Huntington Beach State Park.....and COLD Weather!

We made a quick trip down to Myrtle Beach in January while we were having a little spurt of warmer weather.  We had reservations at Huntington Beach State Park. We have visited this park many times but never camped here.  It is a beautiful campground with lots of trees, wildlife, trails and more. Of course the beach is the main attraction here and it is absolutely beautiful.

Unfortunately the day we left home, it was rainy but that normally doesn't slow us down.  When we arrived at the campground it was so dark and we had a little trouble finding our site.  After rounding all of the loops about 10 times I talked Greg into talking to one of the campground hosts.  They were awesome and actually had an extra site map that we used and quickly found the spot.  The temperatures had dropped considerably and getting into our site in the cold rain with me on flashlight duty was not exactly fun.  However, it made our cozy little camper with some tasty homemade vegetable soup that much more appealing.  Those frozen meals sure do come in handy.  Miss Lucy was so happy to snuggle and get warm.  She did good on the ride down but as always it's not her favorite thing to do. I can't recommend the car seat and seat belt enough for those who have puppers who don't like riding in cars.  It keeps her from pacing and climbing all over the car.  The most important part of this is the seat belt clip.  We clip it to her harness and she is safe and sound. 

The next morning it was beautiful and sunny although very cold and brisk outside.  I'll take dry cold any day.  Miss Lucy stayed behind in the warm camper while we ventured out and about.  We rode down to an RV store and looked at a little larger camper made by Gulf Stream and checked out the Vintage again as well.  Sadly neither can match the quality of craftsmanship of the Retro so we will be working to figure out how we will order one when we are ready to move up to a bigger size.  The closest place to find one near us is Florida.  I surely don't mind venturing down that way to camper shop.  (Big smile!)  We are thinking 180 or in the 190 range but we are researching models before we make a decision.

Next we dropped off the deposit for a summer rental for the family vacation in July.  There are 10 of us and by then we will be 11 when our sweet little Grandson will have arrived.  We plan to take Little Red and we will use that space as necessary.

For dinner that night we rode down to Murrels Inlet where we found many of our favorite restaurants were closed until February or March.  We didn't think of that as we haven't been to this area in January before.  We finally found a great choice - Wahoo Fish House.  Oh my gosh - this restaurant was excellent.  It has a very cozy rustic atmosphere and we were able to sit on the side by the water and watch wildlife as we ate.  The food was excellent and we enjoyed every bite with the exception of the few morsels we saved for Lucy Loo.  I ordered the seared scallops over cheese grits and Greg had a stuffed fish special that they featured that night.  Although this restaurant was a little more expensive that we would normally try, it was well worth it.  We thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

We will definitely visit this campground again when it's warmer.  The only drawback we saw is that many of the sites don't have shade so you will need to choose wisely in the summer months.  There are shady spots available.  This is a great campground for all ages and is very senior friendly.  The bathhouses were clean and well kept.  WIFI is available and this state park is pet friendly. They have a very nice gift shop and store with a gigantic Adirondack chair out front which makes a great picture prop.  This park is also the home of a National Historic Landmark, Atalaya, the winter home of Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington.  There is an arts festival held here each year in September.  If you like the Myrtle Beach area, I would put this one on your bucket list for sure.

Little Red's Fifth State Park

This past weekend we traveled to Cheraw State Park and Campground and it was awesome!  We found out that this state park is one of the largest in the country with a little over 7 thousand acres!  This wooded campground sits on Lake Juniper which provides a beautiful view and great fishing as well as space for canoeing and kayaking.   We would definitely recommend putting it on your list of must see SC State Parks!

This was also another dog friendly park.  They are welcome everywhere with the exception of the cabins.  Lucy loved it and enjoyed walks and scoping out other four legged friends and there were lots.

The picture above was taken up by the park office which is very

nice.  During peak months there are canoes and kayaks for rent.  They also have a loaner program for fishing - something we had not come across before.  If you don't have rods and such they will loan them to you for use on the lake.  There is a beautiful walk between the office and campground which takes you across the spillway and we estimated it to be a couple of miles total there and back.

