At 7:58 on the morning of December 21, Dana was at the kitchen table with her laptop, her phone and a mug of café con leche going cold, refreshing the Florida State Parks reservation page. At 8:00 she clicked. By 8:02 we had four nights on St. George Island for Thanksgiving week 2026, and she closed the laptop and went back to wrapping presents like she'd just paid the water bill.
We didn't own a camper that morning. Buying one was still a "maybe someday" conversation, and it only turned into a plan eleven days later, on the drive home from that freezing trip up the Georgia coast. Now the trip is about eleven weeks away, the camper is sitting in the side yard under its cover, and it's time to turn a reservation into a plan.
Booked for a camper we didn't have
Dana picked a site with water and electric that would fit a tent or a camper, the same hedge she used when she booked Bahia Honda back in April 2025. She says that after three nights in the rented pop-up at Myakka in November, she already had a feeling. Four nights cost $168, fees included, about $42 a night.
St. George Island is a long, skinny barrier island off the Panhandle, across the bay from Apalachicola, and the state park takes up the east end. Late November there should mean highs around 68 and lows around 48. That's perfect camper weather and too cold for anyone in our family to swim, except Nico, who has announced he'll "just do his legs."
The plan, day by day
- Saturday, Nov 21: leave Kendall early, tow north, long lunch in Ron and Linda's driveway in Ocala, then on across the Big Bend to the island. About nine hours of towing, split in two by lunch.
- Sunday to Tuesday: three full days on the island. Beach walks at sunrise, the bike path, fishing on the bay side, one lunch in Apalachicola and a visit to the lighthouse.
- Wednesday, Nov 25: pack up and tow back to Ocala.
- Thursday, Nov 26: Thanksgiving at my parents' house. The camper sits in their driveway and we sleep inside, like we did in June.
- Saturday, Nov 28: home.
The kids and I have the whole week off from school. Dana self-schedules her shifts about six weeks out, so her schedule for that week opens in early October. She'll trade what she can and use PTO for the rest, which is the same dance she does before every trip and never gets enough credit for.
What we expect to spend
- Campsite, 4 nights: $168 (already paid)
- Gas: about $260
- Groceries: $250
- Restaurants: $120
- Cat sitter, 7 visits for Pickles: $105
- Ice, propane and firewood: $45
- Misc: $102
That's a $1,050 budget. The gas number is about 1,050 miles with the camper behind us at roughly 15.5 miles per gallon, plus driving around the island without it, plus a cushion. Groceries include our share of Thanksgiving dinner: I'm on sweet potatoes and Dana brings flan. Restaurants means one seafood lunch in Apalachicola and one fast meal on a driving day. Misc is tolls (more with the camper's extra axle), a laundromat run, the lighthouse gift shop and whatever Nico talks us into.
Camp math: $1,050 over seven nights away is $150 a night, and the three nights in Ocala are free, which helps. Over just the four camping nights it's about $262 a night. Last Thanksgiving, two tent nights at Juniper Springs plus Ocala came to $301. This one is bigger, longer and farther, and it's the trip we'll talk about all winter.
What could change it
Hurricane season runs through November 30, so the same rule applies as every fall: if something in the outlook is pointed at the Panhandle that week, we cancel. What we'd lose is small. Last Labor Day we were charged $24.45 when we cancelled, a $6.70 reservation fee plus a $17.75 cancellation fee. With so little prepaid and nonrefundable, we're not buying trip insurance this time.
The other thing I'm watching is the Pilot. It'll be close to 98,000 miles by then. The timing belt is due around 105,000, and we've budgeted about $1,100 for it early next year, so this trip should be fine. Before we go, though, I'm checking the camper's spare tire with my own hands. Tifton taught me that one.
Maya has already started a list. It's titled "ST. GEORGE ISLAND (FALL)" in orange marker, and the first item is "see a dolphin from the bridge."
