I made a reservation at Jetty Park at Cape Canaveral instead in a few weeks. Not on the beach but close.

after whom it was named.

I met Gamble Rogers when our lounge hosted him for a two show concert at The Captain's Table in 

Cedar Key.  I had seen his performance before at Frog's Landing.  His good friend, Jim Carrick, is a friend of

mine.

Gamble was an accomplished finger pick style guitarist, a fine vocal performer, and a story teller.  His style

was referred to as mock heroic.  Hie was widely held as a very talented and extremely humble Southern

Gentleman.

He lost his life in an attempt to aid a tourist caught in the rip tide off the Flagler Beach area which now bears his name

The Good:  

Again, I am astonished at the foresight of the State of Florida to set aside areas such as this

for the common good.  Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area is a relatively small holding in the Florida

State Parks system, but it is squarely in the middle of some very valuable beach front real estate

Our campsite was literally atop the primary dune separating us from the Atlantic Ocean.  The sound of the

incoming surf was not to be drowned out by any campground activity, nor the traffic on A1A, which bisects

the park.

Boardwalks to the beach and overlooks abound.  Comfort stations with laundry and dish washing facilities

are very clean and well maintained.

Across A1A on the Intracoastal waterway there are canoe, kayak and bike rentals as well as a launch ramp.

The Not-So-Good:

Camp sites are very crowded with literally zero buffer.  Ours was adjacent to a "Beach Overlook" ramp,

which gave us a little elbow room, but still our neighbor was right there.  Bear in mind that our experience

has, to date, been with more traditional State Parks, so the close proximity may not be as much of a

negative to the commercial campground RV'er.

Negotiating the rig, big or small, into the sites is exciting, if not frustrating.  We got the 'Pod nestled in

with not much heart burn, but we watched several other bigger rigs back and fill for a while before getting

it right.  Maneuvering is made even more of a challenge if surrounding sites are already occupied, denying

one the option of some extra space.

In fairness, I have to admit that our visit was diminished by a couple of problems-  One of our pups was

not feeling well, and our R-Dome became buffeted by a front that arrived at midnight, requiring me to

dismantle it in my PJ's.

We didn't have a very good experience, and ended up leaving after one night (of a two night reservation).

Since there are many, many other Florida State Parks that we want to experience, we will leave 

Gamble Rogers to those who will undoubtedly appreciate its virtues, which are many.