This was our set up and we had a nice level space on site 4.  We could access the lake through a short walk through the woods to put the canoe in and Greg really enjoyed a paddle across the lake and back.  The campground is in a circle shape with only about 17 sites - very cozy.  It was fairly full for January and we loved that.  We walked through and checked out the sites and most were level and a good size with fire rings and picnic tables with gravel.  No Wifi here but we were fine and got fairly good reception with air TV during this stay.   There is a hot spot up at the camp office if you need to do any quick checks.  There are picnic sheds and tables scattered around.


One thing we would caution is to be careful when following your GPS to find this campground.  There is a Cheraw State Park Road which is the back side of the park and a very locked gate.  We were told this was the old entrance but since we arrived after dark we thought the park was locked up for the night and we wouldn't be able to get in. Lucy and I got adventurous and stepped over the gate and started walking while Greg was making phone calls.  We got a good ways down the road when we saw a sign facing away from us and when we got to it, it read "For Park Staff Only".  Okay that freaked us a bit and it was getting darker by the minute so we hoofed it back to the car quickly!  After making calls to the park ranger and local sheriff's office we found out that the real entrance was a few miles down the road and was not locked at night.  Some state parks have locked gates and require a code to get in which they will give you if you are arriving after dark.  We have found that a phone call to request the code in advance usually takes care of that problem and saves an argument upon arrival.  😀  .

As I mentioned in my previous post about Cheraw, there is a beautiful golf course within this state park.  When Greg went up and talked to the golf pro he actually offered a free golf cart to tour the course.  We ran into quite a few groups golfing during our stay.  The guys are planning a trip back to check out the course.

Another lesson learned - don't use your expensive cell phone as a flashlight!  I really can't see well in the dark and I was trying to make my way to the bath house before we set up. I had Lucy on her leash and when she bolted to catch up with Greg I ran smack into the picnic table which I absolutely could not see.  Not sure what actually transpired but I looked down to find my five month old phone on the ground face up with a hole right through the screen and a spider crack all across the face.  Bummer!!  Luckily I have insurance but getting a refurbished replacement was not cheap.

We had a short but very enjoyable visit to this state park and we definitely give it a big ole 5 out of five campers.  It hit all of our important points and we would absolutely recommend it and we will return.

We are still definitely enjoying our Little Red Retro and the more we use it the more we love it.  It is just the perfect size for us and Lucy of course and she feels very at home in it.  If anyone out there has any questions about it or wants to see anything specific, just let us know.

I apologize for the spacing in this post - I just could not get it to work right.  Hopefully next time. 😉

Hunting Island State Park

For our second camping trip in our Little Red Retro we went down to Hunting Island State Park.  We had been here previously but it has been over 31 years.  We actually spent part of our honeymoon there and loved it.  This trip did not disappoint and we had an awesome time.

We spent 4 days there and really hated to leave.  Hurricane Matthew was getting ready to roll in so it's good we had to leave but it was grudgingly.  During our stay we had deer come right up to us and lick our hands.  I'm sure they thought we had food but its strictly forbidden to feed the wildlife...but I sure wanted to.  There were families of deer all over the campground and they would scamper in

and out of our campsite and watch us and walk right up.  Then there were the raccoons - they would scamper all about and were not afraid to take what they wanted.  They were always in twos or threes and every night we would forget and leave something out and they would swipe it.  They ate two bags of marshmallows and so much more.  We really enjoyed the critters and looked forward to their escapades every day.

This is a large park by our standards and if you camp there you can climb to the top of the Hunting Island Lighthouse free of charge.  There is a nature science center with all sorts of reptiles and you can hug a snake if you are so inclined.  I am not....not ever.  The sites vary in size and are roomy and include a picnic table, fire ring, electrical hook up and water.  There are also tent sites that are only accessible on foot and those are definitely for the adventurous types.  We loved walking up and seeing their setups but you really have to bring the super bug spray to stay in those areas.

This campground has wireless and it is connected at every bath house so if it is super important to you then you may want to check the maps when selecting your site.  On this visit we could not get access - we were about two sites down out of range.  However when hubby needed to do a little work he walked down to an empty site near a bath house and hooked right up.  We also got fairly regular TV antenna reception and enjoyed some old moves and such at night.  Cell service was excellent for us too.  There is a very nice camp store and we walked there everyday and got ice cream and anything else we needed.  They had boiled peanuts, coffee and cold drinks also.

