A Gap, a Boat, and a Cave

Due to Covid19, our summer vacation plans got rearranged. We were planning a trip to Florida and Disney originally since I had to go to a conference down there in July. That was all canceled and so we looked at the map and decided to take a different trip this year. We headed north instead to Kentucky. 

Cumberland Gap and Cumberland Falls

Our first stop was to camp at Falls Creek Cabins and Campground in south eastern Kentucky near Cumberland Falls. Due to Covid19 it wasn't very busy, but this seemed like a nice place to stay. There are various campsites and many cabins for rent. The site also is home to an outdoor recreation center that includes zip lines and rafting/kayaking. They also have grubbing for gem stones/arrowheads, which the kids really enjoyed. We drove down the road a mile or so to Cumberland Falls State Park. The views of the falls and the river are really amazing, We enjoyed walking the trails and watching the falls. 

After Cumberland Falls, we headed over to Cumberland Gap. It's about an 1.5 hour drive over to the corner of Kentucky where it meets Virginia and Tennessee. Cumberland Gap is steeped in history. From its use by Native American tribes, to Daniel Boone and the forming of the Wilderness Road to open up the frontier to colonists, Cumberland Gap has played a key role in American History. Cumberland Gap National Historic Park aims to protect the land and teach future generations of the area's importance. Due to having the camper attached, we could not drive up to Pinnacle Overlook unfortunately. They do not allow trailers on the twisty road, and I didn't feel like leaving it in the parking lot of the welcome center. The cave tours were also not running due to Covid19. 

The Ark Encounter, Big Bone Lick SP, and the Creation Museum

After exploring the southeastern part of the state, we headed northwest. Our next campsite found us at Big Bone Lick State Park just southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. The site is known for fossils and mammoth bones found there, and the welcome center has a lot of that history documented for visitors to view. There is also a bison herd housed here and they frequently have programs where you can get up close and learn about the bison. The kids really enjoyed the bison program and seeing them so close. The campground is nice and on top of a small mountain. It seemed to be a very popular campground and was full during the weekend. They were also doing a Christmas in July campground parade and decorating competition which made the campground super festive and fun. We definitely enjoyed our time here and the other campers we met were very friendly. The campground almost felt like a small, friendly town. 

While staying at Big Bone Lick, we ventured out to the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter. I picked this state park due to it's location about the same distance from both of those attractions. We had bought combo tickets for both attractions. We visited the Ark Encounter first and it was a Friday. It wasn't too crowded but there is a lot to see and do. We spent most of the day there touring the Ark reproduction and visiting the outside animal exhibits. The kids even got to ride camels! We took our own lunch and bottles of water. The Ark provides kids a full experience of what things might have looked like and how they worked as well as providing adults with thought provoking statements and questions. We enjoyed our time there, and I definite suggest planning for a full day of maybe 5 hours or so. 

The next day we ventured to the Creation Museum. They had an outdoor garden area and animals that the kids enjoyed. Much of the main experience is inside the main museum. There is a 4D theatre and a long winding path through various rooms discussion creation, the flood, and other events from the Bible. I would say that the kids definitely had a more fun and engaging experience at the Ark. The Creation Museum is more thinking and reading focused, and I would not recommend for kids younger than middle school. Most of the younger kids I saw there were ready to move on to the next thing faster than their parents could read the content. So if you are interested in visiting these and have young children, stick to the Ark and save a little money. Adults would probably enjoy the museum more, but I do feel like a chunk of it was repetitive to what we saw at the Ark the day before. I think they could probably wrap the Creation Museum experience into the Ark Encounter and just have a single attraction. 

Mammoth Cave NP, Lincoln Birthplace NHP, and Lincoln Boyhood Home NM

We left Big Bone Lick and headed southwest towards Louisville. Our ultimate destination was Mammoth Cave National Park. However, we had a couple of stops before we reached it. We stopped at Lincoln Birthplace NHP and Lincoln's Boyhood Home NM. Lincoln was born and spent the early part of his life in Hodgenville, Kentucky just south of Louisville before moving to Indiana. The two sites are about 15 mins apart on opposite sides of town. Don't miss driving through Hodgenville though to see the town square with the boy and man statues of Lincoln peering across the square at each other. Lincoln Birthplace NHP is the site of the first Lincoln Memorial built around 1907. The well known Lincoln Memorial in D.C. has a similar exterior look to this one and was built after this one. After touring the sites and letting the kids complete their Jr. Ranger badges, we drove south. 

Our last destination of the trip was Mammoth Cave National Park. Mammoth Cave is the world's longest known cave system. There are lots of different tours available for various caves in the park, but the they were only offering self-guided tours of the main cave during our visit due to Covid19. There were limited numbers allowed, and they forced spaced entry by family. Get your tickets ahead of time! I got there early in the morning on a Monday and had to settle for 1pm ticket time. By the time we got back after lunch for our tour, they were sold out till Thurs of that week! I had made a poor assumption that due to Covid19 and it being a Monday it would be slow. Fortunately we were able to get in. The main cave is huge and splits off of the largest room in two directions. We headed down the longest side first and then returned to the main room to take the other path. It's not as muddy as some caves I've been in and there was plenty of room to spread around. 

