Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.
Fort Pickens is in the Gulf Islands National Seashore of Florida. We’ve stayed here before and love the miles of white sand beaches that don’t have beach crowds or rows of high-rise buildings like other parts of the Florida coastline. Our favorite kind of travel day; about an hour and a half of a sunny scenic coastal drive from Santa Rosa Beach to Fort Pickens Campground.
Last Updated: July 6, 2026
Motorhome life has its unique challenges and rewards. Overall, we prefer wide open spaces and avoid crowds whenever possible, so our social distancing was already well established long before the term became universal. Having medical backgrounds, we practice infection precautions daily regardless of any particular pathogen. Nevertheless, short of wearing a hazmat suit, it is difficult to avoid exposure during a pandemic — supplies always need replenishment and storage space in a motorhome is finite. Trips to the grocery store and motorhome service appointments are unavoidable facts of full-time RV life. This post covers the transitional leg of our 2020 spring journey: north from Orange Beach, Alabama through Nashville and the Natchez Trace Parkway, heading toward the Newmar factory in Indiana for a service appointment we had booked six months earlier.
Last Updated: July 6, 2026
Orange Beach sits at the eastern end of Alabama’s Gulf Coast, sharing the same brilliant white quartz sand that runs west from Pensacola Beach and Destin — all of it originating from the ancient Appalachian Mountains, ground fine over millions of years and carried to the Gulf by river systems. We arrived just at the beginning of spring break, which would normally mean dense crowds of college students on the beach. The coronavirus outbreak had already begun to suppress travel, however, and the beaches and restaurants were noticeably quieter than they would otherwise have been at that time of year. A strange and unsettling historical context for what was still a beautiful visit.
Last Updated: February 25, 2017
After weeks of state parks — beautiful, quiet, and trail-filled as they were — we were ready for a different kind of stop. Bella Terra of Gulf Shores is an upscale Class A motorhome resort in southern Alabama, and we chose it deliberately: we needed to receive mail and packages, catch up on bills and phone calls, and give Michael’s still-healing ribs and wrist a few days without a hiking agenda. It also has a pool and spa, which after the state park circuit felt like pure luxury.
Last Updated: February 24, 2017
We only had a couple of days at Gulf State Park, and it rained for most of them — so this isn’t an exhaustive account. But even a rainy short stay at one of Alabama’s largest state parks gives you a sense of the scale. Gulf State Park covers 11.5 square miles of Alabama’s Gulf Coast, with 2.5 miles of white sand beach, a 1,540-foot fishing pier, miles of paved trails, and enough campsites to house a small city.
