John Blank Sportsman Park

Lovely little city park, just a couple miles off the interstate. Everything was fine and it was a great overnight stop, especially for the price.

The city hall was closed when I called, but we took a chance and tried for a spot anyhow. It was a Friday night in early January and pretty quiet. It was easy to pay at the police station in town. Most of the northern sites (mostly FHU) were full. Since it had been raining hard, we were towing and hoping for a pull through, I walked back to the southern sites (by the ball diamonds) which were W&E only, and they were empty. We were able to stay connected since it was empty, though they were back-in sites. We were able to swing around and pull through to site 1 - south with an easy exit in the morning. Despite the heavy rain and our heavy rig, we didn't have any trouble though we sunk in slightly overnight.

There was 20/30/50A available with water at all the southern sites. It was nice and quiet though a local warned us about alligators hanging out down by the creek. We walked our cats with noted caution.

There was a great little bakery in town, Welsh Donuts, with kolache (meat stuffed into a slightly sweet bread) pastries for breakfast and awesome fresh glazed donuts a quick detour from the route back to the interstate. The kolache were not gourmet quality, but hearty and filling. We love trying local favorites. We would definitely return. The bakery lot won't fit a big rig, but you can drop off your passenger and turn around in one of the large parking lots about a block down. Lots of little crawfish seafood shacks if you come in earlier as well.

We read the reviews that explain the system. You have to stop at city hall in the town of Welsh to pay and get a spot. We called ahead, and they told us they really only fill up on tournament weekends - so calling ahead with your date(s) is a good idea. Very nice lady gave us recommendations for a few places to eat and shop in this very small town. The park with the RV spots is just a few blocks from downtown. Sites are a bit bumpy but fairly level. Some shade trees. We got a bad ground message when we tried to hook up electric but were able to hook to the site next to us with no problem. The first few sites have water/sewer/electric; the sites at the back of the park have water and electric. We were the only RV there - although the park is pretty busy with runners, walkers, a softball team. It's well lit - and close to I-10.

Easy to find this park with no frills electric and water hook-ups. We stayed in the sites across from tennis courts at entrance to park. Turns out there is a second RV park near the baseball fields, further into the park. Some of the sites have some course gravel for parking on or just grass. Electric panels look fairly new but water connection isn’t. Sort of a hassle to not have a self-pay station, have to visit city hall or police department to pay. Turns out it is possible to make reservations for the park, thankfully the site we picked wasn’t reserved. No information at CG concerning reservations or sites reserved. Check with city hall before settling in. Folks at city hall not the most gracious but we did get the mission accomplished.

We stopped here for one night in heavy rain and stayed hooked up. It was fairly level for a small town park, gravel, grass and lots of mud/water. This was full hook up for $15! Felt very lucky to have found this when we did. We picked up Dish satellite and Verizon hot spot. This is off US10 a little bit but worth the mile drive. Quiet when we were there but it is a fairgrounds so other times that might not be true. Small town of Welsh has a couple of restaurants and gas stations. Pay at city hall. Nice people.