Sunken Gardens

   This is a fairly small garden packed with a large assortment of tropical plants. It was the hobby garden of George Turner who opened it to visitors in 1924. It’s now owned by the city of St. Petersburg and has been preserved as a historic landmark.

   The garden map has a very small section marked as accessible, however all of the paths are paved so it is possible to see the entire garden. There are two arched bridges that are too steep so backtracking is required. The garden elevation drops about 15 feet from the entrance and a few sections have a bit of a slope.

   The parking lot has enough room for RVs although larger ones may have to park across the spaces. Gardens
27.78979, -82.6381

Florida RV Super Show

   We’re not planning on buying another motorhome but we decided to go to the RV show just to see what the hype was all about. This is the place to be if you’re thinking about buying a RV! There are hundreds of RVs to walk through from popups to Prevosts.  Popups, truck campers and hybrid trailers are not well represented but there are As, Bs, Cs, trailers and fifth wheels from many different manufacturers with a wide range of pricing.In addition to the RVs there are two vendor buildings where you can browse through all the offers from resorts and pick up needed or frivolous RV supplies.

   Handicapped parking for cars and RVs is fairly close to the entrance.  Wheelchair and scooter rentals are located just inside the entrance. The show grounds and the buildings are all accessible. The two RV manufacturers that will customize RVs to make them accessible, Winnebago and Born Free, do not have any accessible models to show but there is a new accessible model from Newmar.  Unfortunately we found it just as the show was closing for the day and didn’t get to tour it.

  I find it irritating that shows like this have a entrance fee but the convenience of having all the RVs in one place is helpful if you’re researching a purchase. The fee is $10.00 per person which is good for two days plus a fairgrounds parking fee of $5.00 for a car or $10.00 for a RV. If you decide to stay overnight an additional $15.00 is collected after the show closes but you don’t have to pay the $10.00 parking fee for the next day. The woman at the parking booth gave us this information. We didn’t stay overnight so I can’t verify the accuracy of it.  RV Show
27.99059, -82.36096
 
       
       

Fort De Soto Park Campground

    Make reservations early if you want a campsite in this park, especially a waterfront one. This is the only public park close to the water in the Clearwater area of Florida so it’s very popular and also very expensive.  If you’re not the reservation type check online to see if there have been any cancellations. We managed to find a waterfront site with four open days in the middle of the week. Weekends are completely booked. If you tent camp you’re in luck – plenty of sites for tents.

  None of the sites are specifically marked as accessible but all of them are good – large, level sites with hard sandy ground, picnic tables with overhangs and easily reached water and electric hookups. The restrooms and showers are accessible but they should be roomier. People in wheelchairs may have some difficulty transferring.  Campground Reservations
27.63483, -82.71829
 

Fort De Soto Multipurpose Trail

   This seven mile paved trail follows the main roads in the park and provides access to all of the features of the park – the campground, fishing piers, nature trail, gift shop, museum, fort, picnic areas, and beaches. Everything except for the beaches is wheelchair accessible.  Park
http://rollinginarv-wheelchairtraveling.blogspot.com/2012/01/fort-de-soto-multipurpose-trail.html
 

Fort De Soto - Quartermaster Museum and Battery Laidley

   Fort De Soto was built for the Spanish-American War. The war was over in months and the fort never saw any action. After ten years it was decommissioned, then officially abandoned and later used as a training ground during WWII before becoming county property in 1948 and a park in 1962.  Not much is left of the fort except for the concrete structure of Battery Laidley.. All of the rooms in the battery, where the ammunition for the big mortars was stored, are opened to the public but most are empty. There’s a very long ADA compliant ramp to the top of the battery with a good view of the Gulf of Mexico and a set of stairs down to the beach. A walking tour with signs and a printed guide follows a trail through the fort grounds.  Part of the trail is loose sand and not accessible.

   The museum is a replica of the original quartermaster storehouse. It contains artifacts from different periods of the fort’s history, wall panels with the complete history of the islands, and a touch screen computer with short film clips. A ramp leads to the entrance and the inside is all accessible.

  The parking lot is large enough for all RVs.  Museum
27.61379, -82.735
 

Ybor City Museum State Park

   The museum is housed in a historic bakery and tells the story of the Ybor City section of Tampa. Ybor City had it’s start with a colorful mix of immigrants from Cuba, Spain and Italy, all involved in producing hand rolled cigars. Eventually there were 100s of cigar factories producing millions of cigars a year but the Depression, along with cigar making machines, doomed the industry and Ybor City. Recent renovations along the main business street,7th Ave, have brought a lot of life back to the city. The state park also includes a beautiful little plaza with a fountain and a guided tour of a typical cigar worker’s house.

  Everything is accessible. There’s a handicapped parking space right in front of the museum with enough room for a small RV or van. No step or ramp needed at the museum entrance. An ADA compliant ramp leads into the worker’s house.

  RVs can park on the street in front of the museum complex.  Museum
27.96198, -82.4386
 

Osceola Flea and Farmers Market

   This flea market is barely surviving. Their website touts 900 booths but most of them are empty –maybe 100 have merchandise and only one has fruits and vegetables. We did get some very good oranges.  All of the roads and walkways are paved. Plentiful parking is located behind the buildings in the grassy areas.  Flea Market
28.26464, -81.33121

Osceola County Historical Society Pioneer Village

   The village consists of six relocated buildings and depicts life in rural Florida in the late 1880s. The largest building is a “cracker house” with a center breezeway. Also included are a one room schoolhouse, orange packing house, general store, blacksmith shop and a small museum.  It doesn’t take long to see everything so if you have some extra time cross the street and take a short walk in Shingle Creek Regional Park.

  The village is partially accessible. The ground is hard so rolling along is fairly easy. The general store, cracker house and museum all have ramps. The schoolhouse and orange packing house have steps only. The interiors of the small outbuildings can be seen easily from the doorways.

  The parking area is large enough for all RVs.  Village
28.29854, -81.45815
 

Shingle Creek Regional Park Trail

   The trail winds through pine and palmetto forest and across swampy areas. It’s very accessible with hard surfaced trail and solidly constructed boardwalk. The route from the parking lot at Shingle Creek Regional Park to Osceola County Historical Society Pioneer Village and back is a little over a mile.

  The parking lot has spaces for RVs.  Trail
28.30289, -81.45287
  

Making California Maps

View California(Southern) attractions in a larger map

We're at our favorite Florida campground, Moss Park ,working on some yearly maintenance chores( thorough cleaning, waxing, caulking and general sprucing up) plus some additional small repairs. Since I can only reach a limited area Tony gets the larger share of chores and I have time to work on maps.

With some states I have to search for interesting things to see but that's not a problem with California!I had to split it into two sections because there are so many attractions and each map page will accept just 200 placemarks. I know that I skipped a lot of things but I tried to get the most popular ones.If you have any favorites that I missed let me know.

I found some surprising attractions - a fabulous collection of cars and antiques that is completely free , a museum in a cemetery , and a Japanese garden at a sewer treatment plant!