They had rangers stationed throughout the cave off the paths to answer questions or help as needed. All the rangers we met were super friendly and helpful. Many of them had lanterns, but a few were sitting in the dark. It soon became a game with the kids of how many rangers can you spot in the cave. Make sure to take a flashlight or headlamp. (My apologies to the ranger hiding in the dark that got blinded by my headlamp light!) It's also cool down there though not as cold as I have seen in some caves. Since it was July, I was happy we were walking in the cave and not hiking outside it. 

Overall, we had a great little trip and were able to check some National Parks off our list. If you're looking for a little one week loop through Kentucky, these would be some fun options. 

A Weekend at Richard B. Russell State Park in our U-haul Camper

This past weekend we planned a camping trip with some friends to visit Richard B. Russell State Park. The park sits on the edge of Lake Russell, a 26k+ acre lake with about 540 miles of undeveloped shoreline. The lake sits on the Savannah River on the border between Georgia and South Carolina. There are two camping options: Richard B. Russell State Park in Georgia or Calhoun Falls State Park in South Carolina. We opted for Richard B Russell since it was closer.

The lake feels really private and quiet due to the fact that the Army Corps of Engineers keeps a 300 foot right of way around the lake that prevents any development on the lake shore. So unlike places like Lake Oconee or Lake Lanier where the shoreline is dotted with giant homes and docks, all you see is forests. This also translates to less wake when you're out on the water. I saw a lot of bass boats on the lake and for good reason and the state record Striper was caught on these waters.  The only boats I saw that weren't bass boats were the ones at the campground docks. I even took our canoe out with the little ones for a bit since the water was so calm. Now granted, we were there the 4th weekend in September, which is probably not peak season.

The campground has 28 sites with water/electric hookups. There are also 20 cottages at the park. We were in site 22 with friends in 23 and 24 across the road from us. Our site was comfortable for our small camper and a tent. We were not far from the bathhouse. Note there is only a single bathhouse though for all 28 sites to share. It does have a laundry and showers. The campground has WiFi via access points scattered about. There was a nice group picnic shelter behind our site also. A few of the sites do overlook the lake but there's still a walk down to the beach/docks via various paths. Most folks beached their boats, though I saw a few pontoons tied up at a couple of the docks available. There is a boat ramp in the campground and a parking area for boat trailers so that you don't have to figure out how to cram that into your site with the camper. The one downside is that the road through the campground is a single large loop and is hilly. This makes it a bit challenging for kids with bikes/scooters to ride around. Combine that with some folks driving too fast to see over hill or around the curve and it makes the campground a bit less kid friendly than others we've been in.

There is a day use area that's not far via boat from the campground but does require about 5 mins via car. The day use area has covered pavilions, playgrounds in shade of trees, picnic areas, and a nice beach. (We were the only ones on the beach the morning we went.) The beach area was clean but there are no trees/shady areas near it. I saw two pavilions off to the sides that you could retreat to for shade. So bring a beach tent or umbrella if you need shelter from the sun. A short walk from the beach is a boat dock so if you want to use the boat to get there from the campground (it's about 2 mins via boat) you have a place to tie up. The beach and water were very clean and clear. The kids loved chasing minnows in the water.

Overall, we had a great weekend and the staff we interacted with were very nice and helpful. The kids had a fun time and really enjoyed playing in the lake. We don't always go with other families but it was nice to have 5 families and let the kids play together and roam between the sites. We all agreed it was definitely a place to come back to for a weekend.

Base Camp to Space Camp: Our U-haul camper goes back to Huntsville

Base Camp!

After our trip to Huntsville, Alabama in April during Spring break, my son begged us to go to Space Camp. The traditional Space Camp is not cheap and I thought he might be a little young to spend that much time away from us. Fortunately, there was another option: Day Camp!  The rocket center does a day camp version of Space Camp during the summer for local elementary age kids. It's called the Rocket Explorer Experience. It's 8am-5pm Central time, and they get to do a lot of fun stuff. With this in mind, we took the camper to Monte Sano State Park again and became locals for a week!

The camp is less than $300/week at the time of this writing. There are 3 options: Space, Aviation, and Rockets. We opted for the Space one which was an all around focus. We may try this again and opt for a different one next time. You will need to plan early and sign them up in advance of summer to ensure a spot. They did a lot of simulators and rides and exhibits at the center. The fee includes lunch and afternoon snack. All I had to provide was a water bottle and morning snack. On one day they have a water day and go swimming. They also build rockets though my son didn't get to launch his that week. It was still a neat souvenir to bring home. (We will likely build and launch rockets at the park now that he's into it.) 

