Grimaldi's Pizzeria - Miramar Beach, Florida

Our second stop on our road trip took us to visit a friend from my teenage years.  We stopped in Miramar Beach to eat at a dog friendly restaurant called Grimaldi’s Pizzeria.  This particular restaurant is located at 780 Grand Blvd #100 in Miramar Beach.  We enjoyed our lunch, great company and great food.  The dogs loved it and were very good!  At first, it was a little chilly on the outside patio, but once we got to a table that was in the sun and some of the wind was blocked all was great.

Here is a quick Google Map of our travels thus far.

River's Edge Campground, Holt, Florida

The office of this campground.

River’s Edge Campground was a good stop from the perspective of driving time and is located on the beautiful banks of the Yellow River in Okaloosa County in Florida.  We arrived about 5pm and had time to setup our camping site before taking the dogs for a walk down to the river.  The river was low which created some nice beach areas for us to walk around on and the dogs loved rolling in the sand (thankfully, the sand falls off all of them since they are short haired).

Our campsite was across from the office of the River’s Edge campground.  Things we liked:

1. Lots of beautiful trees to provide shade
2. Water and electrical hookup
3. Picnic table
4. Pet friendly
5. Wifi (yeah!!)

Other things to note:

1. The site was dirt/sand
2. Small bath house with shower and restroom
3. No dump station

It should be noted that ALL of the campgrounds that we stayed at were pet friendly since we had our 3 dogs, Abby, Ollie and Rue travelling with us. That's our kids waiting for us to be ready - we always kept our dogs on harness and leash when outside 'tied up'.  I personally didn't want to spend my vacation trying to find my dog because they thought it was a good idea to chase that squirrel.

They did have a small bath house but we did not use it.  Instead used our little wet bath in the Bushwhacker.

This was our first experience camping in a privately owned campground.  Since we completed our trip, I found that all 3 of the private campgrounds did offer wifi whereas the state parks did not.

One thing I did not like, our site did not have a sewer hookup nor did they have a dump station.  I have now learned that if they indicate there is not sewer hookup at the campsite, I should ensure they have a dump station!

By the time we arrived at this location, we had driven approximately 474 miles.  In discussion with many of our friends that have done a good bit of RV travelling, they all indicated that we should not travel more than 350 miles per day.  After completing this trip, I know why they say that!  Because you

1. don’t want to set up your campsite in the dark
2. you probably don’t want to find the campground in the dark
3. the offices close by 6pm
4. you’ll get tired from riding or driving each day and want time to relax

Here's some photographs of the Yellow River that we enjoyed walking to the evening we arrived and the morning before we headed out on the road again.

The banks of the Yellow River reminded me of the Hillsborough River here by our home - cypress trees, cypress knees, and probably some wildlife (like gators) but we didn't see any (just squirrels).

OLLIE - 7 years old as of summer 2024.  She is a litter mate of Rue's.

RUE - for the curious, per Dog DNA, Rue and Ollie are mostly Australian Shepard, Miniature American Shepard, tiny bit of Chiwawa and the rest is 'terrier' (no specific breed).  She is Ollie's 'big sister' (they are litter mates).  Often people say "Look at the twins!"

ABBY - She is our oldest dog, at 8 1/2 years of age.  Abby went gray at a fairly young age as she has anxiety issues but loves being with us.  Abby is mostly beagle mixed with coon hound.  She does have a few other breeds, but nothing dominant.

Sunrise the next morning found the temperature at 41 degrees - very nice and cool.  I was loving it after the hot summer we had here in Tampa.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay here.  Most of the people camping at this campground appeared to be 'long termers' so we didn't have the opportunity to talk with any of them.

Here are a few general campground photographs to get a feel for this campground.

Look close and you can see our white truck and little camper at the last one in this line of RVs!

We are all packed up now and about ready to take off for our next stop!  Stay tuned to see the next blog post soon!  For additional photographs from this camping site, click Photographs from River's Edge Campground and on the road.