New Spaceport Expansion In Georgia Expected To Bring Traffic
Spaceport Camden Is Strategically Positioned To Be One of The Most Important Commercial Spaceports In The U.S., While Also Nearby Several Popular RV Parks
The United States' newest commercial space launch area is located at Spaceport Camden in Camden County, Georgia. It is undergoing fast expansion. With growth, it is expected to have a huge economic impact on the area where several popular RV parks are located. Spaceport Camden was first used in the 1960's as a NASA static space engine test site. Expansion of the Spaceport and a proposed visitor center is expected to draw the public so that crowds can witness commercial space launches similar to those launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral, formerly Cape Kennedy. Polling is underway to determine visitor center interest at Spaceport Camden's website. The facility, at Georgia's City of Woodbine, is within easy reach of several full-service RV parks, including three of this coastal area's most popular: Walkabout Camp and RV Resort, Crooked River State Park, and Jekyll Island Campground. RV parking and tenting at all of these parks often require advanced reservations due to their year 'round popularity, especially for holiday weekend camping.
The RV park that will, without doubt, benefit the most from Spaceport Camden's expansion is Walkabout Camp and RV Park, at 742 Old Sill Road, nearest the Spaceport at Woodbine, Ga., off Interstate-95, at Exit 7. Walkabout was originally opened in 1994 as King George RV Resort. Now under new family ownership, the park is undergoing constant updating. Presently, it has 40 pull-through sites with 30 and 50-amp services, a swimming pool and other amenities.
Walkabout Owner Troy Kilner says that Spaceport Camden will be a big boon for his RV Resort, initially due to the numbers of workers who are employed in the Spaceport's expansion, which will include construction workers. The Spaceport is attracting national and international aerospace corporations and smaller ancillary companies, while the proposed Spaceport Visitor Center, “Will be a wonderful thing for our City of Woodbine,” states Kilner, who is enthusiastic about today's move towards space travel, calling the whole situation “neat”. The visitor center and Spaceport expansions will be a big break for Woodbine's economy which has, for years, languished economically behind other coastal area communities.
Kilner recently added a new bathhouse, complete with laundry facilities, while additional park upgrades continue. He notes, “There hasn't been much to attract visitors to Woodbine” for overnight stays, although the conversion of the Old Woodbine School which hosts the Friday and Saturday night “Woodbine Opry” events continues to attract growing crowds. The old school is situated at Second Street and Camden.
Each Friday night, old-time bluegrass, gospel and classic country music is heard at the Woodbine Opry. While bluegrass music holds sway on Fridays, country and western bands provide music on Saturday nights. Initially started as Old Woodbine School fundraisers, the popularity of the events continued and is now offered each week, without charge, to music lovers who enjoy dancing. Held in the school's auditorium, the Woodbine Opry draws dancers who make use of what was the auditorium's orchestra space for dancing. The bands perform onstage and seating is competitive, so “Opry” lovers are encouraged to arrive early for the 7 p.m. programs. Refreshments are sold, along with country memorabilia in other schoolrooms. The genre of music has been celebrated for some years now, dating back to around the last millennium.
Located at 6222 Charlie Sr. Highway at St. Marys, Ga., Crooked River State Park features 52 sites for tents and RV's. Full-hookups are available, along with 11 cottages and three Pioneer Camps. The park also has with a variety of picnic areas and two group shelters. There is also a boat ram and dock, a playground and Wi-Fi is available. Attracting visitors, young and old, is the Crooked River Nature Center. The center exhibits numerous, small wildlife species indigenous to Coastal Georgia, along with a wide variety of nature programs that often take participants to water’s edge and through the park's maritime forest. Operated by Georgia State Parks, park entry is $5 daily while overnight camping and cabin use costs a good deal more. Crooked River's cabins attract large families and groups for overnight, and especially weekend stays. Again, early holiday weekend reservations are suggested as this is one of Georgia's most popular camping spots.
Jekyll Island Campground on Georgia's Golden Isles of Jekyll Island offers 158 total campsites with 145 of those having full hookups. Both 30-and-50 amp services are at hand. Back-ins and pull-throughs are available for any sized RV rig. There are 12 primitive tent sites, and this park features one group site. Jekyll Island Campground is at 1197 Riverview, on Jekyll Island, where a daily visitor pass is required. On holiday weekends, reservations are in very short supply, so advanced reservations are definitely needed in order to secure a campsite. The park is located within a birding area and offers plenty of tree shaded sites. It is also within short distances of several great restaurants, including one of the best pizza places anywhere along the coast, Red Bug Motors Pub & Restaurant, so named for the red VW “bug” automobiles used for pizza delivery.
All three of these campgrounds are popular among RV'ers on the East Coast in what is known as Georgia's Low Country. Spaceport Camden is expected to expand exponentially within the next year or so. As a result, area camping is bound to become more competitive. Fortunately, there are other area campsites somewhat more distant, located in Brunswick, Ga., Jacksonville, Fla., and elsewhere.
With a new Spaceport Visitor Center, the public will be able to observe space launches, the first of which went suborbital last August when Vector Space Systems successfully launched its first commercial space vehicle. Now orbiting Earth are Vector-Amden launched imagery satellites and medical packages. That launch, absent public viewing, had the assistance of NASA and Marshall Space Flight Center officials and other private and public entities. The Vector launch was not only the first Spaceport
Spaceport Camden is now involved in America's National Space Council, recently reactivated by President Donald Trump. Chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, the Veep noted the council as “bringing together all aspects and sectors of the national space enterprise for the first time in a quarter-century.” Spaceport Camden Project Director Steve Howard, who attended the November Council meeting noted, “This prestigious event is proof positive that Camden County has something special, and is being recognized at the highest levels of our government, and by the largest players in the industry.”
Spaceport Camden Innovation and Research Park is located at Camden County's City of Woodbine, near the Georgia-Florida state line. The state's commercial space effort received a boost earlier in 2017 when Governor Nathan Neal signed the Georgia Space Flight Act, House Bill-1. Area RV parks, like other nearby businesses, will see future economic benefits from Spaceport activities, according to Camden County officials.
Dollie Gull-Goldman
A veteran multimedia journalist who, now a senior, enthusiastically continues her RV travels, and she has worked as a photographer/filmmaker for early TV news, she spent some 20-years as a newspaper writer-editor/journalist. Dollie looks forward to even more RV on-the-road adventures.
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Jekyll Island Campground, holding exquisite natural beauty that has long drawn guests to its barrier shores. From the Native American and British settlers to the Jekyll Island Club millionaires and the thousands of guests who arrive today, the Island is a haven of history and wonder.