So my daughter was not into the space camp idea (though after hearing "bubba" talk about it she may want to go). So the rest of the time, we set out to explore the city, just the two of us. The first day we spent setting up camp and relaxing in the hammocks. We picked up my son from camp and met up with my cousin, who happens to live there, for dinner. The second day we began our exploring. The first stop was the Huntsville Botanical Garden which was a real treat. They have a large series of gardens to explore and this summer had a mythological scavenger hunt throughout the gardens. The scavenger hunt was really fun and they had all these various sized sculptures of mythological creatures scattered around the park. The botanical gardens is also home to the Purdy Butterfly House. My daughter really enjoyed that. They also have a children's garden area that's complete with playground, sandbox, sprinkler/misting stations and all themed for kids. For the adults, among some of the highlights are a vegetable garden, birding trail, and water garden.  Definitely worth a visit.

After three hours at the botanical gardens in the morning, we had lunch and found a splash pad at one of the local parks. There are 3 parks in Huntsville that have splash pads. We visited Brahan Spring Park which wasn't far from the gardens and had a splash pad. It also has playground and a small lake for fishing.

Many folks don't know this, but you can go to the space center and check out one of their IMAX or other movies without buying a pass to the entire center. Tickets are around $7/8 (kid/adult). We've done this a couple times and it's a great way to get into some air conditioning out of the summer heat for an hour. My daughter and I watched one this time about Saturn with great pics from the Cassini space craft mission. So if you've done the space center before but are still looking for something to do, you may want to check out what they're showing and catch a film.

On the fourth day, we stumbled onto two of my daughter's top 3 favorite things from the trip. First we found the EarlyWorks Childrens History Museum.  Over the years we've visited a lot of children's museums. Some of them, like the one in Greenville, SC, are amazing. Others, like the one in Atlanta, are not great. This was one of the better ones and we spent 3 hours in the morning there. The museum has various historical (Alabama history focused) locations like a log cabin, keel boat, and, my daughter's favorite, the old general store. There's a story telling tree, activities everywhere, and a nice Helen Keller area (she was from Alabama). Everything is hands on, from dressing up to selling supplies in the general store to setting the table in the log cabin and even hoisting the flag on the keel boat. It's very well done and I highly recommend it. Alabama is celebrating their bicentennial next year so I expect they'll have lots of special programs in 2019 there. This was my daughter's favorite thing we did all week.

Big Spring Park

A couple of blocks from the EarlyWorks museum is Big Spring Park. This is a nicely laid out park with a large lake that feeds into a canal like system. There's lots of green space, walking/running paths and literally thousands of fish in the lake. I've never seen so many fish and school (herd) of them will follow you as you walk around the lake. We really enjoyed this place and feeding the fish and ducks and visited a couple times during our stay there. If for nothing else, you have to go just to see all the fish!

Look at all those fish!

We really enjoyed staying at Monte Sano SP again. We camped at a site with an overlook of the valley, and it was generally cooler by 7-10 degrees up there in the trees than down in the city. The park staff was very pleasant, and I've made this our go to park if we plan to be in the area again. The trails and atmosphere is great there. I can't recommend it enough.

Overall, we had a great trip. It's a bit unusual for us to stay in a place for a whole week. We did enjoy ourselves and exploring a lot of what Huntsville had to offer. I also really enjoyed the one-on-one time with my daughter. Oh and my daughter's other item on her favorite top 3 things we did this week was breakfast with me at Galen's Restaurant (which we wrote about in our first Huntsville trip). If that doesn't melt your heart, then I don't know what would. Not sure where the road will take us next or when, but always looking forward to the next adventure.

A Trip out of this World in our U-haul Camper

With the wife in nursing school full-time this year, we don't have many options for traveling. We did manage to squeeze in a spring trip thanks to her and the kids being on spring break at the time. My son has gotten really into space recently so as an early birthday present, we planned a trip to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This would be a 4 day trip.

Little River Falls

We left out on Tuesday with the goal of stopping by the Little River Canyon National Preserve. After a few hours behind the wheel, we made it and got the kids setup with the Jr. Ranger program (we're big fans of the NPS Jr. Ranger program). Little River Canyon is an incredible area along the Little River in Northeast Alabama. It's a great place for hiking and outdoor adventure. Little River Falls is close to the visitor center and the views are amazing. The park staff at the visitor's center were really great and friendly. On the way home, we would come back through the park and take part of a scenic drive as our last little adventure before heading home.

With potential storms and rain heading from Mississippi towards Huntsville, we pushed on after our brief stop to try to get into to our camping destination before the rain. We rolled into Monte Sano State Park around 6:30 pm and setup camp. With the rain expected to blow in that night, I opted not to setup everything (camp chairs and screen room included) until the next morning. I had packed most of the gear in the car or in the waterproof action packers on the roof. Monte Sano SP is located on top of Monte Sano Mountain and overlooks Huntsville from the east. It has lots of trails for hiking and mountain biking and even has an planetarium and observatory that's open on Saturday nights (unfortunately we left Friday so didn't get a chance to check it out). The campground and bathhouses are nice. Though our first campsite, (#18) was on a curve and had someone directly across from us in a much larger rig. The layout of the entrances to these sites made it impossible for even us to get our tiny camper backed in due to the sharpness of the turn. The camp hosts at check-in had even warned me to feel free to come back if I couldn't squeeze in. (So I'd avoid #18 unless you're setting up a tent.) We were moved over to #21 which proved to be a better site. After being at the campground, I'd actually recommend sites in the #44-61 range as many of those are on the ridge with great views of the valley. I'll definitely be looking to book there next time.

