Bug Smacker

I am waking this morning to the rhythm of waves pounding onto the sands of Myrtle Beach. It is as spectacular as we had expected. The ocean breeze is whistling through the palm trees causing them to sway like a conductor would orchestrate to the approaching waves of the sea. The sun is glistening across the ripples in the water and reflecting disco ball patterns into the windows of our RV.

Last night the gentle breeze had kicked up a notch. With a storm approaching our RV was actually rocking back and forth as if we were aboard a cruise ship. The rain came down hard and the trees bent over and touched the ground. Today however, is going to be great.

I want to thank Maite at Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach for helping us find some great spots close to the ocean when we checked in. Even though we hadn’t made any reservation, she was able to provide us with a couple of front row ocean sites during our stay here. We had to relocate a couple of times, but it was well worth the hassle to be right on the oceanfront.

  

The campground at Ocean Lakes is just as nice as it was last time we were here. The sites all offer full hookups including: 23/30/50 electric, water, sewer, cable and wifi. This place is always exceptionally clean and well maintained. On this visit we found the golf cart activity to be much more acceptable. Last visit here there was a continuous parade of kids cruising up and down the road in front of us all hours of the day and night. This was most likely due to the time of year that we are here.

We went down the road to check out two nearby state parks. We found Myrtle Beach State Park to be congested with small sites and muddy. We had read in the brochure that you should not wear open toed shoes and to use a flashlight at night due to the possibility of Copperhead Snakes. When my wife saw one of these serpents cross the road right in front of us in broad daylight, I was instructed that we would not be staying here…EVER!

The other state park we saw was Huntington. This park was really nice. It has an abundance of wildlife. We saw birds, fish, deer and even alligators.  It is also located on the ocean. The sites are mostly large with electric and water. This would be a real nice place to stay if you can get a reservation. I see why they go so fast.

We took a drive down the boulevard downtown. We stopped in to visit with Cathy from the Sea Horn motel. Before we had our beloved BugSmacker RV, we would stay at the Sea Horn. This place is spectacular and the owners treat you like family. It was really great reminiscing about all the great times we had here.

We headed over to Murrells Inlet for dinner. Murrells Inlet is known as “a quiet little drinking village with a fishing problem”. Terri and I split a plate of Calabash-Style Fried Shrimp at the Dead Dog Saloon which was terrific. Afterward we took a stroll along the Marshwalk.

We returned a couple of days later to Murrells Inlet for dinner. This has become our favorite place to go while in the Myrtle Beach area. Judging by the crowds, we are not alone. We stopped to eat at Drunken Jacks. They had a 45 minute wait, so during our wait we headed over to Creek Ratz. Here we shared a Shrimp basket. As we finished our page came in for Drunken Jacks. We returned to honor our reservation and had a couple of (you guessed it) shrimp plates. This meal also included a salad bar and some of the best Hush Puppies you have ever eaten. We love the creek shrimp they serve in Murrells Inlet. Our favorite was at the Creek Rat, but if you want a complete dinner, you can’t go wrong at Drunken Jacks. Plus the people there were exceptional.

We aren’t much for buffets, but tonight we took the advise from a group of really nice people we met on  the beach and tried one. We headed to what is refered to as restaurant row in North Myrle Beach to a place called The Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood Buffet. This place had more food than china. The selection was enormous. It wasn’t just the volume that impressed us, the food was delicious. I want to thank our waitress, Catie for making sure we had anything we may desire and making us feel so welcome.

Following dinner had us stop into a shop called “Purpleologist”. It was filled with all things purple. She fell in love with the place.

As always, Myrtle Beach is going to be hard to leave.

        

99 Things NOT to do when RVing

Tim R. Enright

A bit of satire for all those RVers out there who see the humor in what we love.

 

Don’t…

1. Drive down the road with more than 2 slides out.

2. Use your sewer hose to fertilize your neighbor’s flowers.

3. Backup your RV into the … FILL IN THE BLANK.

4. Hang raw meat on the clothesline to scare away the bears.

5. Tie the dog to the rear bumper while you pack to go home and forget.

6. Put your awning out over the fire pit so the rain won’t put it out.

7. Use the air conditioner, microwave, coffee pot, hairdryer and toaster all at the same time and wonder why the TV went out.

