans to start our full timing. We had everything in place but have not been able to leave town. I will say that we have been able to stay in some nice parks and campgrounds and I want to share some of that with you. I’ll just go ahead and apologize now for the lack of photos. We were dealing with my parents all day most days and trying to work and I just didn’t think about much else, including getting any photos.
So we stayed at Harrison Bay State Park for a good part of the last eight weeks and it was pretty good. At least we felt sort of like we were camping. We pretty much stayed gone all day and just slept there but there were a few quite moments around the campfire. We also stayed at three other places and I want to share some thoughts about them now.
Battlefield Campground & RV Park
Let’s start with our least favorite. Battlefield Campground and RV Park in Ringgold, GA. First off, Pay $20 a year for your own domain. You don’t look like a serious business when you have the .<hosting company name> at the end of your URL. Something positive…This RV Park is in a great location just off I-75 and tucked behind the Georgia Winery, which is fabulous by the way, in the woods. It has full hookups. It would be a great location to see North Georgia and Chattanooga attractions from. But….
The sites are just too narrow. They should just drop “campground” from the name and call it an RV park. Like many campgrounds now they have folks just living there which is fine. So does Chester Frost. But this place just feels a little sketch. The good news is it was 5 minutes from the my parents house we were cleaning out. It’s convenient to pretty much everywhere. You can walk to the Winery, if you aren’t worn out from cleaning out a house, and enjoy some great wine and snacks. The lady that assisted us with our reservation was very nice and helpful.
The reason I say they should just call it an RV park is that it has nothing that makes it feel like a campground. The sites are all too close together and it fails to capitalize on the the wooded surrounding in my opinion. It does have a pool. It’s fine for a night or two stop over while on the road.
Holiday Travel Park – Chattanooga
While we are on the topic of RV Parks. We also stayed a few weeks at Holiday Travel Park Chattanooga. The park is located between East Ridge, TN and Fort Oglethorpe, GA. This is very convenient to just about everything. It’s an RV park and the sites are almost all pull throughs with full hook ups. The park is well maintained and would be a good place to do a stop over or one night. The sites are too narrow but nicely maintained. Gravel pads and nice grass yards, if you can call them yards, no let’s call them them strips. Nicely maintained strips of grass.
Our picnic table was literally one step from the bottom of our steps. The fire rings are tiny. Half the size of a regular fire ring and so close to my truck and my neighbors truck that I would not dare light a fire. The sites are so tight that I had to back my truck under the front of our 5th wheel to get it out of the road. There are some huge pot holes in the gravel roads they need to fix. All the roads are named after Civil War generals which I love. I saw workers everyday mowing, weed eating and maintaining the campground so it’s fairly well taken care of. It’s clean with a pool, dog run and camp store.
The staff was extremely nice and friendly. Top Golf, Bass Pro Shops and Jonathan’s restaurant are mere minutes away. They are a Good Sam park and looked up our membership and applied it automatically without me asking for it. It was 7 to 10 minutes from mom and dad’s house and the same from the new assisted living so it met our needs. It’s just not what I would call camping. I wouldn’t choose this place for our normal travels other than a place to rest for the night. It’s located right off of I-75.
Oh there is one BIG and I mean BIG negative. Boyd’s Motor Speedway is just across the interstate from the park. Our last night there, which was actually last night and our anniversary, was full of loud revving engines. We could hear them clearly inside our camper over the soft music we were playing. Now I don’t mind racing if I’m at the race. Just not in my bedroom at bedtime.
Ocoee RV Park
There was an interesting find during this time. It doesn’t show up in some of the RV apps yet. There’s a super nice fellow and new father named Jesse who has built his own campground. The Ocoee RV Park in Benton, TN. It still under construction but it is meticulously maintained. Jesse and his park host do a great job. Full hookups and situated in the middle of all the major river outfitters for the Ocoee River.
The park is gravel. Features a playground, a dog park (under construction) and a bathhouse. He had just gotten his blazing fast park WiFi working while we were staying there. He knew I worked from the camper and he actually loaned me a Verizon hotspot for a couple of days till it was live because he knew I had AT&T. If you hotspot and phones are AT&T you can forget using them until you are about a half mile down the road.
The WiFi at the park is the best I’ve seen at a campground. This park has real potential. We were so busy with mom and dad’s situation that we didn’t even check out the laundry or the bathhouse. We will go back though and share some pics then.
We were so busy that I didn’t even get to ask Jesse if he had a baby boy or girl. One last note on the campground. We were greeted with fresh donuts on our picnic table the day we arrived and the day we left. If you are in the area please give these guys a try.
While we were there we visited one of our favorite places in the area. The Bus Bar at Adventures Unlimited. We camp and raft with Adventures Unlimited and it’s a fun place. They have a bus converted to a bar, an outdoor stage and live music on the weekends.
So now that life is settling back into a normal rhythm we are finally planning what we consider the maiden voyage of our new 5th wheel. Destination…… Asheville, NC. We will be sharing images, stories, campground information and tales from brewery hopping. So check back in a couple of weeks hear about Asheville.