After unhooking the camper, we decided to grab some dinner. After driving all day, I wanted something quick; so we headed down the mountain into Huntsville. We lucked out and found a Ted's Bar-B-Q at the bottom of the mountain. I had been introduced to Alabama white Bar-B-Q sauce a decade or more ago close by in Decatur, Alabama at Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q. White barbecue sauce is pretty awesome and different from many places you go. So if you're ever in Huntsville area, try out Ted's (or Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur, Alabama) and grab the white barbecue sauce.

Bedding down in the bathhouse during the storm.

After dinner, we bedded down for the night and I listened to the weather radio. If you've seen my post on being prepared for bad weather, you know I always carry a weather radio. The storms were getting bad, and we were on top of the mountain so I prepared to move us to the bathhouse if things got bad. They did. I've grown up around thunderstorms all my life so they don't really bother me. But I know when they can get out of hand too. When the reports rolled in of the Huntsville airport seeing 70 mph winds, I woke up the wife and kids and moved us to the bathhouse. The NOAA weather radio broadcast antenna on top of the mountain went offline as the front edge of the storm hit the mountain with wind, hail, and rain knocking out the power. Several other campers joined us to weather the storm. As with most southern storms, they blow by pretty quickly. After about 30 mins to wait out the worst, the weather had settled into a calm rain on the back end of the front. No major damage was detected to campers other than a few that didn't get their awnings up and they tore in the gusts. Lots of limbs had come down but power was restored within mins. We moved back to the camper and slept calmly the rest of the night.

The cold front rolled in behind rain dropping the temperature to the 30F's. So we put on our warm clothes the next morning and prepared to spend the day at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. This was my third time there and it was still as much fun as I recall from my childhood. The kids had a blast and we had a picnic in the car for lunch (because it was still cold and windy). We watched an IMAX movie about the space station that was incredible. The kids wanted to see another 3D movie so we were able to get a discounted ticket for one the next morning. Yes, you can buy tickets for the movies without buying admission, they'll escort you to the theater when you arrive for your movie. So if you're going to be there for a couple days, you may want to buy admission for one day and the movie ticket for the next day.

While we were in Huntsville, we also were able to meet up with my cousin that had moved there several years back. It's always good to see family. We also discovered a great market/grocery at the bottom of the mountain called the Star Supermarket. I wish we had one of these in our town. The people were so friendly and they really have a lot to offer. This is what a small town market should be. They even sell firewood bundles for about half what the state park does. On our final day, we packed up early. We left the campground and drove back down the mountain into Huntsville for breakfast. I love finding a good breakfast place for the last morning. We stumbled on Galen's. It's got plenty of parking room for a camper and the staff are really friendly. The breakfast was excellent!

With full belly's, we started the trek home. Cathedral Caverns was on our way so we made a stop so the kids could get their first cave experience! The downside to this park, like most caves, is that you can't do anything without a guide. You can see the mouth of the cave and the gift shop, but beyond that you have to pay to get into the cave on a guided tour. The cave tour is about a 1.5 mile (round trip) in and out hike that takes around 1.5 hrs. It has some really beautiful views. We enjoyed it and our guide was great. At about $20/adult and almost $10/child (under 13), it's not the most economical way to spend a couple of hours. However, it is comparable to Desoto Caverns and Ruby Falls tour prices. Check Cathedral Caverns website for tour times and rates before you go.

Even with the ranging weather conditions on the trip, we had a great time. I'd like to go back and spend more time with family and we'll definitely camp at Monte Sano SP again. It was good for us to get away and break up the monotony of our daily life. Adventure always seems to me to be a way to refill your cup. It puts excitement back in your life after the daily grind. Knowing how busy this year is and the minimal opportunities we'll have as a family to get away until next year, I'm thankful for the opportunity to get out and go. Hopefully, I can squeeze another trip in this summer between some renovations I want to focus on. More about those to come.

Camping Where the Fish are...

It's been a busy, hot summer and I haven't had much time to get the family out for a camping trip. I was looking forward to the fall in hopes of getting one in when work and the weather cooled down. A couple months ago some guy friends and I began discussing a big family camp out. The last time we'd done this as a group, only two of us had kids. So we each cataloged our gear and booked a couple sites at Moccasin Creek State Park on Lake Burton in North Georgia.

My wife and another mom came along while the other moms stayed back with their younger kids (<1yr). We ended up with 8 adults and 11 children (most of them under 6yrs old). This was going to be many of the kids first time camping. As someone who's camped from hammocks and tarps to tents and our camper, I had the most gear and was able to cover us with 2 large tents to sleep most of the folks. We took our camper for our family and also because it made for a great way to haul a lot of the gear. We setup on two sites with our camper and large tent at one, and the other large tent and a smaller one on the other site. (Oh and I forgot to mention we took our 3 dogs which was another reason for taking the U-haul.)

