Seashells by Millhill

Please Accept My Apology

I apologize for the bad way my blog is behaving. I am fixing things and appreciate my readers.

I am not big on making new plans just because the calendar says it’s a new year. But this January brought big changes to my way of thinking. I’ve neglected this blog, but now I am finding many problems with links not working, and so I apologize. I am on it! Fixing most of my older, seashell blog posts will take time, but I am doing it. I like sharing information about the seashells I find and photograph.

This blog has gone through a lot of upheavals as I try to figure out how best to create an income. I want the blog to help people find my products, if they are interested in such things. I do not want it to be a salesy, “please buy my stuff” blog, with loads of advertisements. I will be adding one page with products that link to my Zazzle store.

Seashells by Millhill began as a fun blog about my shells. As a New Hampshire resident (when I started), I no longer collected Florida seashells, but I had a collection. My job was to create photography products to sell from a print-on-demand site (Zazzle). The products would feature (and still do) my shell photography. So blogging about my shells, while selling my shell photos on postcards, stationery and ornaments, seemed like a great idea.

When I moved back to Florida, my son and I began boating. That was when I found some really wonderful wildlife to photograph and share. The saltwater Indian River is only a few miles from our house, and we boated on all the good days. Blogging about our adventures was fun, but I have always had trouble with the technology part. I made mistakes by always changing things and I think that is how my links were lost. As I said, I am not tech savvy.

The worst of it is that I never realized how many links were broken! If you have been reading my blog and encountering broken links and 404 page not found headings, I am so sorry. This mostly affects the older seashell pages.

While cleaning up my Pinterest boards, I wondered why I had so few views and link outs. Well, this is why – the links went nowhere! I’m embarrassed. The items (free coloring pages) and stories I want to share have become very hard to find. I have a lot of cleaning to do.

My time was focused elsewhere for too long. We began camping locally and did less boating. I really got into my knitting hobby and blogged a lot about that on my old New England blog. One day, a few years ago, I decided that I needed to begin growing my own food. I turned one of my other blogs into a Florida gardening blog. Yes, I have too many blogs.

I hope you will not give up on reading my posts, and one day soon they should all work correctly!

Leaving you with some photo faves from over the years. Thank you so much for reading.

horse conch seashells — Striped hermit crab

hermit inside tulip holding pear — Striped hermit crab

Back to Gamble Rogers For a Quick October Camping Trip

We took a quick camping trip to Gamble Rogers on the east coast of Florida. It was our second stay here, and it was beautiful.

Our original plan was to camp elsewhere, but when that fell through, we grabbed a nice spot at Gamble Rogers. It is the end of October, so the ungodly heat has passed, but our trip was still quite warm.

Gamble Rogers is a beautiful Florida state park. It is named after a beloved Florida folk singer who died trying to rescue a drowning swimmer. (Read about it here.)

Today, camping is available at two areas – on the ocean, or on the river. This simply means that the campsites are along the ocean (up on the dunes, with ocean access from the sites) and along the river, with access to the river down the road. We can’t see the river from the campsites.

We were here last February and it was pretty cold and windy, as I recall.

This time the weather was bright and sunny, but still very humid. We stayed in the camper during the hottest part of the day. One thing about almost all the campsites in this park is that there is very little shade.

I was able to book campsite #56 the day before we arrived! I lucked out. Our original plan was to stay at the Sebastian Inlet campground. That site turned out to be too small for our camper, so I cancelled, and then found the site at Gamble Rogers.

Whenever a campsite is cancelled, I get most of my money refunded. They do keep some of it to cover the booking fees. I hate to have to cancel, but sometimes it happens.

entrance and check in to Gamble rogers campground. — Entrance and check in

construction along the river and boatramp — Entrance and check in

We arrived right on time – check in is 3:00PM. They have three lanes and ask campers checking in to use the far right 2 lanes. Check in is quick, we get a hang tag for the truck, directions and rules (if you are not a returning camper), and we were on our way.

For those who stay on the ocean, you must turn around (there is a roundabout) and head back out and cross the road. For riverside campers, we follow the road past the boat ramp (and a construction zone, and closed boat ramp, when we camped), to the riverside loop. We knew exactly where to go as we had stayed in campsite #54 last time!

A view of a campsite at Gamble Rogers State Park, featuring RVs parked on both sides of a road, with palm trees and a clear blue sky in the background. — Riverside camping loop

A camping setup featuring a pickup truck parked beside a travel trailer at Gamble Rogers State Park, with palm trees and a clear blue sky in the background. — Riverside camping loop

Our campsite had a lot of sun. (Most of them are full sun.) Until late afternoon, we stayed inside the camper, or took a walk or bike ride, because we didn’t want to sit in the sun.

The beach is just across the road and so are the oceanside campsites. It is a quick bike ride, or short walk to access the beach.

The wheelchair ramp to the beach was closed this time. The sand was very soft so not great for bike riding on the beach.

ramp to the beach is closed — Ramp is closed

Early morning walk on the beach — Ramp is closed

The beach may have been damaged by a recent storm that hit. It spun just off the coast for hours, with wind and rain. We live less than an hour from Gamble Rogers State Park.

