Camping!

This past Monday was mine and Jimmy's 2nd anniversary.  To celebrate, we took a camping trip.  We have been talking about getting a tent and going camping for months now.  After the great tent fiasco and subsequent trading, we have a tent we are really happy with.

We couldn't really decide where to go.  We wanted it to be special since it was our anniversary, but due to time constraints and commitments, we couldn't go very far.  Googling "eastern NC campgrounds" eventually led us to the Bay River Campground's website, which you can check out here.  Google mapping the location, we found out the campground is on Swindell Bay.  Needless to say, we were sold.

Jimmy went out to pitch the tent before he went to work and sent me a picture from his phone:

This was the primitive campsite that didn't have electric or water hookups.  However, this was the only campsite right on the water.  There was a small dock on a channel to the side of our site:

 We definitely tried to catch some things in the casting net and go fishing.  The casting net only caught some bait-sized fish.  Sadie and Katie enjoyed getting on the dock.  When we walked out the front of our tent site, this is what we saw:

 Even though it was a primitive site, there was a shower house just a quick walk away.  These were the best bathrooms at a campground I have ever seen!  There were only 2, but they had a full shower, toilet, and sink, with little benches. It was like being at home!  When we got to the campsite around 11:30 Friday night, the people who ran the campground had already started a fire for us in the firepit.

This was only the first nice thing we experienced here.  There was a dock with crab pots owned by the campground and they told us we could have as much crab as we wanted if we would just put some bait back into the crab pots.  Since fishing did not turn out as well as expected, we got a few crabs.  I had already fixed up some ribeyes for Saturday night, thanks to this recipe.  Saturday night, we ate like kings!

 2 guesses as to who the beer belongs to, and if you need a hint, I don't drink beer!  Earlier in the day Saturday, we drove down to Oriental.  It is GORGEOUS, but there is nothing to do there if you are not a boater.  We drove over to Bayboro looking for a grocery store, but didn't find one.  Pamlico county is beautiful, yet sparsely populated.

We had a really awesome time.  I found out I am no spring chicken--2 nights on the ground just isn't fun on the hips and back!--but I can't wait until we do it again!