Moccasin Creek State Park is located on Lake Burton in the North Georgia mountains. It's about half-way between the towns of Helen and Clayton. Moccasin Creek SP sits on the edge of Lake Burton where Moccasin Creek dumps into the lake. The park only has 54 camp sites; there are no cabins. The campground is relatively flat and well shaded for the most part. There is a boat ramp to put in boats and a couple docks to tie them up at so you don't have to necessarily put them in every day. There is also boat trailer parking at the campground. Unlike many of the other state parks in Georgia, this park isn't open year round (it's closed from Dec 1 through March 15).

We were setup on sites 14 and 25, which were the last 2 sites available when we booked. They also happen to be ADA sites and close to the restrooms (which was a bonus with little ones). While our sites were not near each other (unfortunately), most of the sites are fairly close together. Our neighbors were super friendly. They were from Athens and had camped there for 20 yrs. They seemed to know or be friends with everyone at the campground and were gracious enough to spot us a can of beans so we'd have enough for dinner one night. They had to be the nicest campground neighbors I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. So if you want to camp with friends, book in advance and you might get a few sites next to one another. If you want a bit of privacy, sites 37-39 might be the best option. Sites 1-5 are right on Moccasin Creek, but there's a walkway between you and the creek that folks use for accessing the creek for fishing. There is a church (Boat Church as it's referred to) that meets at the open air pavilion on Sunday mornings for a service right on the lake. Anyone is welcome from boaters on the lake to campground guests. I wasn't able to attend the service due to having to pack all the gear up, but we were close enough I could still hear them singing the old hymns which was nice. Depending on when you need to leave on a Sunday, you may want to plan to leave before or after the service. There are an influx of cars for the service which could make maneuvering a larger rig more challenging if you're near the pavilion. Most of the cars were gone by the time we left (which was probably 30 minutes after the service was over).

There is a section of the creek at the park that is only for kids and 65+ to fish. The hatchery next door has some stocked fishing ponds and we took the kids over there for some fun fishing Saturday morning. Each of my kids caught 3 small fish within an hour. They loved it and were so excited. I had to hold them at 3 each cause I could tell it was going to become a competition that might go all day.

Later in the afternoon we loaded up the kids and made our way over to Wildcat Creek to a sliding rock section on the creek. The water was really cold but the kids didn't seem to care. With some hammocks up for adults to relax in, we spent a good while there that afternoon. Eventually, we packed it in and headed home to fry some chicken strips up for dinner.

Moccasin Creek State Park, as I mentioned, is right next to the Lake Burton Fish Hatchery. The hatchery raises trout and stocks Lake Burton and many of the trout streams in North Georgia. Here's a great video on what they do: (Lake Burton Fish Hatchery Video). On Sunday after we packed up camp, we took the kids over to the hatchery to look around. John, the hatchery manager (gentleman in the video), came out to talk to the kids. I wasn't expecting there to be anyone around on a Sunday morning. It was a nice surprise when he came out and engaged our small group to tell us about what they did there and answer questions. He even grabbed a bowl of fish food and let the kids feed the brown trout they were going to be releasing in a couple weeks! He's been working there for over 10 yrs.  He is a super nice man and really engaging with children. So if you stop by, tell him hi.

With the gear, dogs, and kids packed up, we started our trek homeward. We will definitely keep this place in mind for future trips. I'm thinking of coming back in the spring when they're stocking the creek so the kids can take a try at fishing for brown trout. Maybe we can even watch them loading up the fish in the trucks to release. I think the kids would get a kick out of that. Hopefully, next time we can stay longer as I think 2 nights was not enough time for us.

U-hauling in Myrtle Beach State Park

We finally got a break to take our first camping trip of the year last weekend. We headed out to Myrtle Beach State Park in South Carolina as our accommodations for a weekend family reunion with extended family (my mom was born and raised on a farm in the area before the tourism boom). The last time we were in Myrtle Beach we camped at Huntington Beach State Park which is on the far south end. Huntington Beach SP tends to be a bit quieter and there's less traffic. Myrtle Beach SP is just south of Springmaid Pier and the south end of Ocean Blvd (known by locals as The Boulevard).

South of Myrtle Beach SP is most of the private owned campground resorts (aka RV parking lots). Many of them offer water parks and other amenities but since we're more of a camping family than an large RV (read condo on wheels) family just looking for a parking spot, we of course headed to the state park. The campground is very shady and has a surprising 300 or so sites for tents to RVs scattered through ~6 different loops. We stayed in site 23 and loved it. Here's where having a small camper is awesome. Site 23 is technically a tent site, but I called ahead and spoke to a ranger and told them the size of our camper and they gave me the ok to book it. It's basically the first site in the campground which means it's the closes to the beach access path. There's not a site right next to or behind it. It's very private/quiet and totally surrounded by trees/shrubs. It also has 2 perfectly spaced trees for hanging a hammock. So that's why I wanted that site. Another site we liked when we were there was site 82. It seemed quiet and a bit deep, was across the street from a small bath house and next to a little path to a playground where the kids went every day.  So if we go back, those would be my top two sites (uh-oh I let the secret out!). The 2 bath houses we used were in great shape and regularly maintained. There is a camp store open daily from 8am-9:30pm if you need something without leaving the park. The campground is not a long walk from the beach and it's located on the northern end of the park's beach.

