For our adventure at Kiptopeke State Park, we stopped at Sting-Ray’s Restaurant to pick up some food for a picnic lunch. The restaurant is attached to an Exxon gas station and other than some taxidermy fish and shark on the walls, isn’t too much to look at. However, we had read several good reviews and wanted to give it a try.
We ordered a few different things to share: a BBQ pork sandwich with fries, an order of hush puppies, a rockfish sandwich, a salad with grilled chicken, a side of coleslaw, and a 3 piece fried chicken with green beans, mashed potatoes, and cornbread. I also got a sweet tea. It wasn’t a super cheap meal at $51.02, but we enjoyed all of it!
The salad was surprisingly good with grape tomatoes, croutons, a mix of lettuces, carrot and onion slices. There were a few radish slices as well, which Nick gobbled up.
The fried chicken was delicious. They had a really nicely flavored breading.
All in all, it was a good meal and just goes to show that you can find good food in surprising places! If you are in the area, I would check it out.
Kiptopeke State Park was a nice little state park near Cape Charles, Virginia. It had a small swimming area, a fishing pier, and a few hiking trails. There was a campground, cabins for rent, and a nice picnic area (with a restroom).
Map, self-service admission booth, observation landing by picnic area, office and little library
We had a lovely sunny day to explore this park. We brought a lunch with us and sat in the gazebo for a picnic lunch before setting off for exploring. We wandered down to the fishing pier where we saw the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, and some old pier pilings, and an artificial reef made from old WWII ships (they are made of concrete!). There were a few kayakers and fishermen out. My absolute favorite part of the park was seeing dolphins in the Bay. We saw about 4 of them swimming and cresting out of the water. We hadn’t seen any dolphins yet on this, even with all our ocean visits. I was happy we got to see them.
Dolphins, pelican, birdConcrete Fleet ships making up a man-made reef.
The hiking trails led you among the woods, along the coast, and by fields for butterflies. We came across several offshoot trails that were not on the map, so just pay attention to where you are.
It was a great hike and worth the $7 we paid to get in. As a bonus feature, there was a Little Library by the office!
After crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (going north from Williamsburg to the Eastern Shore/Cape Charles), there is a Welcome Center. We were pretty early for our check-in time for our campground which wasn’t very far away, so I decided to pull in for a bathroom break. It was a pretty standard welcome center with local information, maps, and bathrooms. It had car parking and larger spots for trucks and RVs. The employees were nice and had a few suggestions.
The best part was an unassuming arch behind the welcome center. The arch leads to a path through the trees to the Eastern Shore Wildlife Refuge (ESWR). There are some great trails there. One was the Butterfly Trail, which would be great when more things were in bloom, although we did see a couple along the way. We took the trail to a secondary parking lot, where we then took the Wildlife Loop. This loop led to a bunker and a huge gun (66 feet!), and an observation tower. Once at the top of the platform, you had some nice views of the Chesapeake.
Bottom Right: ESWR Visitor Center and stamp post.
There is a Visitor Center (and its own parking lot) as well, but it was currently closed. However, outside the Visitor Center, they had some informational pamphlets about birds, as well as stamps for passport/stamp books, if you collect those. There was no paper there for the stamps however, so you may want to bring your own.
DETAILS:*
TICKETS: Free. COVID Restrictions: masks, social distancing, ESWR Visitor Center and Fishermans Island closed.
HOURS: Dawn to Dusk
PARKING: Yes (at Eastern Shore Welcome Center and at ESWR Visitor Center)
BATHROOM: Yes (use the one at the Eastern Shore Welcome Center, not the closed ESWR Visitor Center)
TIME RECOMMENDED: 1-3 hours
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
There wasn’t much of an option to get from Williamsburg, Virginia to our next campground, other than the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Because we were towing the RV, it cost us $24 to cross. The bridge goes above water, but also dips under the Bay a few times to allow for ship passage.
We were later told that this bridge is considered to be pretty scary by a lot of people. We were fine on the bridge, luckily there wasn’t any wind. We had already gone across the Pontchartrain Causeway, so the lack of seeing land didn’t really bother us. We had also driven over the Talmadge Memorial Bridge in Savannah and the Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge in Charleston, both of which are tall enough for the cargo ships to pass under (185′ and 186′ clearance below the bridge to the water). The Chesapeake was only 40 to 75 feet of clearance, so the height didn’t really bother us either. (Pontchartrain was 15 feet of clearance.)
