Camping: The Beach Trip that Wasn't

It started with an email from Mellow Mushroom, the pizza shop in Myrtle Beach that Shelley and I visit each time we go down. I must have signed up for their mailing list to get a coupon or something, and this one made it through the spam filter.

I called out to Shelley, "Do you want to drive to South Carolina and get Mellow Mushroom pizza?"
"That sounds delicious."
"Great! Road trip!"

So I began clicking around, trying to plan a road trip through. We wanted to car camp and drive through Asheville Falls, and stop at some less traveled beaches, and hike some mountains.

Then reality set in. We are pretty spontaneous in our travels, but doing so in the midst of a pandemic (and especially through states that have been seeing a steady increase in recent weeks) was not a wise idea, no matter how badly we want to see the ocean or how good that pizza is. We shelved the idea.

A few days later, Shelley said, "I think we should try camping somewhere local first" and I agreed. She said, "Great, we're leaving tomorrow afternoon to camp at Raccoon. I booked us a campsite, and we're staying two nights." (See? Spontaneous).

Our little campsite 

We had some camping supplies accumulated over the years, mostly the Ozark Trail line from Walmart (like our tent, our foldable couch, camp pillows, and pretty much all of Shelley's supplies) plus a few random Coleman/Marmot supplies, like lanterns, headlamps, my sleeping bag, and ground pad. We loaded a cooler with salad kits, hot dogs, sandwiches, and all the s'mores supplies and packed our trunk to its full capacity.

We did it!

When we first arrived, we spent a decent amount of time trying to figure out where we should put our tent. The ground was pretty uneven on our site. We were excited because we erected our tent by ourselves-- it was only the second time we had used it. We layered the bottom with our ground pads and about six blankets before rolling out our sleeping bags. We strung up a hammock Shelley found when she went that had little twinkle lights built in (I am such a sucker for string lights).

The life. 

Probably swatting a bug.

Feeble attempt to chop wood. 

The camp's website said you couldn't bring in outside wood, so we went gathering wood and fallen tree branches that Shelley cut into firewood. We watch a lot of survival shows, so we tried to start a fire with a fire starter, unsuccessfully, before pulling out the lighter and grilling ourselves hot dogs and baked beans for dinner. We played War (one of our favorite card games) by citronella candlelight until we went to bed.

The essentials.

Enjoying our campfire!

 

The coolest LED color changing citronella candle

A few words of advice if you're nascent to the camping scene:

1) Tent sleeping is not super comfortable. In the future, I'm either trading in my Coleman foam pad for the inflatable one Shelley got at Walmart, or we're bringing a blow up mattress.

2) Bug spray is your friend, and so are high socks, long sleeves, and even pants. Ticks are not a joke. We sprayed ourselves, and our tent. We lucked out with the weather being cool enough that long layers weren't insufferable, but if it would have been muggy and hot the way Pittsburgh summers can be, it would've been rough.

3) The worst part is having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Our site was pretty close to an actual restroom, but it was still a chore to wake up and crawl in and out of the tent, quickly zipping it before any unwanted guests could climb inside.

Hammock hangs 

The next day, we spent the morning in the hammock. The weather was beautiful, sunny, and cool, and we rocked back and forth just appreciating the peaceful solitude of nature.

We hiked down to the beach after lunch and saw a massive turkey walking through a campsite. We gathered some wood, and while Shelley broke it down and I read parts from Mary Oliver's Upstream to her. We talked and joked and finished our never-ending game of War.

The giant turkey 

Hiking down to the beach 

We learned that they sold firewood we could use near the beach, so Shelley went to get some while I tried to keep the fire alive-- and failed. I learned that I would likely die in the wilderness, because I cannot chop wood nor coax a fire to keep burning.

That night, we made s'mores and stargazed and told ghost stories. We were awakened a fair few times by coyote calls, but eventually they ceased and we went to sleep.

S'mores!

Toasting marshmallows

Perfect scene for spooky stories

The final morning, we woke up and were heading to the restroom and I saw a beautiful doe. I held my arm out to stop Shelley and we just all stood there, staring at each other. We had gotten so close without realizing-- maybe 8 feet away-- and when she moved to run away I froze thinking she was coming to us before she ran into the woods.

The most gorgeous doe

Packing up to head home was less exciting, obviously, minus the SIX! spiders we saw scuttling around the roof of our tent. It was definitely a fun experience, and I'm looking forward to going out again when the weather cools off and enjoying the fall foliage.

