Bennett Field Primitive Camp

I have mentioned previously that I am a planner, and what seems like sudden, chaotic changes of direction in my life are actually worked out ahead of time. For the first time in my 63 years of life I am doing this quite openly for anyone who wishes to watch though I don't flatter myself that anyone would want to follow my example. I do recommend that if you can plan you should, and if you can't thanks to unemployment a death or some other unforeseen catastrophe brace yourself as change is very hard.

I mention all that by way of explanation that our desire to spend a night in a Florida Forest Service campground was one more step in the planning process. This was the first time in a year of van ownership we spent actual cash money to spend the night. The charge online was $8 per night with a one time administrative fee to pay the company managing the reservations, and that was another $8. Even for a single night fees were nothing compared to commercial campgrounds of course.

Bennett Field has half a dozen spots so we knew mingling and virus spreading wasn't going to be on the cards but the size of each space was astonishing. Our 21 foot Promaster van was lost in the acreage. We had a fire pit with left over wood, a grill and a sturdy picnic table set in our private patch of deep woods. It was as serene as being alone and we very nearly were. 

The reservation system said this spot was occupied Saturday night so we showed up for one night on Sunday but all we could see through the woods was a giant fifth wheel trailer and some blue tarps giving added protection to a tent camp, protection they were going to need as the night ramped up.

Warning, Toilet Talk, skip the paragraph as needed.

The single toilet and the wildlife proof green trash cans took care of everything we needed and our ability to pour out our porta potty makes a night in a  place like this extra useful on longer trips. I like the versatility of the glorified bucket as I can empty it everywhere and don't have to seek out specific holes in the ground to drain a  fixed tank through a hose. I am not bothered by the contents and we keep it clean and smell-free in its own shower compartment in the van.  I pursue simplicity as much as I can which is why we went all electric with no propane and  a massive 35 gallon water tank so we can live off grid without hook ups with the greatest of  ease and comfort. I hate to say it out loud but we planned the exact right van for us.

We based our retirement vehicle on our boat experiences traveling from California to key West in Gemini catamaran another long trip together that took six months to plan, but had us buy the boat two years before the trip. By the time we left the boat was bedded down and we had a vague idea how to sail it as San Francisco Bay is full of challenges for unwary sailors with currents, winds, lack of wind and untested anchorages. Consequently sailing down the coast of Baja Mexico was exciting not terrifying.

Having given ourselves two years to come to terms with living and traveling in a van which is a very small space we are happy to note that it is getting easier. I actually look forward to our trips and I know my wife does and she loves cooking in the van and surprising me with her versatility. Van travel exhausts Rusty but he has learned to cope and now when we arrive I throw open the door, he finds a patch of shady grass and sits there, and given time topples over and sleeps there. Practice makes perfect as they used to tell me.

This idea of paying to camp in a "primitive" site seemed rather overwhelming to me, requiring me to go online and create one more sign on name and password and select dates and make a commitment etc... etc...but I got through it. I am not keen to sit in a campground plugged in to water sewer and electricity and cable TV cheek by jowl with other campers but this was very different. They may not all be as expansive as this but we got a taste for primitive camping here.

We organized ourselves at the picnic table, my wife with her watercolors and me with my paperback and predictably when the gods realized I was off duty they heavens opened and it rained. And thundered and rained hard and though we the humans enjoyed the sound of water and the elements outside as accompaniment to our indoor recreation Rusty hated the sound of thunder and demanded some attention.

My dreams of sunset hikes in big trees, long shadows and sitting outdoors to the sound of a proper mainland forest settling down for the night evaporated, or rather drowned.

Bennett Field lies about five miles from the paved road that connects the forest to Highway 92 which is the main road from  DeLand to Daytona Beach. Bennett Field is the camping symbol middle right of the free map we picked up. We entered from the paved Indian Lake Road at the bottom of the map.