The park has it's own pier that is free to access. There are fee's if you want to fish/crab from the pier though. There is a store at the beach side of the pier also for souvenirs and bait and pay the fees for fishing. All of the hosts and park staff we interacted with were very nice. The beach is beautiful and there were not many people there when we went out in the morning. The state park does have day use access (fee per person for those not camping) to the beach so it does get busier on the weekends as the day goes on.

As you know if you've read this blog for a while, I'm a big fan of supporting the state parks in any state and I love to take my children camping there. One of the benefits to a state park over an RV resort, is the educational programs and activities.Unknown to us until we got there, that Saturday was a huge event with the North Myrtle Beach Sea Turtle Patrol targeted towards kids. The day's events ranged from educational talks, to looking for turtles from the pier, to arts and crafts. The kids favorite event was the life of a sea turtle obstacle course on the beach. At the end they got a "test tube" with information about their sea turtle's DNA and how many times it had nested and how many eggs it laid each time. The DNA project is interesting. I thought it was the most exciting and well thought out event I had seen. The kids had a blast! Many thanks to the NMBSTP for putting on an engaging day.

Now there are two things to be aware of when you are planning to stay at MBSP. The first is that the Myrtle Beach Airport is just northwest of the campground and they tend to land planes from the east. So there's a bit of air traffic which may not be something you're used to. We were there Friday till Monday and I'd gotten used to it by then. It does make for an incredible site for the kids on the beach to see the jets coming in for a landing. But MYR only has a single runway so they are limited to how many flights they can run each day. For those who may not be familiar with the area and are history buffs, the airport and Market Commons area to the south of it used to be Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. (My grandfather was stationed there when my Dad was in high school which is how my parents met.)

The second thing to be aware of is mentioned in tiny print on the home page of the state park:

Due to heavy visitation on Saturdays and Sundays, expect long lines when entering the park, especially from 11am to 4pm.  We appreciate your patience in advance! 

And by long lines they mean it will take you 30-45 mins to get into the park (and that's on a Sunday in early May!). Yes, we ran into that problem on Sunday at ~1pm. We spent the morning hanging out with my cousin and his kids at their beach house and came back to the camper to get ready for a dinner with the big family. Had to wait 30-45 mins in a long line to get into the park. The problem?  There's not a separate entrance for campers. So you have to go through the same entrance as all the day use folks. I'm sorry MBSP, I do love your place but that's a very poor design decision. You should provide a second entrance for campers. The main entrance is off business hwy 17 near the south end of the park and winds it's way towards the middle of the beach where the pier is. I don't understand why there's not an entrance/exit on the north end for campers since the campground is on the north end. 

In the end, it's a beautiful park and I think that during the week it's probably not as bad on the entry issues. I know that they can't control air traffic, but they really do need to setup a separate entrance for campers. That is something they can control. While the entrance on Sunday afternoon was a pain, overall we enjoyed our time and the turtle event was a huge success from what I saw.

U-haul Camping at Lake Jocassee

Last year South Carolina State Parks ran a special deal for Black Friday on camping: by one night get one night free. I can't let a deal like that pass so I jumped on it and scheduled a camping trip to the mountains of South Carolina. There's several parks up that way: Oconee, Devils Fork, Keowee-Toxaway, Table Rock, and Ceasar's Head. We opted to try out Devils Fork.

Unfortunately, I had to move the dates due to family situations beyond my control. so we missed out on hitting it during the Spring. It's one of the only places in the world that you can see the Oconee Bell flower. So it would have been nice to see that during the spring but we ended up going in early October instead. It was still nice. The weather was great; it only rained one day. This time it was just me and the kids for a 5 day, 4 night trip. It was great to see them out in nature and exploring.

Devils Fork is on Lake Jocassee and is the only place that allows public access to the lake. They dammed up the valley/gorge at this point because 4 rivers flow into here before becoming the Keowee River. The dam is run by Duke Energy. While we didn't get to go out on the lake this trip, I expect in the future we will make another trip since it's only about 2 hours away. The campground is nice and we ended up in site 48 right across from the bath house on that loop. It was nice to be close to the bath house with the kids. The sites are nice and have water and electric. There are also some walk-in and boat-in campsites available too. There are 2 small trails at the park: the Oconee Bell Trail (1-mile loop) and the Bear Cove Trail (2-mile loop). We wandered down both of them on various days. The Bear Cove Trail winds out to a small peninsula with a great place for a picnic/snack break and nice view of the lake and mountains.

While the park does have a playground for the kids, they do seem to lack kid/educational focused programs. Since they primarily view themselves as a boating/fishing park, I understand why they may be limited on kids activities. Still when I camp with the kids, I like for the parks we visit to have something engaging/educational for them.

