Sixth Annual FL Go Gathering

Come celebrate the sixth year of our Annual Florida GO Gathering in January 2020.  As in the past, the folks at Vitambi Springs Resort & Camp have graciously offered to host us for the Martin Luther Weekend (1/17-1/20).  This coming year our traditional camping site, Tamaho Mesa is undergoing renovations, and will not be available.  However, the folks at Vitambi have made available another site for our exclusive use.  This site is called Ft. Orion, and it is a better site than our previous one in many ways.  It has a bigger firepit than Tamaho Mesa, has two bathrooms nearby, an outdoor shower, and it includes the Barracks for our exclusive use.  In addition, it is closer to the Main Lodge, and will be a shorter walk than our old site.  Unfortunately, this new site will cost us a bit more than in the past, though at $30 per person it is still a bargain.  

As in the past, we will be collecting the money from you, as we will be fronting the cost.  The $30 will guarantee you either a primitive tent site (no electricity) or a bed in the Barracks (7 beds), though these are all on a first come first serve basis.  If you are staying with us at these designated sites, you need not contact Vitambi directly, as we will be submitting the names of paid attendees to them.  However, if you choose to make other arrangements, you do need to contact them to make reservations, and please note that these other sites will cost more.  Some of these other sites conveniently abut Ft. Orion, and these are as follows: five cabins, and three electrified tent sites.  There are other facilities that are further away, but are also available for rental directly from Vitambi.

The Main Lodge at Vitambi has a restaurant (Bolo Café & Bar) that serves well prepared meals.  This year they are offering us a meal plan for $40 that includes five meals of your choosing.  Any additional meals can be purchased separately a la carte.  This cost is entirely optional, though highly recommended, as the nearest restaurants outside of Vitambi are a half hour away in Clewiston.  Drinks at the Bar are not included in the meal plan.

At this time of the year Florida generally has fabulous weather for daytime outdoors activities.  Kayaking, hiking, and bird watching venues are not far from the campground, and some Gay Outdoors members are already planning some great activities in those places.  We will be posting these trip announcements individually as we firm up all the details.

If you are planning to participate in this Sixth Annual camping weekend, go ahead and sign up in this site as soon as you can.  At some point in early December, we will send you the address where you can send your $30 check.  

If you are not familiar with Vitambi, here is a short description:

Vitambi is a privately owned gay campground located approximately 20 miles south of Lake Okeechobee and the city of Clewiston, FL. It is easily accessible to most of the major urban areas in Florida, and it is approximately a 90 minute drive from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, and from West Palm Beach. It is about 2.5 hours from Orlando or Tampa. The campground sits in the middle of the vast agricultural area around Lake Okeechobee, and offers an ideal Florida rural getaway with modern amenities in a tropical forested setting. The property is quite large with only a portion developed. The Main Lodge features a full restaurant and bar (Bolo Café & Bar), Wi-Fi access, library lounge, and a general store. Other amenities at the campground include a clothing optional heated pool, a modern shower house, a steam room, and a well equipped gym. There are also a number of hiking trails and a couple of lakes within the property, for impromptu hikes, fishing, canoeing, exploring and wildlife viewing. This region of South Florida is a haven for wintertime bird watchers. Vitambi has a wide array of accommodations ranging from primitive tent sites, rustic cabins, bunkhouse/barracks, RV sites, cabins with full electric, 2 & 3 bedroom rental homes and the Pine Tree Inn with eight private rooms in a dorm style setting with shared areas. All accommodations except for the primitive sites include linen service. For further information on Vitambi and for rates on these other accommodations, please feel free to check the Vitambi website: www.vitambi.com.  Or call their toll free number:  (800) 983-8488.

Look forward to hanging out around the campfire with all of you.