8. Drive your rig down a one-way road if you don’t know what is at the other end.

9. Plan a camping trip for your church group only the find out the place you booked is clothing optional.

10. Fill your air mattress with LP gas if you smoke in bed.

11. Believe the salesman when he says that you can easily tow that new Toy Hauler with your Smart Car.

12. Put the RV up on blocks and yell out to the kids “we’re home now!”

13. Run out of gas only to realize that you put the gas into your water tank instead.

14. Use honey as suntan lotion in August.

15. Drive your Rig through the fast food drive-thru window without looking at the menu first.

16. Hang Grandma’s lawn chair (with her in it) on the bike rack because the seats inside are full.

17. Park your RV directly on your neighbor’s water hose.

18. Forget to put the support bars under the slide out of your Pop-Up before you leap into bed.

19. Take binoculars to the beach and try to convince your wife you are just going to look for birds.

20. Fix your flat tire with Duct Tape.

21. Put whiskey in your fresh water tank to keep it from freezing (OK, this one really doesn’t sound so bad.)

22. Hook the trailer up to the truck while your wife is still inside on the toilet.

23. Go up top and check the TV antenna during a thunderstorm because you can’t get the weather channel.

24. Pour water down the outside of the kid’s tent when they are inside while moaning “AHHHH”.

25. Carry your PETA sign through a deer hunting camp.

26. Feed the Seagulls and wonder where all the White Rain is coming from.

27. Put Arm Floaties on Grandpa, push him into the lake and expect him home in time for dinner.

28. Leave the parking brake in your toad on as you travel.

29. Explain to the kids how you through the cat’s toy into the fire and you’re waiting for it to return.

30. Walk past the neighbor’s Pit Bull with a pocket full of Hotdogs.

31. Cook marshmallows over a fire taller than yourself.

32. Steal the neighbor’s Cable connection on game day.

33. Clean your fish with a chainsaw.

34. Jam a stick into the black tank drain to unclog it.

35. Pet the neighbor’s dog if he has foam coming from his mouth.

36. Whisper sweet nothings into your wife’s ear while sitting in a group around the campfire, if you forgot to put on your hearing aid.

37. Try serving a veggie burger to a hunter.

38. Sunbathe on a Tuesday in the rain.

39. Cook microwave popcorn on a campfire.

40. Ride your bike if someone stole the seat and the tire is flat.

41. Get out, drop to your knees and kiss the ground after the first time your wife drives the RV.

42. Use a Roman candle to start a campfire.

43. Go jogging in high heels before 6AM.

44. Eat all your worms before you go fishing.

45. Sit with your back to the campfire after eating baked beans.

46. Take the Pop-Up down with your wife still in it.

47. Fill your fresh water tank using the hose marked “not to be used for drinking” at the dump station.

48. Light your cigarette with a bon-fire.

49. Practice casting your new fishing pole into a crowd.

50. Go swimming with bait in the pockets of your shorts.

51. Use a hack saw to disconnect the power cord because it is stuck.

52. Stretch a rubber glove over the head of your neighbor’s little barking dog.

53. Dive into a frozen lake within 30 minutes after eating.

54. Yell out profanities because you dropped a log on your foot at church camp.

55. Sing campfire songs around the fire in the middle of the night, all by yourself.

56. Drive a 13 foot trailer under a 12 foot bridge.

57. Roast marshmallows over the fire on the tip of your finger.

58. Go for a hike in the woods wearing a brown jumpsuit with a white hanky sticking out of the back pocket during Deer Season. (Actually, I wouldn’t find this fashionable
any time of the year.)

