Camping in NC

I got some unexpected time off of work so we decided to go camping in NC with our friends. Kurt's break is over soon and we will all be back to "normal" life before we know it. We loaded the car and set out on a 6 hour drive to Carolina Beach and State Park for 2 nights. We picked up boogy boards and beach chairs from a friends grandpa on the way. We were packed in tight.

We headed straight to the beach when we got there. It was BLAZING hot!!! Mac got to experience his first ocean swim. He liked it alright. He jumped the waves and got his head crashed on by a few too. He LOVED to roll in the sand and dig until he could find cooler sand to lay in. Good thing there was a hose at the parking lot to rinse him off.



After we spent a few hours at the beach we headed to the state park to set up camp and have dinner. Little did we know that this would be the worst night for us. We were all in a 7 man tent, 4 adults, one 90 lb dog, and 1 baby. It didn't get below 80 degrees with 100% humidity and NO breeze. Oh and lots of bugs. Mac was up most of the night standing as close to the screen part panting like he just got back from running a marathon. It was horrible. We were all sticky and sweaty. I could keep describing it but you can just imagine it!

We got up pretty irritated. It was kind of comical. We were so annoyed that it was funny. We tossed back and forth the idea of driving back to VA that night just to avoid having to spend another night at the State Park. We made breakfast and went on a little nature hike looking for Venus fly traps (supposedly they only grow in that area) and headed to the beach for the day. We had so much fun boogy boarding and walking the beach. While there we found out you could camp on the beach, so Katie and Adam went back and took down camp. We would take anything over another night at the Park. At least at the beach there would be a breeze.

Since camp was all packed up and it was sooooo hot we made dinner in the only shade available...right next to the bathrooms at the beach. It was pretty funny. We showered in the outdoor showers and packed up for the night.

We carried only what we needed for the night on the beach. It was so beautiful sitting by the ocean as the sun went down. There was heat lighting in the distance. We fell asleep to the sound of the crashing waves. I won't say I slept great but better than the night before for sure.

We woke up a little more refreshed, not quite so hot, and very sandy to a beautiful sunrise!
That concludes our NC camping trip. Of course we stopped at DD for ICED coffee and bagels on our way home...always a great way to end a vacation.