As we left the campground to take the van for an electrical adjustment at Custom Coach Creations in DeLand I snapped a few pictures through the campground:

Our neighbors barely visible from our van in the fifth wheel and beyond them a tent covered in a  blue tarp for the hard core campers:

After we visited the factory and they spent the morning improving air circulation for our 3000 watt inverter before we  drove eight hours home. The inverter is the brains of the van, monitoring electricity whether it comes from a 110 volt line or from the solar panels or the engine as we drive. It had been overheating and shutting off when we plugged the van into a power outlet and also if we ran the air conditioning constantly which is our heaviest load by far for our 600 amp lithium batteries. Apparently it needed better air circulation to stop overheating and the factory made the adjustment for free as part of our year long warranty. Custom Coach has been brilliant to deal with and we highly recommend them.

Getting out of Bennett Field down Rima Ridge was a slippery sandy affair but we did fine with careful steady driving. Next month I am taking the van to Jacksonville to get a front winch installed from FreedomVanGo, a dealer installing $3,000 Van Compass option that should give me the confidence to take my front wheel drive van into lonely sandy beaches in Mexico and points south. I am not a fan of four wheel drive as I much prefer paved roads to dirt but the winch is a Hail Mary addition designed to prevent us being stranded if deflating tires or sand planks (already onboard) don't work to get us out of mud or sand. Like I said I spend a lot of time figuring what makes sense to me and what doesn't. Rock hopping doesn't, soft sand  en route to a lonely isolated beach does. 

Practice makes perfect and we are well aware Alaska next year will look like this much of the time. Being bummed out about rain or 60 degree temperatures will be an unaffordable luxury. I still prefer palms and sunshine but most of the world isn't like that so here goes...we go where it sometimes snows. I shall complain a little I can promise you that. 

Driving the sandy roads covered our running boards which is actually pretty cool for a van that some people think is not overland material. I know it was hardly a test of it's capabilities driving wet sand, but for me the idea that I can take the van places where it is not expected to go will be part of the fun of retirement. I remember we anchored of an island on Panama's Caribbean coast having negotiated the infamous canal and a sailor in a heavy traditional looking boat rowed over to say hello and when he found out we had sailed our flimsy catamaran from San Francisco he looked astonished  and blurted:  "They aren't supposed to be able to do that are they?" A lightweight catamaran has since been proved to be a very capable voyager. Perhaps the humble Promaster can do the same.

It was a fun weekend and we practiced a couple of new skills, spending a discreet night in a  bank parking lot after our planned stop in a freeway rest area was nixxed by construction and then dealing with rain and wind in Flagler Beach and practicing converting our bed into two couches to use as a day sitting area in the rain. 

The factory workers saw the sand caked in the van and they approved because the comfortable interior they built for us nether creaks nor breaks, at least not so far and we are testing everything.

The van as kennel, fridge/freezer on the right with toilet compartment behind it, sink with drain tank, and electrical induction stove on the left next to it. The bed in the back occupied by Rusty converts electrically into a settee (couch) on either side with a table that can be set up between them. We store the bedding in a compression bag when it isn't deployed as a very comfortable queen sized bed across the back of the van. Only the Promaster van is wide enough to accommodate a 6'2" sideways across the van. That saves a ton of space. 

At 70 square feet it has everything except a ton of room. So far so good.

Betty Steflik Preserve

Warning! If you walk through this nature preserve YOU WILL DIE! And it will be a horrible death, bitten by snakes and eaten by alligators (which will drown you first). DANGER! 

Rusty ignored the sign as did we, for this preserve is lovely and unexpected and a great place to go for a walk if you are in Flagler Beach a town that is full of its own character. And dangerous snakes and whatnot they say.  I promise you will be fine if you go for a walk, and you will come away relaxed and sweaty. 

It was an overcast day with a  threat of rain yet we gaily ignored the clouds and parked the van in the vast spacious parking lot. We took off with a dog and a camera  but not an umbrella between us. It is said the gods favor fools and drunks and we weren't drunk.

