I drove from Charleston to Carolina Beach along route 17, which is a two lane road that winds along the coastal areas though you can't see much of the coast from the road. It should have taken 3 hours and 41 minutes, according to Google Maps, but took me 5 hours because of the traffic. I had to pass through Myrtle Beach which was extremely crowded and where the worst traffic occurred. I had to go to Wilmington, NC, to get to the island, then drive down to the end of it to get to the Carolina Beach State Park where I had reservations to camp. (Yes, I finally smartened up and made reservations while I had WiFi and the Internet at the Charleston hotel.)
Forgive this digression, but I have come to the conclusion that public parks, such as state and national parks or other government owned sites, are the best places to camp if you are using a tent. They have strict rules about noise, alcohol, trash, and how late you can come and go in and out of the parks. They are also cheap, provide plenty of space between campsites so you have some privacy, and have rangers or some kind of park staff who drive around periodically for security. The down side is that there usually are only a few flush toilets and showers for a lot of campsites, and the showers often are kind of grungy. Sometimes there will be 'privies' instead of flush toilets - though there usually is at least one station of flush toilets and showers somewhere in the campground, and the privies are scattered through the campsites to provide more convenient service. You are also only able to burn wood that you buy from the park, or in some cases, get approved by the rangers. You are not allowed to use wood that you find on the ground or anywhere in the park. This was true of every state and national park I stayed in. In the summer, though, a camp fire is really just for effect and not necessary, especially in the South, where it is hot even at night. Still, many people like to have them. Private campgrounds tend to cram the campsites together as close as they can in order to fit as many people as they can into the area. There is little privacy and often a lot of noise. They might have rules about no noise after a certain time, but the enforcement of such rules varies, especially around holidays. People sometimes go to those campgrounds to party. Because alcohol is usually allowed at these places, the parties can get rowdy and loud. The quality of the grounds, showers, and toilets depends on the campground. Some are nice; many are not. KOA's are supposed to have staff who drive around on little golf carts at night for security, but whether or not they do so depends on the particular KOA campground. So does the quality of the grounds, toilets and showers. If you are going to stay at a private campground, make sure you do some research about it online or through AAA or the Good Sam Club. They can also get quite pricy, depending on the location. I paid as much for the KOA campground in St. Augustine as I did for a hotel room in Kansas. If you are camping in a trailer or RV of some kind, though, public campgrounds do not always have hook-ups for electricity or sewage. Here is a website that discusses this more: public vs. private camping.
Anyway, I registered for my campsite at the marina along the bay side of the state park, then found the site and pitched my tent. I drove out of the park and into the town of Carolina Beach. It is a fairly typical beach town with the usual stores that sell tourist junk, others that sell ice cream (but not soft serve - it all seemed to be regular ice cream), coffee, local vegetables, and t-shirts. There were many seafood restaurants, and the requisite small amusement park with a very small roller coaster and other rides. There were some nice houses, apartment and condo buildings, but some of them were often in bad shape - it looked like they were second homes or something that just weren't taken care of, or the owners were too poor to keep them up. It was a bit odd. I found a beach access street that had parking meters on it for public parking, and walked onto the beach along a long wooden ramp over the dunes which were covered with grass and bushes in thick clumps. The beach itself did not go out far. It was a very short walk to the ocean. The sand was coarse. The ocean was very rough. It was somewhat windy, but not enough to account for such a strong surf. I supposed it was a result of the hurricane that had passed through about a week before. The water was warm, but too rough for me. I only walked a little ways in to get my feet wet and feel the temperature. The beach was fairly crowded though there were only a few people in the water. There were lifeguard stands set up intermittently along the beach. They were wooden with high sides (with ads painted on them), so it was difficult to see if there were lifeguards in them. There was one lifeguard in the one nearest to me though he looked somewhat young to be solely responsible for that area. There were no lifeguard boats that I could see, anywhere. It was too windy on the beach for me, so I went back to the car and drove around the island, looking at the various houses and shops. Then I went back to the park and my campsite, finished setting it all up, and walked along one of the trails that runs through the park.
There are carnivorous plants in this park, including the Venus flytrap. The visitors' center at the entrance to the park gave a nice exhibit of the variety of plants found in the park. However, I did not see any on my walk. I returned to the campsite and lay out on my air mattress in the tent in front of my fan and read for awhile on my Kindle, which has a lit screen, as darkness settled over everything. Another plus to state and national parks is that they are usually far enough away from towns and traffic that you can see the stars through the trees, but not much else beyond other campers' lights or campfires. It gets very dark and quiet (if you don't count the sounds of insects, frogs, birds and other wildlife as noise). It is very peaceful.
The next day I had breakfast at a local pancake house, called Kate's Pancake House. Kate was the greeter, sitting guests at tables. I discovered she, too, is originally from NJ - though from the north. I ate a healthy version of pancakes, drank lots of coffee, then left and drove north. I wasn't sure how far I'd get, but I wanted to make at least Richmond, VA. I thought about continuing up route 17 to Cape Hatteras and the Outer Banks, but route 17 had been horrible to drive the day before, and I decided that I was done with crowds, tourists, traffic, and heat. I wanted to go home. I drove to I-40, then connected to I-95, and kept driving. I passed Richmond early in the afternoon, realized how close I was to Washington, D.C, and then Lancaster, and kept driving. Unfortunately, I hit D.C. right around rush hour. Apparently there was also an accident somewhere on 'the beltway' as they call it there, and so it took almost four hours to get around D.C. and finally onto 695, then 83, and into P.A. At that point, though, I refused to give up and kept heading for home. I finally made it back to Lancaster.