Adventuring in Cape May

I don't know what it is about the beach that I find so alluring. I can't really swim, Shelley and I get eaten alive by bugs, I am fair-skinned, and I get very angsty about all that is unseen in the Atlantic Ocean while we're all floating around in there. Sand gets EVERYWHERE. It's hot. It's crowded. And last summer I had jellyfish stings up and down both legs and around my entire left forearm because I must have wandered, unknowingly, into a bloom of them. Waves literally try to push us back to the shore, like, "Hey, we don't want you here!" and we all laugh and bob back in, pushing our wet hair out of our faces and spitting out seawater and seaweed.

Ready to go!

Cape May, New Jersey 

With all of that, it's actually hard for me to believe that I am so drawn to the siren song of those waves ebbing and flowing to the shore, but I love it. I love the vastness of dark blue meeting the lighter blue of the sky. I love the sand underfoot, and all the colors. I love the salty air and the sun and the way my hair just gets wavy and out of control. I love the kitschy boardwalk sweatshirts and shark tooth bracelets. I love the live music and smells of pizza and funnel cake, and I even the people drinking out of coconuts with little umbrellas in them.  

Shameless tourist (AKA me)

This year, as we're trying to save for our wedding, we aren't going on a big vacation like we usually try to do, but we did seize the opportunity for a weekend away at the Jersey shore. We decided to head to Cape May, where neither of us have ever been but a friend recommended. I was drawn in by the images of old Victorian homes, a lighthouse, and Cape May diamonds. 

Selfie with the lighthouse

Shells walking along the beach 

These colors are unreal!

We drove out late Saturday morning and got there around dinnertime. Our first stop was to ride past all of the enormous houses from the late 1800s and walk along the shore. I was admittedly a little wary, still, of jellyfish that may be lurking close to shore, so I didn't get in as deep as Shells did, but I enjoyed it just the same. We climbed along the rocks and watched people play in the surf and ride by in yachts before heading over to the lighthouse (I blame growing up watching "Murder She Wrote" and all the joys of Cabot Cove for my love of lighthouses) and checking it out, along with an abandoned bunker and a lookout from World War II.

V. excited 

Cape May lighthouse 

For dinner, we went for lobster rolls and local IPAs. Our plan was to spend the first night sleeping near the beach, as is our tradition. Luck was not on our side though-- the biggest heat wave in forever was rolling through and it was like 96 degrees. We got a fan, lots of water, and spent much of that night sitting down by the ocean watching people fish (and only catch copious amounts of trash) while we stared at constellations, talked about life, and watched the waves ripple along the shore.

car camping 

We made it to the car eventually and woke up with the sun changing the rainbow-sherbet-colored sky... and woke up to a flat tire. I didn't believe it when Shelley told me, but there it was, like a cartoon drawing. It was already so hot at 6:30am as she put on the spare and we rode out to Walmart when it opened at 7, already 6th in line, just to get a new tire. (Last year in Myrtle, we had to get new brakes-- my car, Arlandria, apparently does not like road trips.)

Up with the sun & this little guy

FOUR HOURS LATER we were back in the car, heading to the beach. We ended up on Sunset Beach after the other two we tried were packed and required pre-bought tags. We slathered ourselves with sunscreen and dragged our folding chairs down the beach to the surf, where we sat with the water washing around our ankles, just basking in having some beach time before we had to leave. The bugs were relentless, and at one point I decided to wade in up to my knees just to get away from them. I was about to take another step when I heard a kid yell out that he'd gotten stung by a jellyfish! I was outta there! Then it happened to a couple other people as well, so Shells and I busied ourselves sifting through sand on the edge of the water and looking for Cape May diamonds. The fish were jumping in and out of the water like crazy, and we even saw some sharks circling in the distance!!!

Cape May diamonds 

Literally covered in sunscreen :D 

On our way back up the coast, we stopped off at Ocean City because Shells wanted to see the boardwalk. We got Mac & Manco's pizza and toured the boardwalk-- mostly ducking in to the air conditioned shops to get away from the 104 degree sun beating on us. The beach was gorgeous though. It was my first beach I ever went to, and I'm happy I got to share it with Shells, even if it was brief!

At the boardwalk

Ocean City, NJ

Still smiling!

Overall, this trip was pretty eventful-- more than we would've liked, I think-- but I am happy that we were able to look on the bright side, smile, and enjoy our time together at the shore. 

Home sweet home!