Maps view
However, even though the tunnels are neat and make a great design for ships and cars/trucks to keep doing their own thing without stopping traffic, I am not a huge fan of being under the water especially while towing the RV. The tunnels were also a little crazy with seeing how close the tops of the semi-trucks came to the top (some only had about a foot of clearance). Now, a few days later a rain storm came through and there was a wind warning out for the bridge, so I am very glad we were not on it then.
NOTE: These are the discount prices. If you do not have an E-ZPass, it will be $14 each way!
As crazy as pulling into a campground can be, leaving can be just as bad depending on the campground layout.
Some campgrounds have a very specific exit path that is well marked, while others have it as a free for all. We like to walk the campground the night before we leave to scope out our path. If we are leaving later in the morning or early afternoon, we will walk it again in the morning. Campgrounds change frequently; you may have gotten some late arrival new neighbors, someone may have parked too close to the street, a toy hauler’s balcony may be overhanging into the street and you will not fit by them. (All of which have happened.)
Campground map with exit route marked by campground
I would recommend having an A and a B exit plan. Sometimes your first choice doesn’t work out. For example, at our last campground, we had the route planned the night before with us turning to the left at the end of our row to get out of the campground. However, our neighbor parked really close to the corner with their car and there was just no way I was going to make that turn unless they moved their car. It was early in the morning and I didn’t want to wake them, so we ended up going right. The boys ran ahead and checked the rows for me to make sure they were clear. There were a couple of spots where the trees made it a little snug, but we made it out safely.
Our exit plans
Above is an example of our planned exit from the last campground. Plan A was the red line. The turns near the office could be tight, but there were empty sites we could cut through to make it an easier turn. Plan B was the yellow line, which would be great as long as there were not a lot of cars parked in the side lot by the office. However, the morning of, our neighbor in C1 parked really close to the road and we ended up taking the purple route, which wasn’t even in our original planned options.
When we first started this adventure, we didn’t plan our departure route, but now it has become part of our routine. I would not worry about planning it until the night before (and double check it in the morning), as you just never know who could have arrived (or left) really late and how it could affect your route.
The campgrounds amenities, such as the putt-putt, looked nice. The indoor and outdoor pools were closed (indoor for Covid, outdoor seasonal), as was the Arcade (closed for Covid). The laundry room was located in the office building. Laundry was pay by app or quarters, although there was not a change machine. Washers and dryers were $2/load. Once the office closed, they lock the doors, so if your laundry is still going you will have to wait to get it until the office opens in the morning. There were bathhouses scattered around the property. They were a little dated, but looked clean.
Office building: store, laundry, backyard with pool and ice machineBathrooms/showers
The office staff for the most part, were really nice. However, the campground sites themselves and the layout were a problem. The main entrance was under construction when we arrived, so there were some small signs to a temporary entrance. It was tight and bumpy and not well marked when we got there. There was a car that pulled out in front of us and then waved us to follow that ended up leading us to the office. At first we didn’t know what to do because the car was not marked as TT, the guy didn’t introduce himself, and there had been no information from the campground regarding the construction. Our site was supposed to be a pull-through, but we ended up backing down the road to end up pulling into it due to the construction. The end of our lane had a 3 inch or so drop from where the pavement had been removed and the sewer cap was still sticking out. I didn’t want to damage the underside of the RV. The other way was to try to pull into the site going the wrong way on the road, which may have worked for a small RV, but there wasn’t enough turning radius for us. The exit was also at the main entrance, so there were signs for a temporary exit as well, but was problematic for larger RV’s. On the plus side, they did get the paving done before we left and we were able to use the newly opened front drive. We had not been notified about the entrance change before we got there there, but our friends (not TT members) who rented a cabin were sent some emails about it.
We had issues with the water for most of our stay there. Our friends staying in a cabin had water problems for a night. Our row of RVs had it for several days. It was like there was air in the pipes and water would come out in bursts. The water pressure had dropped but fluctuated a lot. The water also came in cloudy half the time, even with the filter at the pump.
