Stopover in Mississippi en route to Gulf Shores

Hey, Y’all!  The trip we had planned for a four-night stay at Gulf State Park Campground { https://www.alapark.com/parks/gulf-state-park } FINALLY arrived.  We had originally scheduled our stay for last fall, but then Hurricane Sally hit the Gulf Shores area as a Category 2 storm on September 16, 2020.  With winds that reached up to 110 mph, it did some serious damage to the area, and certainly to the State Park and campground.  Both had to temporarily shut down for clean up and repairs.  So, we rescheduled for the end of April hoping the weather down there would be something similar to early Summer for us here at home.

Since we weren’t seeing our camping buddies, Frank and Sheryl, we would often have ‘coffee chats’ on most Saturday mornings.  With everyone on speakerphone, we’d catch up on what we all had been into, discuss various current event topics, compare our upcoming Canal camping dates and such.  It was during one of these coffee chats that we mentioned our upcoming trip to Gulf Shores and encouraged them to join us.  It really didn’t take too much encouragement since they both like the area as much as we do.  However, they had a different campground from the Gulf State Park Campground that they liked staying in, so even though we wouldn’t be camping together we would be there during the same timeframe.

With Frank being a career over-the-road truck driver, he has a wealth of knowledge in many areas.  One of which are the best routes to get you just about anywhere you would want to go.  We have found this to be certainly true when it comes to traveling south.  So, when he suggested we take the route to Gulf Shores through Mississippi that they take, we were more than willing to give it a go.  Especially since we’d already discussed how we’d both like to see Mississippi, and it would be a welcomed change from traveling through the busy cities of Nashville, Birmingham and Montgomery.

On the morning of April 25 we headed out the drive at 6am, making our way South where we’d hit US 45 and follow it on down through Mississippi.  Destination for night one?  A Corps of Engineers campground Frank and Sheryl had found right outside Meridian, MS. Twiltley Branch campground on the Okatibbee Lake, near Collinsville, MS. {https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232725}  

Since they were able to leave out a couple of days ahead of us, with plans of arriving in Gulf Shores ON April 25, we chose to stay on the exact site they’d stayed on while they were at Twiltley Branch for the weekend.  On our first night out, we’d be on site 37 backed RIGHT up to the water.

Twiltley Branch is a really nice, small campground with around 60 sites.  Most of the sites have either a direct view of the water or are within a short walking distance.  It was easy to see that, like the Canal Campground, it is very much a fisherman’s or boater’s campground.  We could see a well-used boat ramp just across the way from our site.  

The site, itself, was what we’d consider rather spacious.  We ended up only having one “close” neighbor while we were there, and really didn’t even notice they were around except that they spoke to us while we were setting up.  The other note I can make about our stay is that it was rather quiet.  Sure, there were a few kids around playing and being kids, but for the most part it was very peaceful.  This became especially true the next morning, a Monday morning, as I’m pretty sure most of the families with children headed home the evening before.  I’m also quite certain all of that is determined by the time of year and the days of the week one might be there.

Overall, we enjoyed our stopover where we could rest up a bit, and split the driving time over two days instead of wearing ourselves out on a 10+ hour drive.  Come the next morning, however, we were certainly ready to get back on the road for a final destination!

I’m going to split this trip up into two posts so as not to ramble on too much.  So, be sure to be on the lookout for the continuation of our latest “big” trip south!

As always, I ask you to comment below to let me know you stopped by.  I love seeing who is visiting!

XOXO, T

Our Mississippi sunrise on Akatibbee Lake.