Melbourne Florida (east coast space coast)

[DearMissMermaid]

Ahoy mateys! I am wintering at Wickham Park in Melbourne Florida. We have an awesome drive through Christmas light show in the park after dark, not in the campground area, but in the rest of the park, it's well worth seeing, there is even going to be a bicycle night and a walking night. I saw the show 2 years ago, and it was awesome, like nothing I have ever seen anywhere before. Last year I missed it, but this year I am looking forward to it.

Besides that...

If anyone wants to careen over to this park. I would love to meet up with you. I like a good potluck meal if your're interested. I always have extra chairs on my outdoor patio for visitors. I'm a southerner so there is always homemade iced tea in the fridge and coffee in the pot. I've been known to occasionally have an adult beverage or a little wine with dinner. I have a super friendly doggy who loves people and pets. Matter of fact, the off leash dog park is less than a mile away at the other end of the park.

This park is county owned by Brevard and has daily, weekly and monthly rates. They've upgraded to full hookups, water, sewer, electric, wifi and the TV antenna pulls in a lot of stations. It stays erratically busy so you may want to make a reservation. The roads are paved but the lots are level and grassy. Some are huge many are sized differently, hardly any two alike. Some have lots of trees, some are open to full sunshine, some are on a small lake or in view of one. One section comes with built-in grills.

I am here for 3-4 months because I was tired of traveling, needed a break and wanted to be warm for the winter. I chose this place because I like the access to the rest of the park and my little doggy loves to visit the off leash fenced dog park, they have 2 sections, for big canines and small.

I don't have a car, so I am pretty much home 24/7 though I do get out walking and on my bicycle. Sometimes I take the rig out shopping, but frankly I don't need the traffic, so I am happy to just soak up the park and avoid the traffic snarls.

Let me know if you are going to be in the area. Would love to meet up.

[rvgrammy1953]

Looked it up, but the price is a little steep for us....Thanks for the invite.... Maybe next year....Enjoy your stay...

[Liz]

I know Donna is near there and spends many days at Wickham. I'm sure she'll be by to meet you soon.

[grammynmaggie]

Hey Liz been there done that...lol...I will be spending time there on and off all winter
The price is 23.00 per day...and they have discount for long term...but for a night or
two like I do ...that's not so bad...most Fl state parks are $24 if non resident...anyway
it is a nice park..and I will be there on and off...
have a wonderful day and stay safe ...donnna

[Bethers]

If you want to have a gtg there - other than people stopping at all different times - you should select a date and make it official.

As to the rates - I think it's a great daily rate for a couple/few days. I think Lori was looking at the extended rates - as they like to stay places a month. Of course, we all have different rates we think are high And for the location, it's better than most in FL.

[bluepinecones]

I plan to come to FL for the gtg at Hillsborough River in late Jan. Planning to stay in FL for a while after the gtg so think I might get over Melbourne way sometime in Feb. Sorry, plans are still a bit in jello state right now but looking forward to opportunity to meet you.

[DearMissMermaid]

I don't mind meeting folks anytime they want to come camp at the park, it doesn't have to be a do or die organized event. I will probably be here through mid March 2014, though it could change, but that's what I reserved.

If anyone has a suggestion for dates for a gtg I could check the park for number of available reservations, then put the word out.

I've never organized a gtg before but heck I used to work in hospitality, so I could pull it off. The problem is everyone would have to get their reservations in pretty quick because this place gets popular.

Everyone has a different budget for camping. The rates here, the monthly ones, do include electricity. I fell into that trap before, thought I was getting a great rate somewhere, but they failed to mention the electric would be separate. Here, at least it's all included.

If you read my blog, then you saw I went through sticker shock this year, because last year the rate I paid was about $425 a month and this year with taxes it shot up to $593. No problem, I cancelled all future grocery shopping...