We arrived on a Thursday and settled into camp. Friday was nice since most folks checked out and there was a lot of quiet time before the weekend crowd arrived. That's when we took advantage of some hiking followed up by smores.

Saturday it rained the entire day. That's always tough in a 13ft camper with little ones. (See my post on what to do with kids on rainy days.) Fortunately, I plan for times like this. We use over-the-back-of-the-seat DVD players in our car instead of a built in unit. I only put them in the car for long trips. We like that we don't have a video unit in the car 24/7. It also allows us the ability to move one of the units into the camper on rainy/cold days. So we watched some movies. I also took along a few books. We read half of Call of The Wild that day. They really get into the story when we read to them. My son is old enough to read to himself and he had a book of his that he had been reading through and took the opportunity on Saturday to indulge in it. We took a mid day trip out for lunch. It was about a 20-30 min drive to the closest big town. We found a McDonalds with an indoor playplace. That made for a good couple hours of playing and lunch. Later that evening the rain tapered off. We also played some games and bought a new camping themed game at the camp store.

Sunday was another beautiful day and we did some more hiking and played at the playground. We made mini pizzas for dinner that night. It's a fun since the kids get to make their own pizza. And we topped off the night with smores.

Monday was time to pack up. We broke camp early and headed out. We had one last thing on our list though before heading home. There are many waterfalls in the area. Some are long hikes; some are shorter hikes. A few are only viewable by boat on the lake. I had researched that one of the easier ones to get to was not too far away and on the way home. So we headed off to Oconee Station Historic Site.

Oconee Station is an old 1700s military compound that later turned into a trading post. Lots of Oconee and Cherokee Indians inhabited the region back then. They only do tours of the inside of the buildings in the afternoon (1-5pm at the time I'm writing this). So definitely check the website if you want a tour. We walked around the outsides for a bit and then hit the closest hiking trail.

There is a pond and a loop trail around the pond, but the loop trail extends off and connects over to the Palmetto Trail. It also connects to Station Cove Falls Trail. Station Cove Falls is a 60 foot waterfall that is a relatively easy hike to get to.

There are two way to get to the trail head. Either drive down the road from the entrance to Oconee Station and park at the trail head, or hike from the Oconee Station parking lot past the pond. Since we had the camper in tow, it was easier to park at Oconee Station Historic Site and hike over. It may have added a .5 mile or so to the hike. The hike from the trail head is .5 miles to the falls. It's also a relatively easy walk; though not a paved path. The kids had a fun time playing in the falls for a bit and then our grand adventure moved to a close as we headed home.

18th Century Colonial Market Faire at Fort Yargo State Park

Every year in the Spring, the Fort Yargo Historical Society puts on their 18th Century Colonial Market Faire at Fort Yargo State Park. I have heard about it but had never been. This weekend we decided to go. We had half the day free and my son didn't have a ball game so we decided to go see what it was all about. Fort Yargo is one of those state parks with tons of things to do: boating, fishing, mountain biking, camping, cabins, yurts, hiking, putt putt, etc. (Fort Yargo is also one of Georgia's First Time Camper Parks which is pretty awesome since there's so much to do there.) I wish we had planned more in advance and taken "CC" over there to camp for the weekend.

Hunting Island, U-haul Camper Style

I feel like I left a part of me back in Hunting Island, SC after camping there for 3 nights. About a pint of blood to be exact. At least that's what I'm estimated the biting flies and mosquitoes took. That's right folks. There's a lot of wonderful things about Hunting Island, SC, but bring bug spray....lots of it!

We had heard a lot of good things about Hunting Island but had never been there. So we planned a trip for 4 days and 3 nights. We hadn't been to the beach all year so we were excited to get the kids in the sand and surf. We ended up on site 121 at Hunting Island State Park. The campground is made up of 5 loops basically. There are two loops near the waterfront/beach. and 3 loops further inland. As I understand it, the breeze off the ocean helps the front loops not have so many problems with the biting flies and mosquitoes but the back 3 loops are in the trees and far enough inland that they don't get any breeze. Combine that with lots of swampy marshland, high humidity, and hot weather, and you have a perfectly blended biting insect smoothie - with you right in the middle of it. Granted this is the second weekend of October and they were having unseasonably warm temps (67-85F). A cold front should be moving in this week so maybe next weekend would have been a better pick. Next time we go, we'll try to pick a cooler time and a spot closer to the ocean.

Outside of the humidity and bugs, we did have a great time. The kids enjoyed the sand and surf. We had a fantastic time exploring the beaches. When the tide goes out, the beach extends way out. The kids really enjoyed walking around with the tide out collecting shells, watching hermit crabs and fish, and we even saw a horseshoe crab and a sea turtle nest.

We got to climb the lighthouse and the view from the top was great since it was a clear day. You could see all the way north to Edisto Island. I learned a lot about the erosion issues they face on Hunting Island. Even some of my family in SC was telling me that when they were young, they would go there and stay at friends beach houses. But, none of those exist anymore due to the erosion. Now the whole island (what's left of it) is state park land.