There was a pond back by the tent area, where we saw some turtles. There was a walking path back there.
The Campground was close to a post office and a Food Lion (groceries), and CVS (about a 3-5 minute drive).
If we were in the area again, I don’t think we would stay here. The staff was all very nice, but the interior roads were a pain with our larger RV.
We sent one of the kids out to empty the grey tank, as we routinely do. The other one* decided to close it (*nameless to protect the guilty). I’m not sure what happened exactly, but the handle cracked. It didn’t break off, so we duct taped it together.
Ben started the drive out to Camping World to see what was available for repairs. I was online searching for help thinking, “great, now I have to replace the valve section”. Our owner’s book didn’t really describe how to repair a broken handle. However, one of our neighbors saw me staring at our valves and asked what was wrong. He informed me that most of the time, you can just replace the handle! Yay! I called Camping World to make sure they had one in stock since Ben was already on the way. (Spoiler: They did.)
The valve handle does screw off; however, to remove the handle, you have to use pliers to hold the metal shaft in place, otherwise it will just spin. They also recommended using a thin cloth between the shaft and the pliers. Ben bought the metal replacement (similar to this one*), hoping that it will last longer. He also applied a little bit of Loctite to it (do NOT use this on plastic).
It didn’t take much time, other than driving to get the part, to get it replaced. I am so thankful that we didn’t have to replace the whole valve piece, just the handle, that I thought I would share our newfound knowledge in case anyone else has that problem.
When a great, awesome, fantabulous adventurer (and family?) invites you to participate in their yearlong expedition, only a cad could refuse. However, my camping days are 30-40 years behind me, so I needed an out. Myrtle Beach to the rescue.
It seems that the Tepe Travels, Inc (or is it an LLC?) was only coming as close as Myrtle Beach, to the lovely village of Oriental, NC, where I currently reside (but, not for long). As I have told many folks in the years that I have spent in Oriental, “You can’t get here from there.”
Knowing the “Tepe Squad” would be in Myrtle Beach State Park campground around the end of March, I made plans and arranged my own campsite.
Having arrived in my “digs” I questioned my timing. It seems that the 31st of March, 2021 was selected to be the day of a new record low temperature for MB. What luck! As you can see from the beach pictures, the turnout in MB was sparse. Can you blame them.
Diving right in, we arranged a rendezvous point (the sidewalk in front of my campsite seemed the best bet) and we all headed out for a campsite meal. Courtesy of Fuddruckers carry out services.
With the adjacent pond police keeping visitors under control.
How many miniature golf places can one town support? MB hasn’t found the limit yet?
Back at the MBSP campsite, we broke out the Jameson’s whiskey from the Tepe Trailer, and the Bartley Bag. It seems we had both thought ahead to the proper way to inaugurate a visit. Next, we all got to observe Ben (and Nick, when his Dad wasn’t looking), attempt to cause themselves serious injury with a hatchet, preparing kindling. Ben tripped over the flip-out grating on the fire ring, twice, before he had even touched the Jameson’s. But, in a testimonial to his great agility, no falls, and no blood. Sarah did have a fully stocked first aid kit nearby.
Despite the “record low” temps for that evening, the roaring fire was enough to offset Mother Nature and we talked about adventures, and the pride I had for this whole “famn damily” in taking on this great expedition over the last year. I also told Will and Nick that I had the utmost respect for these young men in how they had carried on, and participated fully in the TepeTravels, Inc, endeavors. Ben and Sarah muttered in the background!
The evening went on until around 10:30, when I realized it was way past this old man’s bedtime, and I should probably call it a night. Unfortunately, when Ben and I got to the main gate, by way of returning me to my camp site, we found the MBSP gates closed and locked. I was forced to walk the 3 miles back to my campsite all alone. Not really. Ben called Sarah and found out the combination to the padlock, and we were off.
The next day was Thursday, April 1st, and it was my turn to make lunch over the roaring campfire. Luckily, there was a Nathan’s nearby, and I picked up lunch on the way over to MBSP. At the entry gate I encountered a rank abuse of the power of the state in the form of a daily entry fee charge. I advised the lovely lady that I was an “old fart” and that I thought it was UNFAIR that the state of SC discriminated against old farts from the North. North Carolina that is! She laughed and charged me the SCOF rate.