But I waited several winters to be able to do this, so I decided to be a happy camper and pray for a miracle to make it all happen. I am soaking up the entire park, loving every minute of it. I have a beautiful spot with a terrific view. I already did 6 months of workamping, so I am happy to have time to work on all my other projects. Other than workamping, this is the first time I've decided to stay in one spot for 3-4 months. I did careen around traveling for 8 weeks before I arrived here, some of it with a close friend, so that was a blast.

The last 3 winters I did some workamping at other places, but the heavy duty labor they gave me was just too brutal for my condition. This year I couldn't find anything suitable where they wanted brain over brawn in spite of my extensive hospitality experience. Winter Florida workamping is highly competitive and even harder for a solo female to find.

But the flip side is, I have a great workamping situation I will return to in mid April for 6 months, so I am going to enjoy this while I can.

[Nasoosie]

I will surely get over to Wickham for a few nights, Mermaid. I am only about 40 miles from there. Dell and donna and I stayed there last May for a while, and I loved it. First,, however, I will need to save some bucks to make it work!

[linann]

Donna and I shared a site at Wickham Park last month. It was only for one night -- she had her rig and I drove the van camper over. Mermaid, do you know how long the Christmas lights will be up. I think it would be fun to camp there while the lights are twinkling.

[Carolinagal]

This sounds like fun, waiting to hear how long lights will be . I will be in Lake Wales area for most of Dec., so not far over there. Glad I saw this, this morning, now to get on the road and see if I can't make it on down.

CArol

[Roadweaver]

Carol,
I am in Lake Wales, where are you?

Louise

[DearMissMermaid]

Come on by anytime!

Lightfest is up until December 31 at Wickham Park in Melbourne Fl, registered campers can tour it for free. My campsite is in short walking distance of the live entertainment held some nights. Here is the schedule of events, they have special things happening on different nights like the bicycle night and the walking night etc. Hay rides and live entertainment some nights and so on.

http://www.spacecoastlightfest.com/calendar.html

I've decided not to organize a formal GTG this winter, maybe next winter. But I am hoping folks do stop by and meet up with me and Harley dog.

One big plus for dog lovers is that this park has two fenced off-leash dog parks for small and big dogs.

I am a solo fulltimer for almost 4 years, with a small crazy dog who thinks he is a comedian. He loves people and other dogs. I have a close friend who sometime travels with me. I lived overseas most of my adult life, mostly around the Caribbean and on large sailing yachts I crewed professionally aboard as well as careened around on my own sailboat that was home when I wasn't gone working on yachts. A few years I had a home ashore on a far flung island. I returned to America the end of 2009, so I am still 4 years later, feeling like an alien from another planet.

I bought my old motorhome to have a temporary place to live, but fell in love with the vagabond lifestyle, so 4 years later, I'm still puttering around repairing and upgrading, enjoying my little wheel estate immensely. I workamp some, travel some, and this year I'm sort of a snowbird parked for 3-4 months in one spot. The first time I've tried this. But it's winter and I don't want to be cold much. All those years in the Caribbean thinned out my blood for sure.

Everyone has different criteria for selecting parks both short term and long term. I typically prefer places abundantly rich in natural beauty with a reasonable rate. I do prefer to have electric and water. I spent over a decade without utilities and many years with random utilities, so at this stage in my life, I frankly enjoy having utilities. While my rig does nicely on very short boondocking if I so choose, it's woefully inadequate for long term boondocking for the comforts I currently prefer. This could change, but for now, I enjoy parks that provide natural beauty and at least electric and water. Everything else is optional.

Wickham Park used to only offer electric and water but last year they upgraded to add sewer and Wifi, so the rates shot up some. My blog archives for Jan-Feb 2013 show lots of pics of the park, this year I will be posting more pics soon.

I hope to see you at Wickham Park!

[linann]

Hi Mermaid,

Thanks for the info on the park, events and ending date for the Christmas lights. Drop by visits are always good. Don't worry about setting a date for a GTG. That's about all it takes with this group. Declare and a date and some show up. No other plans are needed. Everything tends to be spontaneous with lots of sitting around, visiting and sometimes, good food.

Hope you are staying warm and enjoying your stay!