In a moment I shall dive into the life and times of the redoubtable Betty Steflik but first allow me to point out what an extraordinary trail they have built in her memory. It was of course preceded by a Dire Warning that death lurked in the undergrowth but you may be surprised to learn they exaggerated just a tad. You could argue it was a little much, building a  six foot wide swath through the brush but unlike a narrow mysterious trail, here you could roll a wheel chair down here it was that smooth. Even under overcast skies we enjoyed the views, though for me sunshine improves every vista.

I also read the homeless were cluttering up the park and annoying visitors by their presence so the city organized a location for them and guess what? The park has benches and facilities and no trash and no homeless.  And no heavy handed police presence either. It can be done apparently. I quite like Flagler Beach.

They say the park is 217 acres and I rather ran out of statistics after that. Trails are miles long and all that. All I know is you can walk and hang out to your heart's content and on that you will have to trust me. Or go and check it out for yourself if you aren't fighting snowdrifts in some dark region of the continent.

There was some moisture in the air, and on the trees but we carried no umbrellas or ponchos or anything. Because we are smart. If you follow our adventures on the road after we retire I fear you will see more of the same as I am a rather spontaneous walker so perhaps now is the time to point out I fear dehydration in suburban America about as much as I fear snakes and alligators and stuff. I don’t carry water as it is heavy and inconvenient and convenience stores are everywhere. I just wait to drink (and pee) back at the van. Bears in Alaska will be another story and we are busy researching bear spray brands.

As long as I have my camera I am happy and am able to suffer appalling privation. As appalling as it gets in a country with a positive dread of "discomfort."

Then we arrived at the boardwalk and there seemed to be a network across the salt ponds and through the black mangroves. My wife kept insisting it would end soon but it never did. We passed a fisherman and his bicycle at a respectful distance and he said the boardwalk went to the library of all places so on we trudged. Indeed the library proudly announces that they are located near one of the entrances to the park. You can see why they are so proud of this place.

Betty Steflik was a powerful force for good in Flagler beach they say. She married a man with a Hungarian last name but she was born more with the more alliterate last name of "Best." Michael Steflik died a year after his wife and he got a short column in the Daytona Beach News-Journal where his wife who died in 2004 made quite a splash with her passing. The long and the short of it as far as I can see is Betty Steflik, a force of nature, is the reason Flagler beach is unique as she fought to create a local community of local interests. This park is her formal memorial.

Informally the redoubtable Betty Steflik set about preserving the coastline and the marshes inside her city where she served 12 years as a city commissioner. The result is startling: not just this lovely spot but also the fact that the coast road -State Road A1A - runs right along the beach, where you can park the length of it and have easy access thanks to Steflik's innovative footbridges that preserve the dunes and the sea oats. There is no construction on the seaward side of the road which difference you will notice the minute you drive out of Flagler Beach and into the neighboring towns of Drearily Normal and Stunningly Normal.

Florida's beaches are public property and the state mandates public access which developers duly provide. The trick they discovered is to provide access but deny parking so most people drive on by. Flagler beach is driven by some other mandate, to make access accessible which makes this an outstanding town. I'm really glad the mysterious Kelly suggested I visit. 

No red mangroves here as the climate is decidedly not tropical like the Keys but the scenery is in all other respects similar and to my eyes equally fascinating.

We made it all the way round and back to the van and had settled in for lunch in the empty sandy parking lot when the heavens opened, again, from under clearing skies and took us completely by surprise. We closed the sliding door, finished our sandwiches and congratulated ourselves on our timing, and for once it was perfect.

After we arrived back at the town across the endless boardwalk we turned north at the library and paced the Daytona 500 on some nondescript street filled with cars unaccountably anxious to reach their destinations by the thousands. The absence of a sidewalk was glaring and had Betty Steflik been alive I'd have written her a sharp note asking for some pedestrian friendly intervention. Mind you I expect if she were still alive the sidewalk would be there already but perhaps I am unfairly attributing her superhuman powers. 

Steflik was born in North Carolina in 1917 and died in Florida in 2004 and the state was lucky to have her is the only conclusion I can draw. 

Flagler Beach

 Kelly said...