We ate Nathan’s at the campsite, while we planned our trek for the day. I surprised Ben and Sarah with my plan to take them all out to the “Medieval Times” dinner theater there in MB, for our evening entertainment. We decided to save the surprise from the boys until later.
We packed our gear, and set off to……………….COSTCO.
Where I was indoctrinated into the “COSTCO Camper’s Cult.” And, it didn’t hurt a bit. Actually, Ben paid, but the boys showed me their favorite muffins. Sarah, very smartly, had decided to take advantage of some alone time, and let the “men” clear a path through the wilderness on their own, while she enjoyed some well deserved peace and quiet back at the park.
When we returned to MBSP, we actually did set out to see the sights, and the sites, of the park. We first went to the fishing pier, which besides featuring oversized furniture, had a interesting display along the length of the pier of the common types of fish that one might find (dare say CATCH?) on the SC coast.
But, the crowning touch of the days outing was seeing the BBITW (Ben’s title).
BBITW=Best Bench In The World
It actually does come around to feeling that way after you sit in it for a while. We all tried it, but boys being whatever they are? Will and Nick had to turn into “Tormentors.” “Hare Harriers” to be more specific. Together they combined their tormenting talents to try to trap a tiny critter. Sorry, I ran out of “T” words. Final score: Nick/Will – 0, Major League Bunny – 10
After taking pictures of every possible angle of the impending sunset from the bench, I rallied my lazy butt, and joined Ben and the boys in a lazy game of “Kennedy-esque” football tossing (mostly dropping) on the grass of the MBSP stadium. But, the game was called by darkness, and we returned to the campsite for a snack before our evening’s entertainment. That is when I informed Ben and Sarah that today was April 1st. April Fools! No “Medieval Times” outing tonight. Good thing we didn’t tell the boys, right? I might have been burned at the stake over that night’s campfire! Actually, I wasn’t that cruel. I just hadn’t planned ahead enough, as that evening’s show was sold-out. Good thing Ben bought pizza. Another night, another fire. We had a roaring fire, a little more Jameson’s, and talked around the campfire. We had a nice long talk with Will about his next big adventure, and how he was preparing for it, but I will let Will tell that story when it is time.
I said goodbye to the “TRAVELING-TEPES” that evening, and expressed my thanks to Sarah, Will and Nick for allowing me to participate. My admiration for this family only grew during my short visit on their trail.
One final connection the morning of Good Friday, as Ben and I went in search of terrible service at the Plantation Pancake House. We picked it the night before, based on its’ proximity to my “campsite.” Ben, of course, using his highly refined technology skills, hit the reviews page on the restaurant’s web site. He was enthralled by the terrible accounts of the service received by earlier patrons from a server we will call “Vickie.”
So, on the morning of Good Friday, in the spirit of redemption, we set out to find “Vickie.” No luck. No Vickie. Just great service by a masked server whom we just couldn’t seem to find any fault with. I hope Ben wrote a review?
There are a ton of campgrounds out there and it can be overwhelming trying to find the “best” one to call home! They range from independent places, chains (like KOA and Thousand Trails), city owned, state owned, and federally owned. Some only accept military/retired military, some only accept Class A’s, and some have age limits on the RVs or the people they let in. A lot of places also have dog restrictions based on breed.
We have a few things that we always look for in a campground: location to sightseeing, internet, full hook-ups, and a laundry room. Our biggest one is a good internet connection for school and work. There are a few different websites that I visit to check reviews: campgroundreviews.com, GoodSam, and Campendium are my first ones. After those, I will go to Yelp/Google Map reviews (make sure to type RV Campground or RV Resort, not just campground as you will get results that will not work with RVs or may not have hook-ups), and then to Facebook for the RV groups to see if anyone has stayed there before.
Our favorite RV Campground Review Sites
I always check multiple review sites, especially for internet issues, but sometimes you still don’t get it right. For example, the Garden of the Gods RV review stated that our 3 providers worked. However, when we checked in, there was a note with our paperwork saying AT&T did not work in the park. This wasn’t mentioned on the campground’s website at the time. (This is just one of the reasons why we have three internet providers!)
