My wife and i were that party that spent the day at Brownville fossiling with the rest of the Conchs and wanted to drop by for a quick bite and social time with the rest of the group.
We arrived at the campground and were following our friends back to the site when we passed a checkpoint just in front of the wilderness area. In the previous 3 years of staying there i dont recall ever seeing someone standing checking for camping tags. He stopped us, we explained that we were just visiting very briefly for dinner and would be about an hour. We're told to go and get a Peace River Camp Ground visitor or observer pass at the front desk. Upon checking at the front desk we were told that it would be $10 per person for anything over 20 mins (the same price as camping the night) which we explained in our opinion exorbitant. We also later found out that the price to visit the RV part of the park was only $7 per day, same campground, just driving on a little more dirt road....
So others then started arriving from our fossiling group and we headed in with them leaving our car at the front - we had no camping gear, just the shirts on our backs to go in with, no use of any facilities apart from the dirt roads. That was the time that the golf cart was rented as well (same people rented who arrived after we tried to discuss the entrance fee). We got to the site and when it was time for the cart to be returned we were offered a pass to re-enter from one of the other campers, so we took the cart up and jumped in our car. We were headed back to grab a quick bite and then leave, so far we had been on site approximately one hour. There was no check point on the way out, nor on the way back in. As we drove through the RV part of the park we noted multiple cars without passes. Nearing the campsite one of the Peace River Camp Ground security guys pulls us over and wants to inspect the tag. He sees its not the same car as the tag states and confiscates it. He states we have been in the park for 3 hours which was patently incorrect. He claims we have commited a crime of defrauding an innkeeper and could be thrown in jail, but he doesnt want to do that, we can pay the fee or leave, at which time i say that we are going to leave. Now i dont know how buddy buddy they might be with the LEO's, so i just tread carefully not wishing to have myself and pregnant wife in jail for the night! He radios in his buddies and the car is surrounded by 4 golf carts and finally the owners wife arrives and we talk for a moment where i state we are going to leave when they let me out of the wagon circle that has surrounded me. I ask to pick up my pregnant wife and dogs who came in with me as they are at the site. They follow me and i believe it was the owner who came and said we and the other campers who's tag we borrowed have 20 mins to pack up and leave. We are set to go, but as stated above the others have just finished making the food. By this time we have been there about 90 mins, 30 of that was sitting with the security guy and his buddies. We grab a bite to go and head out, followed again by a guy in a golf cart.
I found out after the fact that to
defraud an innkeeper as a level 1, 3rd degree felony, according to FL statute 509.151(1), the amount of defrauding would have to be $300+, which even their exorbitant entrance fee for just visiting didnt quite reach. If they hadnt stopped us and caused all the fuss we would likely have been out of there in an hour or so as originally mentioned (timed that from the golf cart rental timeframe) rather than the 3 hours the old boy said he timed us at.
Previous trips to the Peace River Camp Ground were mostly without issue with management, bar the ATV's at night and during the day wanting to drive right through our campsite, even when we used vehicles to block the access to our fire and camping circle, they still got off their bikes or edged their ATV's, bikes and golf carts around those vehicles to try to get through - with a perfectly good road running the other side of the bushes. In the past the management listened to our complaints about them running after dark with no lights, but did very little about it. Who knows how many kids might have been hurt by these brainless idiots (some kids, but plenty of older kids and adults too) running through our campgrounds if we werent vigilant. Anyway, we gave them 4 years of good custom, while not a huge impact from our little group in terms of revenue through the year, i cant begin to imagine how much impact the word of mouth from here might affect them. I know personally i have probably spent about $200 over the past 3 camping trips including nights stayed, breakfasts, firewood and such, but on top of all the other hassle this weekend for my fellow Conch's, i was surprised that they wanted to charge a night's stay for each of us to visit for such a short time.
I vote for next year's fossiling expedition to camp at a family and pet friendly place, without ATV's etc where we can relax in peace. It doesnt bother me regarding the alcohol at night, its nice to end the long day relaxing with friends and a beer, but if we find a good park with a prohibition then so be it. BTW, we werent too excited by the wash rooms at Brownville Park, but compared to a porta-john and the baths at Peace River Camp Ground, they are acceptable.
But, this "Peace River Campground" seems like it's run by a bunch of p/o'd highschool dropouts... which is insulting higschool dropouts everywhere...
