On Christmas Eve Day, it was time to leave Phipps RV Park heading for our next destination, Ortona South, another favorite Army Corps of Engineers (COE) campground, located in Moore Haven, FL, a distance of approximately 90 miles from Stuart. The trip here from the Stuart area was mostly state highways which presented a pleasant and scenic drive,  traversing massive sugar cane plantations along the south side of Lake Okeechobee and lots of other interesting visuals.

We have been to Ortona a number of times over the years, stopping there often either before or after our stays on our site at Riverbend Motorcoach Resort in Labelle, FL.

Note that Ortona South is on the same Okeechobee waterway as our last stay at Phipps County Park. Phipps is at the first and easternmost lock in Stuart, FL. Moving west the second lock is on the eastern side of “The Lake” (Okeechobee), the third lock is on the western end of The Lake, and Ortona south is the fourth lock. There is one more lock called the Franklin Lock closer to Fort Myers. The Okeechobee Waterway is a great shortcut for boaters to go between the FL coasts.

To read some interesting facts about the Ortona South lock, check out this website.

The campground amenities here include drinking water, flush toilets, showers, WiFi (near west end restroom only) and a dump station.  Campsites can accommodate tents, trailers and RVs (from 30 to 45 feet). Each site also has a paved parking pad, table, shade structure, fire ring and grate. The campground description states maximum vehicle size is 40′, and it is true that most (but not all) of the pads are 40′ long, however the total site length is often (but not always) much longer than that due to the “driveway” length. There is absolutely no problem here for big rigs, including 45 footers like ours, but do be aware there are a small number of sites that would not be appropriate so choose carefully. For full details see our blog site review which also includes a dashcam video of driving thru the park: https://myquantumdiscovery.com/ortona-fl-ortona-south-coe…

Our first seven days were spent on this large waterfront site at Ortona South. This was a pretty quiet stay. Christmas Day dinner was one of our favorite dishes, Shrimp Pernod served on spinach cakes. Yum (if I do say so myself!).

Walking along the canal, watching the boats pass through the locks, viewing the wildlife and sitting by a campfire occupied the majority of our time during our stay.  Having been there and done that over the years, we had no desire to fight the traffic to travel to Fort Myers, Naples or anywhere else.

Our only excursions were to the new Publix Super Market at Riverdale, a 30 minute drive to stock up on supplies, visits to Roosters on Route 80 produce stand for some fresh veggies and fruits.

Then there were several trips to the Alva Country Diner so we could resurrect our fond memories of their bacon and cheese omelettes for breakfast. And, of course, another trip to pick up a take out bucket of their broasted chicken. Yum!

Because we basically have to pack everything up, moving to another site is always a pain but in this case we didn’t want to be on the road on New Year’s Eve Day so we decided it would be best to move to a different site. For two nights, site #12 would be where we celebrate New Year’s Eve! Since it had been 8 days without a sewer hookup, we took the opportunity to first visit the dump station and empty our black and gray tanks before settling into the new site. Although it wasn’t a waterfront site and was located on the other side of the campground bordering a field and next to the bathhouse, it wasn’t a bad site. Trust me, it wasn’t a wild night – we were probably asleep by 11:00 p.m. :>) 

On this visit, one of the eastern lock gates was stuck in the closed position reducing the maximum transit width from 48′ to 24′. One large yacht came thru with a beam of 23′ so that was a tight squeeze.

We did meet with a sales agent at Riverbend – yes, we were considering buying a site, mainly so we would have someplace to go if one of us experiences a health issue. We have been looking at both Riverbend again and at Bella Terra. Riverbend wins from an aesthetics and amenities perspective but loses due to its rather remote location, the higher property taxes and high HOA fees.