The Florida Explorer

Upon returning from another successful family car camping trip in which my children swam in crystalline springs, cooked food over the flame, tracked wildlife, didn’t touch devices with screens and didn’t miss those devices one bit, etc; a manliness blog I follow published a piece entitled Car Camping Is The Worst.

In this article, camping in Tampa Bay is defined as camping trips in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties. I put in links to my relevant blog articles. At the end of each location I put a link(s) to the respective website so you can get more info.

Hillsborough River State Park will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first Florida State Park that I went camping in. Camping is happy good here. This is a must-visit park if you live in Tampa.

Living in Tampa Bay for 10+ years and going to all of the beaches, these are the best beaches to bring your family to for a day trip.

Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys just might be the most competitive place to book a site in all of Florida. Luckily, I beat the odds and snagged an epic 8 day family camping trip. Now I will show you how to do the same.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain piece from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain article from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain article from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.

by Craig Pittman, Florida Phoenix
April 23, 2020

Nestle’s plan to drain Ginnie Springs in order to put it in plastic bottles to make a lot of money has been tabled–for now. But you better believe they are still coming for our water.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain piece from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain article from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain article from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain piece from Florida Enchantments, dated 1915.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain article from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain piece from Florida Enchantments, dated 1915.

I don’t expect this post to be of much interest to too many people outside of my family. Basically, I want to keep an official tally of all the state parks that we have been to and I figured the blog is a good place to do that. And I hope, just maybe, it inspires others!

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain piece from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.

In our quest to preserve and make available as many Florida writings as possible, here’s a public domain piece from Florida Enchantments, dated 1908.