59. Eat a Popsicle after it falls on the ground and more than 2 ants get on it.

60. Dump your tanks while driving down the road.

61. Water ski behind a red row boat.

62. Use gasoline to start the electric fireplace in your RV.

63. Swim in shark infested water if you are blonde.

64. Go to the beach wearing only the top half of your wife’s swim suit.

65. Kiss that sweet little puppy if you can’t tell which end you are holding up.

66. Pull the handle on your tanks before you hook up the hose.

67. Expect the life guard to save you if his seeing-eye dog is a sleep.

68. Go hiking with the wrong map.

69. Use your outside shower in the nude.

70. Put peanut butter on a jellyfish.

71. Start the campfire with your only remaining roll of toilet paper.

72. Take ownership of your air mattress by carving your name in it.

73. Play the cornhole game with cream-style corn.

74. Brush your hair with a grill cleaning brush.

75. Use a meat thermometer if you think you have a fever.

76. Yell “Fire” in the middle of bingo.

77. Run and Jump head first into the kiddie pool.

78. Clean your fish in the hot tub.

79. Shoot hoops with a shotgun.

80. Pitch a tent that is two-thirds or more in a lake.

81. Forget to duck under the bed slide on your 5th wheel while chasing after the dog.

82. Put all the snacks in the kid’s tent so the bears don’t steal them.

83. Shove all your fishing hooks into your front pockets.

84. Crow like a rooster at Dawn, or Sue, or Peggy, or Mary, or Jill…

85. Whittle a snake out of Grandma’s cane.

86. Try to squeeze your big butt into a small folding chair.

87. Throw flaming marshmallows at the neighbor’s kids.

88. Rent a RV for vacation if you don’t know how to drive.

89. Pour sugar all over the table to create a sand trap for the ants.

90. Run barefoot through the campfire so you don’t mess up your new sandals.

91. Practice your yodeling at 3AM.

92. Drive into town without unhooking either the electric cord or the hitch.

93. Tell the nice man at the boarder that your husband needs to carry a lot of guns because he likes to kill stuff every once in a while.

94. When your wife and kids go back to the trailer to eat lunch at the rest stop, unhook and take off. (However tempting this may be, it never works out well.)

95. Ask the salesman if you will need reindeer to pull your new Toy Hauler.

96. Shove the Kid’s hamster into the tank drain so they can run around and clean the tank out.

97. Put the steps away without letting anyone inside know.

98. Try to write a book about 99 things NOT to do while RVing, when you can only think of 98 things.

 

Article Courtesy of : www.BugSmacker.com : Copyright © 2013

Ships Ahoy! A while back Terri and I were on a trip along the St. Clair River when we discovered the Algonac State Park. We drove past it, did a double take, and then turned around to check it out. Ever since that day we have been anxious to return.

This is a very busy State Park and is quite difficult to get into. It not only offers hiking trails and a shooting range, but its greatest feature is that is located directly across the road from the St. Clair River. This allows for an exceptional view of passing Ships. Freighters from around the world pass along the one half mile of St. Clair River frontage.

The day we arrived it was very stormy out. In fact we heard reports of 30 foot waves up in Lake Superior. We were afraid that this would lessen our chances of seeing any ships. As a matter of fact it did, according to an online map we were watching, most freighters were held up in Lake Erie waiting for the storm to pass. This turned out to be a good thing for when the storm let up the ships all lined up to continue up the river right past us. All-in-all we counted 19 ships the 2 days we were there. It was simply incredible to see them this close.

  

Before we left we got a chance to meet our neighbors, Norm & Shirley Brugman. They actually just live down the road in Marysville. They spend time camping here and also head south to camp in the winter months.

Woodland Park in Burt Township near Grand Marais, Michigan is a simply remarkable place. We arrived to find more than we ever expected here. We knew in a moment that this was going to be more than just a stopover for us. The sites are on a first come first serve basis. We booked 3 nights knowing very well that we would most likely extend the stay for the rest of our vacation.

The campground is tucked away along the southern shore of Lake Superior. The sites have electric, water and even cable TV. The sites are large considering that you are directly on the water. We stayed in a site one row back from the water and since the sites are so large our view of the lake was mostly unobstructed by the rigs in the first row. The sites in the front row have a better view of the lake, but the wind is also much stronger than even just a row or two back.

The bathhouse is very clean and well maintained. I could not figure out why you had to pay 50 cents to take a shower when the rest of the water hookups in the park were included in the site fee. While we are on the subject of the bathhouse let me heed a word of advice. The restrooms have a motion sensor to turn the lights on and unless you are dancing on the toilet they will shut off on you leaving you in the dark with your pants down.

