Our first teardrop trip – Eastern NC State Parks – Day 1

Back in March, during ECUs spring break (March 5 – 9), Will and I took the dogs on a week-long camping trip to visit the NC State Parks in Eastern NC. This was our very first camping trip with the drop and we were very, very excited to know that not only would be quite comfortable sleeping but that we would also be toasty warm. This post will be a broken into different days so that they aren’t entirely too long. Happy reading!

We started our trip from Will’s mom’s home in Laurinburg, NC so that we could visit the parks in the southern portion of the eastern region. We started the day with a quick trip to the Lumber River State Park. We walked around a bit, chatted with the park rangers, and took a few pictures before getting back on the road. This park is a bit small for trail hiking, but they offer a lot in the way of boating and canoeing.

Our next stop was a short drive to Jones Lake State Park. The lake here is absolutely beautiful. They have a few trails to walk, but the waterfront is clearly the biggest attraction. Of course, we were there way too early for a swim, but if you ever find yourself close enough or fancy a drive, it’s worth it. This park has two huge picnic shelters and what seemed like a concessions stand. They also allow small boats, canoes, and kayaks on the lake.

Just a few minutes down the road is Singletary Lake State Park. This park is much more of a group camper’s park. They have two camp areas with loads of cabins, mess halls, bathhouses, etc. and they all seem very well kept. There’s a small 1-mile trail offered at this park, which we were able to walk with the dogs, but again the main attraction here seems to be the lake. We stopped here for a while with the dogs, opened up the back of the teardrop and were able to have a nice lunch by the water. This was our first time just pulling over and being able to very easily have a meal.

Another short drive led us to Lake Waccamaw State Park. We chose to mostly drive through the park here rather than walk the trails, but they do offer a couple of trails here. We did really enjoy the visitor’s center and actually learned quite a bit about the history of Lake Waccamaw.

Even though this trip was mainly focusing on state parks, we both couldn’t resist a stop at the Moore’s Creek Battlefield. What an incredible place. Will and I both love history and we both particularly love the revolutionary war period. I mean I’m pretty sure Will is George Washington’s biggest fan, like ever…

 

 

 

Did you see that photo, I told you so. So we visited this park (got another stamp in our National Parks Passport book) and Will repeatedly reminded me that my precious Scots were just demolished during this battle, resulting in the first significant victory for the Patriots in the Revolution. We both highly recommend this park and would happily visit again ourselves.

After visiting the battlefield we made another short drive to Carolina Beach State Park. We had quite a frustrating time trying to get checked in to a campsite for the night and very quickly learned how it important it is to use the NC State Parks reservations website to reserve your site before you arrive. We’ve just done this for our late summer trip and the site is very user-friendly.

I’ve been to Carolina Beach State Park before (during the forgotten toddler adventures stage), but obviously have no memory of it. This campground is very nice and has a great bathhouse. The campground was surprisingly full for the first week of March, but it was quiet and it seemed like all of the sites were very private. We had a nice salmon, asparagus, and potatoes dinner cooked on our new camp stove and had a warm, comfy sleep before heading out for day 2 (Keep a lookout for that post soon!

Life in the right lane,

Rachel