Come over to Flagler Beach dogs are welcome and you can park the van on the beach.

Friday, January 22, 2021 at 12:21:00 PM EST

I don't know Kelly but that was some good advice. I have discovered I like Flagler beach. Naturally when we were there on Valentine's Day it was overcast with intermittent drizzle and rain and strong winds. Not really beach weather unless you were a surfer looking for excitement in muddy brown waters stirred up by strong winds. 

I took an umbrella but forgot my vest so I was exhibiting the sort of toughness you expect from a Keys resident where 70 degrees is as cold as you want. My wife chose to record my stupidity for posterity.

It takes courage of a particular sort to live in a house painted Pepto Bismol pink but this town has the rather sturdy attribute of encouraging non conformity. 

Beach towns on the east coast of Florida have their own character and they only faintly resemble the beach communities on the west coast. Florida's Atlantic coast is straight and relatively featureless though the sand beaches stretch the entire length they are pounded by actual ocean waves driven by southeast winds that land unobstructed along the coast. Florida's Gulf coast is much gentler, with heavy summer rains and profound humidity along a coastline broken up by sandbars and islands and natural inlets. Take your pick.

Any town with a law office decorated in the Jimmy Buffett style can't be all bad, can it?

"Private property" is a sign common to the streets of Key West where tourists have trouble learning boundaries, mostly because residents don't make it easy except for the few smart ones who defend themselves in print.

I have no idea what turtles have to do with ice cream but I suddenly wanted one (an ice cream not a turtle) so I suppose the vehicle was doing its job.

Burger Bob indefatigably holding up a double while Rusty the indefatigable ploughed on by pressed forward by a  strong humid southerly breeze.

Flagler beach has a central attraction in the pier that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. The beach apparently is good for shell collectors but as I am a nomad and not much given to collecting I can only judge by the actions of others. They seemed to be collecting stuff from the sand, either that or they were doing some form of walking yoga unknown to me.

Check out these ridiculously simple and effective garbage cans placed the sand dune "overwalks" which are foot bridges designed to get people on the beach without disturbing the dunes and sea oats. 

The unusually broad public beach access and lack of waterfront development is attributable to one Betty Steflik who spent the last 25 years of a long life bound and determined to preserve what she saw and liked in this town. She served as a city commissioner and according to her family and friends she was someone who never took no for an answer.  That Flagler Beach is so eccentric is directly attributable to her activism, which ended when she died in 2004.

Indeed dogs are allowed on the beach at each end of town, prohibited only between 10th Avenues North and South. Very civilized except that it was so windy and wet and gross we limited ourselves to wandering city surface streets. it is the law that when I am off and most especially when I am being hip in a van it must rain copiously and endlessly. Naturally we left our van life ponchos safely locked up in the van. So we took refuge in the lobby of the pier located right there with all convenient conveniences. Use CAUTION though as death and dismemberment lurks everywhere, as do lawsuits:

Rusty watched the squall blow through and we did likewise. This town has public benches and trashcans as well as handy toilets.  The sign said "If you are lucky enough to live close to Flagler Beach then you are lucky enough." Some truth in that. If you have a buck fifty you can go for a walk on the pier (No Dogs). You have to pay more to walk on the pier and kill fish but the fees are modest and the facilities are clean and organized.

And in case you thought Flagler Beach were perfect check out this Stalinist cube across from the pier. This is what Flagler Beach might have been had Betty Steflik not spent the last 25 years of her life objecting to.

Pay the man a buck fifty and the pier is yours, all day if you want.

There were quite a lot of vans parked around town. I tried to hide mine behind a palm and failed. I could have parked at the beach but it was extra windy and rainy there, just my luck. We walked.

The fine print below says North of 10th Avenue North and South of 10th Avenue South dogs are welcome; it's just the strip in the middle is reserved for boring people without dogs.

Notice the total absence of waterfront development on the ocean side and the absence of condo high rises on the inland side.  

Not your average outdoor beach chair.

There shall be festivities Valentine's Day no matter what!

A pretty little town.