Oceanside Camping

After visiting the oceanside camping area, I’m pretty sure I would only book a stay here if certain sites were available. Then again, maybe not. This area is very tight. It has it’s own dump station, and a sandy loop at the end of the road for turning around.

Smaller campers and tent campers would work, but I don’t know how these big rigs did it!

A dirt road with several RVs parked on either side, under a clear blue sky, with a person riding a bicycle. — Oceanside campsites – I am looking toward the entrance from the far end (bath house).

After setting up at our site, we took a bike ride over to the ocean. Above is a photo looking down the row of oceanside campsites. Only a few spots actually have ocean views.

This area is also very sandy unlike the riverside camping, which is paved with gravel campsites.

Honestly, the only good thing about camping oceanside here would be the close access to the ocean. There is one set of stairs from the campers to get down to the beach – I think. Also, be aware that there are no lifeguards at this beach.

There are no views (for most), it is all sand, the main road is right behind you, sites are small and cramped, full sun, and the road is closed with a lock. Each time you want to drive somewhere, you deal with the chain lock (according to reviews). But campers love to camp on the beach. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Crossing the road orange flags in holder at Gamble Rogers State park campground and beach. — Crossing flags!

sunrise sunlight on edge of ocean with beach full of seaweed — Crossing flags!

If you need help crossing the main road – go get to the ocean from the riverside campsites, and back again – there are orange flags to wave at traffic! The road was not very busy, and crossing was a breeze. But, if you are a slow walker for any reason, know there is help in the form of a bright orange flag!

Making New Friends at the River Sunset

To get a nice view of the sunset, I took an early evening walk to the river. It was here, on the little dock, that I met a couple of gals who have a YouTube channel! Yup, it’s about camping full time. We talked a bit, and I got their online name: Honey I Roam. They recently posted a video about their stay at Gamble Rogers.

We had a great time enjoying the fresh ocean breeze, biking and walking. It was our usual short 2-night stay, but a great getaway.

Our next trip is back to Mike Roess Gold Head Branch campground to meet up with friends.

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Our Camping Trip to Silver Springs

Our first trip to stay at Silver Springs Campground was a lot of fun. This is a beautiful spot to camp, and is just down the road from Silver Springs and a chance to paddle the Silver River.

Silver Springs is a popular tourist attraction in the Ocala National Forest. The springs have a long time connection to Hollywood as many television shows and movies were filmed (at least in part) there. The Silver Springs campground has a museum with lots of information about this.

This was our first time camping at the Silver Springs Campground. We love the place. It is a Florida State Park and can be found at the state park website.

The Campsite

By the time we reserved a campsite, there were not many openings left. We took #52 because our friends were in #58 at the other end of this short loop. Site 52 is a pull through, and the picnic table, and sitting area faces the only bath house for this loop and the one next to it.

Silver Springs campground campsite #52 — Large site

View of camper in our campsite from the bathhouse across the road. — Large site

We never spend time inside our camper, unless we have bad weather. So, we sit outside and sweat when the weather is hot. Our campsite was at the end of a loop, with a bathhouse across the road from us. The site has some shade, but we put out the awning and left it out.

Friendly campers were always walking by and saying hello. The place was super quiet at night also.

I can see why this site was not booked. It is not exactly private, with everyone walking by to hit the bathroom. Many people also use the dish-washing station. This bath house also services the loop next door, so, it can be a busy spot. A dumpster with a noisy door was also situated next to the bath house.

None of this was a big deal. We had a great time. The site was very large, with a hard-packed gravel surface. This keeps the camper cleaner than being on sand! However, we almost had to camp using a tent because our trailer was in the shop being fixed. It would have been very difficult to set up a tent on that gravel.

Riding the Trail

We chose to ride our bikes down the trail to the river. Not e-bikes, and mine is a beach cruiser. Once we arrived at the end of the road, there were many paddlers pulling up from the river for a break. Also, if you want to tow your own craft the 1/2 (approx.) mile through the woods, you could launch from here.

This is a freshwater river – the Silver River – that contains springs. which keep the water mostly clear. It also means there are alligators.

And keep your eyes open for monkeys! Monkeys were brought into the area long ago, and they have multiplied. I just watched a video of a woman paddling the river with monkeys dropping out of the trees and swimming away! We did not see any monkeys while we were there.

Paddleboarders and kayakers in the Silver river — Silver River paddlers

Kayak and paddle board launch along Silver River — Silver River paddlers

The trail to the river is wide, like a narrow dirt road. Except it’s made mostly of sand and tree roots. I was able to navigate without much trouble, so young people, or e-bikes, could easily manage.

After our ride through the woods, we rode our bikes to the Museum. For a donation of $2.00 each, you will enjoy some displays of Florida history. It is a large place, and nicely done, with many wildlife displays. I recommend a visit – and it’s nice and cool inside!

The dump station can hold 2 RV’s at a time, which is always nice.