Stop #2: Black Creek RV Park, Freeport, FL

Florida is a long state so we knew it would take us a few stops to make our way out. For our second stop, we chose to be in the panhandle. Friends had raved about the Seaside/Destin beaches so we looked for a campsite close by. Black Creek RV Park is a small campground nestled among tall trees. This campground has no exciting amenities, just a small office with friendly staff. They did however offer a full wheel barrow of wood for $10 which was a deal in comparison to our previous campground. Our site had it's own fire pit, in addition to a picnic table, so we took advantage of that and had a few cozy campfires during our stay.

The campground had quite a few full timers, but they were friendly and the kids quickly made friends with a few of their children. Kids would meet in the overflow which served as the perfect soccer field. One of the kids was kind enough to share his bike with our son (we placed bike shopping on hold till we - as in Paul lol - made sure we had a good grasp of towing), so this campground quickly rose to his number one spot. :)

While at Black Creek, we visited the beaches in the area and wow, all the claims were true. The sand was the whitest and softest we've ever seen! Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and it was very windy and cold so we didn't spend as much time at the beach as we would've wanted to. The houses in that area are beautiful, specially those right on the beach, so we spent some time driving around. Lots of restaurants to choose from as well, though we didn't eat out in that area.

The pier at Seaside

We did a one hour field trip to Florida Caverns State Park. It was well worth it as the cave was amazing. We were approximately 45 minutes inside the cave, exploring many different parts of fit, including some low spots which required tucking our heads a bit. We saw many different formations, including stalactites, stalagmites, and columns. As a bonus, we got to see a baby bat that was hanging out at the cave exit. The kids enjoyed it and it proved to reinforce and expand on what they've been learning in school. The cave has lighting throughout, but it's still pretty dark and at one point of the tour the guide turns the lights off so we can fully appreciate how dark it truly is in there. I'd say this is not the best activity for claustrophobes... one lady had to walk out 5 mins after we got started because she was starting to panic. But other than, it's a fun and educational activity for the family (I recall reading that kids under 6 are not allowed so look into this if you have little ones).

Half hour from Florida Caverns State Park is Falling Waters State Park. There's a boardwalk that takes you past some sink holes and right up to the waterfall, the highest in Florida (70ft tall). There had been little rainfall in the past week so the stream wasn't substantial however, it was still cool to see.

In the Freeport area you'll also find blue springs, but we passed on those since we saw quite a few at our previous location. There's also plenty of hiking trails nearby, some of which we did. Overall, plenty to do in a week's time.

After we left this campground we realized we left our surge protector plugged in at our site - rookie mistake! Thankfully the owners were nice enough to mail it to our next campground. Following that, we added that item to our departure checklist! ;)