Just over a month ago, we were in Monterey, California enjoying the beautiful Pacific views, monarchs and otters. Then we headed east and stayed at Elks Lodges along the gulf coast and the Atlantic coast, making our way to North Carolina.
The only place we stopped that wasn’t an Elks Lodge was Marfa, TX, our first night on the road. We stayed in the parking lot of the Marfa Mystery Lights Overlook, Marfa, Texas. Unfortunately, it was cold, windy and rainy, so we didn’t get to see the lights, but it was fun to try, and we got a good nights sleep. We woke up the next morning to 28 degrees and fog. This campsite was over 4500 feet. We saw atlas deer, an aoudad (also called a Barbary sheep) and two elk in west Texas as we passed through.
West Texas has a lot of rest areas, and it is OK to sleep there. East Texas didn’t have nearly as many rest areas.
Night two of our trip was the Katy, TX Elks Lodge #2628. They had about 4 hookup spots behind the lodge, and dry camping in the grass near the BBQ pit. It was nice and quiet for sleeping and a super friendly lodge. Our first drink was free. It was just blocks from I-10, so a very convenient place to stay.
As you cross over from east Texas into western Louisiana, there is a rest area/visitors center. Stop there and walk the nature trail. It is beautiful!
Night three was the New Orleans Elk Lodge #30. They had a special dinner with live music for $10. They had nice restrooms associated with their pool. They are usually only open during pool season, but they allowed us to use them. Nice hot showers! Lake Pontchartrain is 34 feet below sea level. Very strange.
Long Beach, Port and Biloxi, Mississippi were on the way to our next lodge. These cities had beautiful houses and sparkling white beaches. There is an Elks Lodge in Biloxi, MS that we didn’t have an opportunity to stay at. It had a nice grassy area for RVs, but no hookups that we could see. It is right across the street from the gulf beach. It was very quiet, no showers, but we could use our own if it’s warm enough. Biloxi is a gambling town, like Laughlin, NV.
We also stopped at Dauphin Island, AL where we visited the bird sanctuary and the coastal dunes. The coastal waters in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are very brown and muddy looking.
Night four was Fort Walton, Florida lodge #1795. It is a huge lodge right on the water. This lodge wasn’t as friendly as some of the others, but they had a great location! We parked the Jeep and walked over to Rick’s on the island for dinner. They had a really good 3 piece band called Hi Tide playing as we ate. We split a bowl of gumbo and a bowl of creamy crab soup. Both were excellent! We also shared a shrimp boil, also very good. The staff was fun and made for a great evening! We were able to walk along the water instead of having to walk on the road to get to the restaurant. When we woke up it was 34 degrees, with a 14 mile per hour wind. The real feel temperature was 28. Burr!
The Suwannee rest area near exit 295 on I-10 in Florida is super nice! Overnight camping is fine in Florida rest areas and they have night time security.Night 5 was Savanna, Georgia Elks Lodge #183. It was super quiet, tucked away in a neighborhood. They were super laidback and didn’t expect any payment since we didn’t need hookups, but we gave them $20.
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was very touristy with tons of shopping. Candy shops and putt putt golf were plentiful!Since it wasn’t high season, we had all of our campsites to ourselves except for Fort Walton.
Early April:
From our destination in North Carolina, we also did a quick overnight trip. The outer banks islands were super cold and windy, but had very pretty beaches. South Nags Head is a quaint beach town feel this time of year with all of the houses on stilts. So many rentals, so it appears to be very busy during the summer months. It was almost completely deserted in early April. During this one night adventure, we stayed at the Norfolk, Virginia Elks. The lodge wasn’t open, but the maintenance men and the RV host lady were all super nice.
On our trip back home from North Carolina, we traveled much faster, completing the drive in three days. This time our route was through Tennessee, Arkansas and New Mexico.
Night one was the Elks Lodge in Hot Springs, Arkansas. There were two other very nice couples staying here. It was an enjoyable place to stay. Hunan Restaurant has good food and service.
Night two was the Carlsbad, New Mexico Elks lodge. Carlsbad is a very busy oil town, so any other place would have been very expensive to stay. We paid $10 for our one night stay. The camping was in a dirt lot behind the building. A big hill blocked the wind that was blowing like crazy, so it was nice and quiet. We enjoyed taco Tuesday at the lodge. The people here were super friendly!
Since this trip, we have stayed at other Elks lodges. Here are some insights about each:
Albuquerque, NM
This elks lodge is very close to I-25, just south of I-40. They charge $25 per night and have 50 amp electric. If they are closed when you arrive, they have a self serve pay station. It was a nice quiet stay with only one other RV.
Ft. Smith, Arkansas
This elks lodge was just a few minutes off of I-40. We arrived on a day that they were closed, so just made ourselves at home in their gravel lot. No water, electric or dump, but a nice quiet location.
