Windy Waterfront Camping

Our next adventure took us across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to discover the Eastern Shore.  I should have known something was up when the girl in the office called me a brave soul.

We spent the afternoon at Kiptopeke State Park hiking trails that ran along the Chesapeake Bay.  There was a nice view of the bridge and plenty of birds to see.  We found a wonderful line of mushrooms along the trail and spotted a beautiful deer.

After we finished the hike, we headed to Cherrystone Campground.  We set up camp behind a small pond, but with a full view of the bay.  The sunset over the water was amazing.  It was a bit windy so Chris chose to dig a hole for our campfire.  We also turned a picnic table over to buffet the wind as well and were able to build a nice fire.

I had prepared chili for dinner so had it warming on the camp stove as we enjoyed the warmth of the fire.  It was taking a very long time to heat.  I think the wind was sapping all the heat from the flame before it could really warm the pot.  Not to worry, we were enjoying the company and in no hurry to eat.

While we were enjoying the stars and spying on the cat who was attempting to sneak up on us, there was suddenly a crash behind us.  The entire stove had blown off of the picnic table, sending our chili flying.  Luckily, it flipped the pot completely over and we were able to salvage enough to still have dinner.  We decided it might be time to move inside.  Chris put the pot right into the fire and the chili heated up almost instantaneously.  I don’t know if it was the ambiance or not, but that was some of the best chili I have ever made.

Once inside the tent, we were listening to the crazy wind outside when, pop, the tent started folding in.  The issue with a quick pop-up tent in the wind is that the wind pops those supports down.  We ended up rearranging the air mattress to give them more support and that worked out just fine.

We thought about going to bed but then realized that it was only 7:30.  We turned on the music and enjoyed how hilarious the situation was.

The next morning, after we broke down camp, we got ready to leave and the car would not start.  As we were the only people in the campground, it felt like we were in total desolation but then remembered that we had borrowed our son’s power source, which also has jumper cables.  It worked like a charm.  We added that to our list of needed camping supplies.

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it out in time for breakfast but had a lovely lunch at Cape Charles Coffee House before we headed to Indiantown Park for 36-holes of disc golf. On our way home we stopped at The Shanty in Cape Charles for a waterfront dinner.  We tend to order mussels anytime they are on the menu.  We love to see the many varied preparations and were not disappointed by The Shanty’s version.