Forgive this digression, but I have come to the conclusion that public parks, such as state and national parks or other government owned sites, are the best places to camp if you are using a tent. They have strict rules about noise, alcohol, trash, and how late you can come and go in and out of the parks. They are also cheap, provide plenty of space between campsites so you have some privacy, and have rangers or some kind of park staff who drive around periodically for security. The down side is that there usually are only a few flush toilets and showers for a lot of campsites, and the showers often are kind of grungy. Sometimes there will be 'privies' instead of flush toilets - though there usually is at least one station of flush toilets and showers somewhere in the campground, and the privies are scattered through the campsites to provide more convenient service. You are also only able to burn wood that you buy from the park, or in some cases, get approved by the rangers. You are not allowed to use wood that you find on the ground or anywhere in the park. This was true of every state and national park I stayed in. In the summer, though, a camp fire is really just for effect and not necessary, especially in the South, where it is hot even at night. Still, many people like to have them. Private campgrounds tend to cram the campsites together as close as they can in order to fit as many people as they can into the area. There is little privacy and often a lot of noise. They might have rules about no noise after a certain time, but the enforcement of such rules varies, especially around holidays. People sometimes go to those campgrounds to party. Because alcohol is usually allowed at these places, the parties can get rowdy and loud. The quality of the grounds, showers, and toilets depends on the campground. Some are nice; many are not. KOA's are supposed to have staff who drive around on little golf carts at night for security, but whether or not they do so depends on the particular KOA campground. So does the quality of the grounds, toilets and showers. If you are going to stay at a private campground, make sure you do some research about it online or through AAA or the Good Sam Club. They can also get quite pricy, depending on the location. I paid as much for the KOA campground in St. Augustine as I did for a hotel room in Kansas. If you are camping in a trailer or RV of some kind, though, public campgrounds do not always have hook-ups for electricity or sewage. Here is a website that discusses this more: public vs. private camping.
Anyway, I registered for my campsite at the marina along the bay side of the state park, then found the site and pitched my tent. I drove out of the park and into the town of Carolina Beach. It is a fairly typical beach town with the usual stores that sell tourist junk, others that sell ice cream (but not soft serve - it all seemed to be regular ice cream), coffee, local vegetables, and t-shirts. There were many seafood restaurants, and the requisite small amusement park with a very small roller coaster and other rides. There were some nice houses, apartment and condo buildings, but some of them were often in bad shape - it looked like they were second homes or something that just weren't taken care of, or the owners were too poor to keep them up. It was a bit odd. I found a beach access street that had parking meters on it for public parking, and walked onto the beach along a long wooden ramp over the dunes which were covered with grass and bushes in thick clumps. The beach itself did not go out far. It was a very short walk to the ocean. The sand was coarse. The ocean was very rough. It was somewhat windy, but not enough to account for such a strong surf. I supposed it was a result of the hurricane that had passed through about a week before. The water was warm, but too rough for me. I only walked a little ways in to get my feet wet and feel the temperature. The beach was fairly crowded though there were only a few people in the water. There were lifeguard stands set up intermittently along the beach. They were wooden with high sides (with ads painted on them), so it was difficult to see if there were lifeguards in them. There was one lifeguard in the one nearest to me though he looked somewhat young to be solely responsible for that area. There were no lifeguard boats that I could see, anywhere. It was too windy on the beach for me, so I went back to the car and drove around the island, looking at the various houses and shops. Then I went back to the park and my campsite, finished setting it all up, and walked along one of the trails that runs through the park.
There are carnivorous plants in this park, including the Venus flytrap. The visitors' center at the entrance to the park gave a nice exhibit of the variety of plants found in the park. However, I did not see any on my walk. I returned to the campsite and lay out on my air mattress in the tent in front of my fan and read for awhile on my Kindle, which has a lit screen, as darkness settled over everything. Another plus to state and national parks is that they are usually far enough away from towns and traffic that you can see the stars through the trees, but not much else beyond other campers' lights or campfires. It gets very dark and quiet (if you don't count the sounds of insects, frogs, birds and other wildlife as noise). It is very peaceful.
The next day I had breakfast at a local pancake house, called Kate's Pancake House. Kate was the greeter, sitting guests at tables. I discovered she, too, is originally from NJ - though from the north. I ate a healthy version of pancakes, drank lots of coffee, then left and drove north. I wasn't sure how far I'd get, but I wanted to make at least Richmond, VA. I thought about continuing up route 17 to Cape Hatteras and the Outer Banks, but route 17 had been horrible to drive the day before, and I decided that I was done with crowds, tourists, traffic, and heat. I wanted to go home. I drove to I-40, then connected to I-95, and kept driving. I passed Richmond early in the afternoon, realized how close I was to Washington, D.C, and then Lancaster, and kept driving. Unfortunately, I hit D.C. right around rush hour. Apparently there was also an accident somewhere on 'the beltway' as they call it there, and so it took almost four hours to get around D.C. and finally onto 695, then 83, and into P.A. At that point, though, I refused to give up and kept heading for home. I finally made it back to Lancaster.