We reserved a monthly spot while in town for the school year, but chose to leave after two weeks (forfeiting what we had paid for a deposit and additional two weeks of board).
Our first concern was that this is not a very pet-friendly campground. There are no waste stations available, so we had to create our own by buying a small trash can to leave by our camper door. We were fine with doing this, but the owner/manager, Gail, still accused us of not picking up after our dog in spite of the fact that he was not the only dog there so she had no reason to think it was him. Also, he is a hunting breed so he needs lots of exercise, but when we asked where the owners would prefer we throw the ball for him, they offered to let us use the nearby hunting land (but recommended I wear orange just in case there were hunters). I did not feel that was a safe option, and I did not feel like dogs were a welcome part of the community.
We ended up leaving because there is NO Verizon cell service within about a mile of the campground and my family was unable to get in touch with me. I would have been fine with this if we had reliable internet access because we could use email or Skype, but our Jetpack got no signal, and the campground wifi often did not provide access. We could usually get two devices logged into it, which meant we were constantly juggling two phones, two laptops for our work, and forget about any TV. Also, I was afraid to take my dog for a walk for fear of offending the owners.
When we found another place with better signal and a more pet-friendly staff, we had to leave on a Monday evening after my better half got off work in order to get set up at our new place. I had packages coming anyway, so my better half advised Gail's husband that we would bring the gate cards back when our packages were all in, since it would be an hour-long trip back (and a quarter tank of gas).
A week later, I got a call from Gail at 9:11 AM on Sunday morning (which I do not consider to be an acceptable time for business). She left a voicemail asking when I was coming to pick up my packages. Since it seemed like my packages were in her way, I made arrangements to come the next day, calling her in advance to keep her informed. The office phone rarely gets answered, so I had to leave a voicemail advising I was coming as soon as I could, but I only had one of the gate cards with me and would have to bring the other one by later. I immediately got a call back while I was driving, so I didn't answer, but she called back repeatedly until I pulled over to pick up. One of the voicemails she left me was unusually nasty - she called me by my first name and snapped that unless I had both gate cards with me I was NOT getting ANY of my packages! and she hung up. When I was able to pull over and speak with her, she was audibly angry and kept telling me I would not get any of my property back until both of the gate cards were turned in. I was surprised because I thought getting the packages out of her way was more important, but I had no intention of keeping her property and her language and demeanor was completely unnecessary. I told her I would get the other gate card that night and come back as soon as I could.
The next day, I called to let her know I would come that day with both gate cards. Again, I had to leave a message because the phone usually goes unanswered. I tried two more times to get in touch with her to make sure I would be able to pick up my property, because I honestly felt that she would be rude if I arrived unexpectedly. I got all the way there (during her business hours, which start at noon) and the office was closed. No one in sight.
She returned my calls later that night and said she'd be available for the next two days. She finally gave me a THIRTY-MINUTE window where I could stop by and make the exchange. For full transparency, when I stopped by at that time, she was very pleasant and even made small talk about the weather.
Overall, this was an awful experience that I do not care to repeat. I admit, I may have been spoiled over the years being used to Southern hospitality, but I've never noticed such obvious absence of it. We are good residents who do our best to follow the rules, respect the grass and other residents' peace and quiet, and rarely ask campground offices for anything, but we were treated like we were rowdy teenagers or something. It was worth it to leave early and find a friendly and welcoming campground. read more