If you’re looking for a RV campground that’s close enough to drive into the French Quarter of New Orleans, yet far enough out to enjoy the beauty of Louisiana – the Pine Crest RV Park is for you. We recently spoke with Chuck, the owner of the Pine Crest RV Park, and he shared the history of the park, his love for fishing, and how to make a quick getaway into New Orleans. Listen to our full interview here:
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Pine Crest RV Park Louisiana
Camp Louisiana: I’m talking with Chuck today. He’s the Owner for Pine Crest RV Park in Louisiana. How’s it going today, Chuck?
Chuck: It’s going fantastic. Beautiful weather, beautiful temperatures, green grass.
CL: Sounds fantastic. So, let’s go ahead and start with how long Pine Crest RV Park has been there and how you guys got your start.
Chuck: Well, we’ve had Pine Crest RV Park since 1992. It was a former KAO that we modified, updated, and I’m sorry; what was the second part of the question?
CL: Just kind of how you guys got started and how long you guys been there.
Chuck: Well, we had been in a manufactured home business for 30 years prior to that, and we saw an opportunity for a beautiful piece of property. A 38-acre piece of property that had all kinds of potential, and saw what KAO had done and not done with it, and we purchased it and we remodeled it. And made some major changes and had it come out looking great.
CL: Okay, that’s an interesting shift. I have a lot of friends who are in manufactured homes, in that business. What was the reason for you wanting to switch into the hospitality business?
Chuck: Just the friendliness of the people. The clientele.
CL: Okay.
Chuck: And the interesting stories that you hear. I mean it actually created a genuine interest in individuals. As opposed to just trying to sell a manufactured home in the retail business, we actually get to meet lots of people from lots of different parts of the country who have fantastic and interesting stories. Intriguing and interesting stories.
CL: Yeah, that’s great to hear too. I think that’s the kind of thing that can make an RV Park really successful; is when you have that kind of interest in what the guests are up to and why they’re showing up.
Chuck: Absolutely.
CL: So, what are some of the most popular activities for guests there, at Pine Crest RV Park?
Chuck: Well, Pine Crest is uniquely located about 25 to 30 minutes from the French Quarter in New Orleans. We’re also, as I said, uniquely located approximately 25 to 30 minutes from the Mississippi Gulf Coast beaches and casinos. So, our guests have a wide variety of different things to choose from. What we offer particularly here, at Pine Crest, is relaxation, quiet, tree friendly, and environment friendly type of Park. And we try to offer a variety of things. We’ve got seven acres of beautiful lakes on the property, and we try to keep our pad sites as up to date as possible, meaning that we have paved patch sites in a lot of the area as well as we have some limestone campsites.
CL: So it sounds like people can get a really nice mix of different activities. If they’re there for a week or so, even for long-term, they can head into New Orleans and some of the other places that are very popular, but it sounds pristine and pretty quiet and relaxing where you guys are at.
Chuck: Yeah, we have kind of coined the term. Literally, we are country living with city conveniences, because we’re located only one-quarter of a mile from I-10, here in the community. We’ve got a shopping center that is in the process of being built that’s only going to be about a mile and a half door-to-door, but we’ve got restaurants, movie theaters – everything relatively close by section to where we’re located. And then, if you want to go more than ten minutes away, you can go into the French Quarter and go for Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest, or any of the numerous festivals that go on in New Orleans, or you can go to Mississippi for the beaches, the casinos, the cruises, and the coast of the big draw that’s over there.
CL: Okay. How about a little bit of info from a local? Let’s say you get a weekend off down there, Chuck. What do you like to do with your time?
Chuck: There are a lot of things to choose from. When I get some time away, obviously I mean I enjoy fishing. I enjoy just the festivals and going into the Quarter and going to the beach. But there are numerous golf courses around here. Occasionally I’ll play golf.
CL: Okay.
Chuck: So there’s a lot to choose from.
CL: All right, one more question for you. If you were going to spend just one night at your own Park there, Pine Crest RV Park, which specific site would you choose and why?
Chuck: Which specific site?
CL: Yeah.
Chuck: Well, if it was only for one night, I would make it probably the easy access, pull-through paved concrete sites, and we’ve got a host of those. We’ve got many of those to choose from. If I was going to be here for a week or a month, or any longer, I would absolutely pick one of the lakefront sites.
CL: Perfect. That’s the kind of inside tips we’re looking to pass on to any of our visitors that might want to come and visit Pine Crest RV Park. So, thank you so much, Chuck, for taking a little time out of your morning to chat with us about Pine Crest RV Park. Much appreciated.
Chuck: Thank you. Appreciate it.