There is WiFi throughout the park, although we were unable to connect to it due to the security settings they were using. Even with the password they provided the WiFi still did not work. The people here are exceptionally kind and helpful. The price for all of this is very reasonable as well.

The church across the street has bells that chime on the hour with a special little tune at noon. Several people in the park would go down to the lake shore and search for agate rocks and stones. The downtown area is within walking distance from the campground. There is also a public beach near the downtown area.

We discovered a small diner downtown. I doesn’t look like much, but the place had some really good food. Our favorite was their Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich which consisted of Shaved Rib-eye and Garlic Seasoned Skirt Steak cooked with real Bacon. Then they add Onion, Fresh Mushrooms, Green Pepper, Red Pepper and Orange Pepper. Topped with Cheddar, Provolone and Mozzarella Cheese. All on a Homemade Hoagie Bun. My mouth waters just writing the about this sandwich.

After dinner we stopped by a local farmer selling fresh vegetables along side the road. We got some fresh sweet corn, a very large muskmelon and some ripe peaches. I know the peaches were ripe because when I asked the farmer he said ” here take the rest of this peach I’ve been eating off of and see how ripe it is”. It is so refreshing to see people as kind as this still exist.

We met some new friends during our stay here.Earl & Claudia and Harold & Sally were camping between us and the lakefront. They had been camping to several of the same places as us. They were from downstate around the Detroit area. We also met Harry & Mary Smith from Negaunee, Michigan here in the Upper Peninsula. We hope to meet up with all of our new friends on a return trip sometime.

I also got a chance to tow a 5th Wheel belonging to George and Johna McLaughlin. It was much larger than our own trailer.  It had gotten stuck in the sand.   My wife” eyes lit up when she saw that her truck could actually pull something so big. There will be no stopping her from shopping for a new RV now.

Next to us was a group of people that would sit around the campfire and carve walking-sticks out of tree limbs. Some of them look quite nice. They were just a bunch of busy little beavers whittling away at those sticks.

I called back to that diner to get one of those Philly sandwiches to-go. They explained that they do not do takeout orders. This, along with the fact that they only accept cash and the orders take forever to be served, I begin to wonder if the food being so good will be enough.

Woodland Park is certainly a place that we will be returning to in the future. It is one of the best places we have been camping.

Here is the view from my windows right now as I write this.

 

CAUTION! THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE! STAY AWAY AT ALL COST! GRAB YOUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND RUN, DON”T WALK!

Now that I have hopefully discouraged most search engine readers from further reading of this posting, I will convey my true thoughts. Hopefully this will allow me the opportunity to return to this place someday soon and find an open campsite.

Paradise step aside, this place is perfect. The beauty of this place is simply indescribable but I will attempt to put into words the marvel that my eyes behold.

We stumbled upon this little gem last year on what my mother refers to as a “Day Trip”. If you want to camp along the lake shore and hear the waves crashing upon the rocks, then this is the best place we have discovered so far in our years of travels. We have been waiting for an opportunity to return and actually stay here ever since we found it.

We arrived on Thursday night to find a full house. We found one of only a few empty spots available on the water. Out of the 50 sites in the campground, most are located on the water. In speaking with our neighbor on the next site, she informed us that the place was empty just 3 hours earlier when they arrived.

  

The next morning the place emptied out again. Friday came and you would think the place would fill up again, but it did not. It seems as if the place is mostly used for overnight stops. We met a family that happened to be moving back home to Wisconsin. They were actually camping here in a tent that was packed away in their U-Haul truck. Well, I guess why not. After all they had everything they needed right here with them. They promised their children that they could go camping on the way home and this happened to be the perfect spot to do it.

  

One of the best features of the campground is the sound of the waves from Lake Michigan pounding against the rocky shore. You may hear the sound of a parade of Harley Davidson motorcycles passing through on the adjoining highway, although the sound of the waves tends to drown this out as well.

There is a spectacular view of several islands in Lake Michigan as well as the occasional passing ship. The sunsets are also remarkable.

This is a place that you need to see to believe. Did I happen to forget to tell you exactly where it is located, you bet I did!