I also try to read about the general campground conditions (sites, roads, etc.). If a lot of reviews with bigger RVs say that sites or internal roads were tight or not well maintained, I will pass on that campground. We’ve even double checked the reviews on the way to a campground and changed our plans last minute based on the current conditions. Conditions of campgrounds can change frequently. For example, when we booked one Texas site, it had decent reviews. On the drive there, we were reading the reviews from the last week and it was filled with reports of sewage problems throughout the campground (eww!), so we frantically searched and found a new campground to stay in. The most recent one was a change due to a review saying the T-Mobile signals were weak. T-Mobile is where most of our working internet comes through. We have some hotspot data through our cell phones, but the T-Mobile hotspot is the workhorse.
Campground amenities can also be a big indicator for the nicety of a park, although not always. There doesn’t seem to be a regulation on who can call themselves a RV Resort vs a campground, so reading reviews are important! We had one Thousand Trails claim to be a resort and they only had a laundry room and a walking trail. Nothing else was available or was broken and the sites and roads needed some upkeep. On the other hand, we had a Thousand Trails in Orlando that lived up to the resort title with many amenities and things to do.
An on-site laundry is also a requirement for us, as we do not have a washer/dryer on our travel trailer.
We have learned to always check (recent) reviews across the different review sites. It can be worth spending the extra money to get a nicer campground, especially for longer stays.
As you may be aware, there’s a highly-rated series of books written by Matt and Karen Smith, entitled ‘Dear Bob and Sue.’ The books are a compilation of emails written by one couple as they travel across the country on a quest to visit all 59 of the US National Parks. They share their experiences (good, bad, and just plain crazy) with – you guessed it – Bob and Sue, their long-time friends back home. Today’s guest-blog post comes to you from the perspective of Bob and Sue (aka – Dave and Megan).
We’ve been friends with the Tepes for more than 20 years now, so suffice it to say, we’re familiar with their unique pursuits and willingness to go against the grain. And still, when they first told us about their plan to sell the house, buy an RV, and hit the road with their boys in tow – we said “You’re going to do WHAT????” We thought that they were nuts, but it’s no surprise that they made it happen, and we’re so glad that they did.
In the midst of the COVID-19 quarantine and lock-downs, we’ve spent a lot of time this year living vicariously through our friends. As the post cards roll in, we’ve tracked their journey by tacking them up on our own fridge here in Cincinnati – following them around the country, one blog-post at a time. We’ve read enviously about their experiences sand sledding in Colorado or surfing in San Diego and less-enviously about learning to empty the waste tank from the travel trailer or trying to make Thanksgiving dinner in a tiny RV oven. Those ‘learning experiences’ have kept us laughing and their pictures have kept us ‘oohing and awing’ and in some small way, they’ve given us the gift of sharing their adventure when the promise of adventure was something we all desperately needed.
As spring break rolled around, we had the opportunity to meet up with Ben, Sarah and the boys in Virginia. We went to experience Colonial Williamsburg and walk through the battlefield in Yorktown where the Revolutionary War was finally won. The historical sites were great (especially for our Hamilton-obsessed teenage daughter), but mostly we went to see our friends – to share a camp fire and some stories and hear about this crazy adventure first hand.
It had been more than a year since we’ve seen them in person. Initial observations are in line with what you’d expect. We can report that Will is about a foot taller, Nick is even better with the guitar, Sarah is still a great cook (even with more limited tools) and Ben has found new ways to embrace his passion for hammocks. But more impressive is the way they’ve learned to adjust and adapt. We loved seeing how they’re using their space and resources to live, work and learn in such a small space. We can certainly make a joke or two about how life on the road has brought them ‘together’ in more ways than one, but beyond all of the amazing sites they’ve seen on this trip, this seems like another intangible benefit.
It’s possible (likely?) that our own kiddos won’t remember the day we ‘met’ Thomas Jefferson or learned how they made shoes and chairs in the 18th century, but I’ll bet they remember the weekend they caught up with their friends at a campground in Virginia, learned about the places they’ve traveled and life on the road, and maybe sparked the inspiration to pursue an adventure of their own.
