The American Chronicles: The warmth of campfires and beaches

With winter in full swing and the nation in the freezer from Florida to Maine, some folks are enjoying the cold weather camping. For Chris, Service Dog Charlie and I, we prefer the warmth of campfires and beaches. With our trusty Entegra Quest winterized, but plugged in beside our house, our thoughts turn toward warmer times and the beaches we loved and the adventures they provided.

Our beach camping started in February 2024 with a trip to Englewood, Florida. Our friend Chris was about 100 steps from a beautiful beach on the Gulf of America. She had a community of friends that came together each night to share the beautiful sunsets. This time, the weather was a tad bit chilly, but we loved the sunshine, sunsets and the contrast to our much colder home base in West Virginia. Sadly, we won’t be able to visit that same place for a long while because it was wiped out by hurricane Hilda.

It was the week of the Fourth of July that found us camping at Chincoteague, Va., We were joined by our son Christian and his lovely fiancé Claire. Beach time during the day and campfire by night, Chincoteague is kind of our “go to” beach because it is only about four hours from base camp and the Jellystone Campground there is pretty cool. The weather was hot, but that didn’t stop us from hiking to the wilderness beach and stopping by the Rope Walk bar and grill to get a pat on the head from an old friend.

I have to admit, we are kind of beach snobs so we were never really attracted to bays, like the Chesapeake Bay. But in September we ventured outside of our “beach zone” with a couple of stays on the Chesapeake Bay. First, it was a visit to Yorktown and a stay at Camp Cardinal in Gloucester Point. We arrived early enough to have a campfire, and watch some football on our outdoor TV set up. Then it was a trip across the bay to the private beach setting of the Cape Charles, Va., KOA, where we met our fellow beach buds with whom we’ve had 12 years of beach trips—Chris and Ed. This is a gem of a beach and it changed our minds about camping on a bay beach.

While it rained on and off while we were there, we were able to have some beach time, Chris’ famous beach burritos, a bike ride, another campfire on a very windy night, and grit our teeth through having our traditional morning coffee on the beach—in the drizzle and rain. These are great times and great memories. And as I look out the window into the single-digit morning air, just gotta say, “We need a beach and a campfire!”

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Bill Wilson

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