We tried a couple of local restaurants while we were there. Johnson Creek Tavern is probably the closest place to eat. It's just over the bridge from the campground on Harbor Island (you cross Harbor Island on the way to Hunting Island) and serves seafood. The food was good and not too expensive. And it's super close the campground. We also tried some BBQ from Q on Bay in Beaufort. It was decent food also. We didn't really get to take in the atmosphere as we got ours on the run but it looks like a great place to sit and dine. Probably the best food I enjoyed was a burger from Fat Patties. This place has great food and an awesome atmosphere. This ain't your dad's grilled out back patties or fast food versions. These are half-pound patties with your choice of grass-fed beef, half beef/half bacon, shrimp, turkey, or black bean patty as a starter for a masterpiece. My wife was not disappointed in the Virginia V and I enjoyed the Who's Your Pattie?

Have you visited Hunting Island before? Do you have any pointers to share on best location to camp or time to go, or sites to see while there? Drop a line in the comments section below please, We plan to go back and I'd love to hear your opinions!

A. H. Stephens State Park in our U-haul Fiberglass Camper

This past weekend, we decided to take a quick camping getaway to a state park that's about an hour from our house. We wanted to go somewhere close and just relax. We're fortunate enough to live in the middle of four state parks that are within an hour of us. You can actually draw an almost square box between the four parks and we'd be right smack in the middle. So we picked one of those parks to take advantage of the ability to get there quick. Less time on the road means more time for relaxing! We decided to go to  A. H. Stephens State Park in Crawfordville, Georgia.

We had never been to A. H Stephens State Park before but I had some friends who live about 30 mins from it say they like to go there. One of the perks that I heard was that it's not crowded. I can say that proved to be true while we were there. The campground has about 25 RV/Camper/Tent sites with 30/20 amp electric and water. There are a fair number of pull-through sites for those who don't like to back up. Most of the pads are large and would fit any fiberglass rig easily. I had enough room on our pad that I could have put the screen room behind the camper or next to it. Including the camp hosts and us, there were 6 campers in the campground this past weekend. We settled into site 4. The bathhouse was clean and it's on the outside of the loop. The inside of the loop has an old tower built by the CCC to be used as a fire tire and a water tower to hold water pumped up from one of the springs. There's also a large lawn area on the inside of the loop perfect for kids or playing games that includes a playground, horseshoe pits (w/horseshoes), sand volleyball area, and a public water spigot and dishwater disposal area. There are a lot of tall pines in the campground and I found a couple next to our site that were the perfect width for my hammock. In retrospect, I should have picked the site next to us (6) which was a pull-through just for the reason that it had better shade.

Camping in Georgia in July is not for the faint of heart. It's HOT! We hit the 90s this past weekend and combine that with the high humidity down here and it's like living in a sauna. The mornings and evenings were fine. But the middle of the day was scorching. Our camper doesn't have air conditioning. So we're left with the Fantastic Fan and a tower fan that I take when it's hot. Tower fans are great for campers. They may be a bit more expensive than a box fan but when space is a premium like it is in our little Uhaul fiberglass camper, they fit the bill. I strongly recommend them. The nice thing about the tower fan was that I could also move it outside with extension cord and set it up under our screen room for some airflow. We found some water balloons at the camp store for the afternoons to cool us down. I discovered that the little faucet in our camper is a perfect size for filling water balloons!

On Saturday afternoon, we decided to do a tour of Liberty Hall to do something out of the heat. For those who may not know, Liberty Hall in Crawfordville, Georgia was the home of Alexander Hamilton Stephens. Stephens was a politician for Georgia back before the Civil War. He was against secession but once Georgia and the other states seceded, he became the Vice President of the Confederacy. Stephens always wanted a peaceful end to the war whereas Jefferson Davis didn't. The two men did not get along. Stephens was also a good friend to Lincoln. Later after the war, Stephens ended up becoming governor of Georgia for about 4 months before he died. We enjoyed the tour and the air conditioning for the afternoon.

Crawfordville sits in Taliaferro County in Georgia. It's a tiny county and the least populous one in the state. So there's not much there to do except relax around the campsite. I had a great time talking with Ranger Michael who grew up there and is probably one of the most personable rangers I've ever met. The county has so few people that they only have one school K-12. Interestingly, they do year round school. We did find one bright spot just outside of town south of I-20 on Hwy 22. A BBQ joint called Heavy's. It's only open Friday - Sunday but the food is good and the plates are huge. My kids are now referring to it as the restaurant with the loaves of bread on the table. True southern BBQ hospitality with loves of Sunbeam just sitting on every table is a kids dream. The place has a lot of character between old trucks and farm equipment outside, to a hunter's lodge feel inside. (I swear there were more animals on the wall than at the zoo in Athens.) (EDIT: Come to find out, they filmed the bar scene in Sweet Home Alabama at Heavy's.)

We had a wonderful time. And even though I didn't get the opportunity this time to fish at any of the 3 lakes, Ranger Michael assures me the fishing is good. And he has 3 large bass mounted on the wall in the station that he's personally caught to prove it. So if you want a quiet place to camp along I-20/US-278 and like a bit of history, you might give this place a try for a night or two.