As RV campers (who also happen to dig live music festivals), we’re witness each fall to an occurrence that saddens us. Friends and fellow campers beyond Florida are telling tales of some alien practice: winterizing their campers. What is this “winterizing” they speak of so forlornly? The short story is simple: Campers carry water in pipes and holding tanks. Let it freeze, and both could burst. Not only would the repair cost no small fortune, but it could be next winter before the RV repair shop gets to your job. So, owners drain the system and pipe in antifreeze. It’s an annual chore that people like us in SoFla cannot begin to comprehend. Besides, we’re putting Damp Rid in our rigs during the summertime. We all bemoan the chores that speak to the seasons we may loathe, for one reason or another.
Down here, we have two seasons: Summer, and Summer Lite. What we don’t have is that wicked year ’round live music scene it seems folk up north take for granted. We wanted to know if they really appreciate what they’ve got.
While many touring acts large and small will hit every arena, night club, or dance hall from Brooklyn to Madison to Eugene from January to December, few want to drop south of Orlando (or what we in the Sunshine State call the I-4 Corridor) – even in winter. It’s warm and all. But 200 miles to Fort Lauderdale – and 200 miles back – that’s a freakin’ haul.
Things are improving. We refreshed a post back in June 2019 about how South Florida is no longer some “musical Siberia,” with some bands willing to make the trek past Orlando, even if they’re not scheduled to pack an arena or stadium. It’s those smaller acts we dig – and want to see more of.
So it got us to thinking: As a live music-loving camper, what would you prefer: Live up north and have great music year-round – but have to shutdown, close up and winterize your RV – and lose winter camping and music festivals and outdoor live music? Or live in Florida (or anywhere along the southern States), and have less live music and fewer festivals nearby, but have winter camping?
In short, would you trade your northern October-to-April music scene for Florida’s winter camping?
So #RoadtripMojo asked. And 150 people spoke, or at least voted. Some spoke, and their comments are below.
The results delivered a clear majority: 65% want their music during the wintertime; 35% want to camp. And we also asked, Why? Why one is better than the other?
Before we explore, first a little into our thought process. We live in extreme South Florida. We’re a five-hour tow from St. Augustine and the Amphitheater, six hours from Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, 10 hours from Charleston, 12 hours from Atlanta and a little farther from Asheville. We’re and 19 hours from the Lockn Festival.
Sure, if we were EDMers, Okeechobee Music Festival would be a breeze 90 minutes away. But that Florida-Georgia line alone is a haul.
It doesn’t help that when we ask folk at #SOSMP where they’re from, they’ll say Jax, or Destin, or Gainesville, or some place that they’d already be setting up before we have two hours’ drive behind us.
So we’re not boondocking in complete solitude in choosing camping over music. A third of our brethren said they want winter camping. Pitch your tent, dock your RV, or even hang your hammock on a clear and cloudless wintry night, when the humidity’s low, there’s a nip in the air and a billion stars all around. Catch the smell of the forest – or the campfire’s embers burning low.
Nothing compares.
So what did the people say? Crystal from Virginia used to live in Florida. She winterizes her camper but still camps.
Hammock winner Kym Campbell Eckard and her husband Joe live in North Carolina and keep their travel trailer in storage in Georgia or Florida from October through April. This way, they get to take in Florida’s winter camping season. “It makes our travel time shorter & less costly, no winterizing and it’s ready when we are,” she sid.
Rebecca Wallace chose Florida’s winter “because of the warmth and because my good friend Reggae Louis Bryant is down there performing shows.” Don’t need more reason than that.
Carrin Wahlflower said, “NOTHING compares to the local Madison, Wisconsin, music scene. Probably the only reason I still live in this frozen tundra.” To which we replied, “You and I are the reasons we posted this poll. You can’t camp during winter, but have a great music scene. We can camp, but the touring music scene in SoFla is seriously lacking.”
It wasn’t some resounding answer to our question. Some like their music; some like to camp. Some like both, and festivals like November’s Danksgiving in Fort White or January’s Everglades Roots Festival in Ochopee could well bring some chilly air to camping festivals.
We in Florida can have the best of both worlds – camping in winter, festivals in the spring and fall, and maybe a drive north for some out-of-state fests during the summer. As for summer? We’ll hang around, as long as bands are willing to make the drive past the I-4 Corridor.
Is that too much to ask? Don’t answer. We already know…