This is another pet friendly campground and dogs are welcome as long as they are kept on a leash.  They can even walk right out on the beach and explore.  Lucy loved exploring the campground and walking on the beach.  There are lots of dooty bags and stations around the campground.  Be sure to pack your bug spray for you and your pups - this place has lots of water and some sights are buggier than others.

Of course the real attraction here is the long stretch of beach - it's natural and unspoiled with no commercialism here.  It is just beautiful and full of all kinds of creatures if you into that sort of stuff.  We glimpsed all sorts of crabs and such.  You can actually follow the beach all the way down to the lighthouse.  It is a hike but a beautiful walk.  There is a little gift shop and more trails and outdoor areas to enjoy.

For us this campground hit all five campers on our rating system.  We loved the sites, the bath houses were clean and well stocked by state park standards.  The showers were hot and roomy with curtains on the stalls.  There are senior volunteers onsite who camp there for 3 months at a time as well as a camp chaplain and camp hosts.  This park was packed out and that is normally a good sign.  We noticed campers of all ages but there was a good number of seniors and we always enjoy that...since we are seniors too.  We hope to plan a full week at Hunting Island next year!


Cost:  $
Location:  5 out of a possible 5 - this is one of our favorites!
Service:  Excellent
Overall Rating:  5 out of a possible 5 Campers

 

Why Do We Camp???

Why do we camp....this is a question we hear a lot - especially way back when we tent camped.  I can't answer this for anyone else but for us it is our reset button.

Why would you want to cook outside, use bug spray like it's hand lotion, hover over a hole in the ground to do unspeakable things???  Also - there is lots of discussion about what is really camping and what is just staying somewhere else other than home.  Some say if you use an RV then you aren't really camping.  Others call it Glamping.  For us our little camper is a safe haven.....we still cook outside, still use the bath house at campgrounds and spend a good deal of our time outside the camper.  But I am the first to admit that we are not the hard core campers who are out in the woods in a tent with no running water.  We are old and those days, for the most part, have passed us by.  I like knowing that I have a place to go if I need to use the bathroom at night and its dark outside.  I like having a hot shower in the bathhouse and I like the combination of the comforts of home along with the experience of staying in a campground.

Now why do we do this - well here is a list of our reasons - I am sure there are others but these are the ones that come to mind.  I love knowing why others enjoy it too.  We have met so many people along the way and we share our stories and we find so much more in common that we could imagine.  It is an awesome community!

1. It is a reset - a back to simple things trip that gives us time to do things that we just don't take the time to do at home.
2. It makes us thankful - for running water, hot showers, a clean place to sleep, and good food to eat.  When we get back home we are ever more thankful for the ease of life there and we appreciate simple things so much more.
3. The nature - I can't say this enough.  We have seen things at campgrounds that we would never experience at home.  Having a  young deer lick your hand and look you right in the eye is something I will never forget.  Seeing a little family of raccoons scamper up a tree and sit and watch is was just amazing.
4. Walking....we walk and exercise so much more than at home.  We drive less and force ourselves to do things and we actually like it.  If you knew me then you would know that is quite the accomplishment.
5. People - campers are just the best.  We meet the most remarkable people and they teach us so much. We meet their awesome dogs and learn about where they are from and what camping means for them.
6. The food - you just learn a new appreciation for how to make things over a fire or on a small grill.  You learn to combine the skills you use at home with making the best of what you have on hand.  When you sit down to enjoy that meal you just created it just tastes better, smells better and you linger over your meal and enjoy the experience.
7. The atmosphere.  One of my favorite things is a walk around the camp at dusk when there are smells in the air of fires and dinners being prepared.  Lights of all sorts and types glow around the campsites.  Kids are playing outside and you hear laughter and joy.  I so enjoy seeing the different setups, tents, campers and more.  
8. Travel - camping allows us to travel and is so much more affordable.  Exploring our state and neighboring ones is something we otherwise would not be able to do.
9. The stars - you can't see stars in many places like you can in a campground or out away from light pollution.  We had never seen anything like the evening sky show we glimpsed each night on our last trip. 
10. The sounds - the chirping, croaking, humming, singing of nature is magical and so very peaceful for us.

Now I am sure there are many more advantages that don't come to mind but these are the highlights for us.  I
love discovering the joys others find.  In my mind camping is not just a leisure activity but a healthy habit.  Already planning our next adventure.