Camping, sort of

Lots of exciting news in Astoria. They finally opened the Astoria Bookshop meaning we are no longer a neighborhood without an independent book store. Granted, I'm more of a library person, but they seem to have a lot of cool events, so I'm still excited about it. On a more personal note, this Astorian finally turned in her manuscript yesterday, so now I can finally get back to more important things, like writing about my camping trip last weekend. One of the reasons I was working so much the last two weeks is because I didn't want to have to worry about working on the weekend. Spending every waking hour in front of a computer also had the dual benefit of making me extra excited about spending two days blissfully computer free.

I should preface the rest of this post by saying that for my readers who are actual campers, our attempt at camping will seem kind of a joke. My friends and I (at least the ones on this particular outing) are of the more "sleeping in a rustic cabin" school of camping. Being out of the city in the great outdoors? Good stuff. Sleeping on the ground? Not so much. Our one room cabin came with thin camping mattresses (we provided linens), a mini fridge, and a fan (because yes, there was electricity). Nevertheless, we cooked over fires, were bitten by bugs, had to walk a few minutes to get to the camp site bathrooms, and didn't shower for two days, so it counts as camping in my book.

On Friday after work, we headed out of town for a drive into southern New Jersey. I wasn't quite aware how far south we were going until we passed Philadelphia and kept driving. I hadn't realized there was quite so much of New Jersey south of Philadelphia.

A view from the ride down. I know I go on and on about my new phone's camera, but this was taken through the window of a moving vehicle. I think that's pretty impressive. 

We arrived and settled into our rustic cabin. The campgrounds had a number of other amenities including a Sundae Barn that served breakfast (we gleefully enjoyed their non-New York prices and $1.49 breakfast special even if our eggs and toast were made in an open kitchen by young teens who looked arguably too young for employment), a swimming hole (for those who didn't stupidly forget their bathing suits), and a little camp store that sold all the ingredients for s'mores in handy packets tied together with twine.              

The rustic cabin from the outside. I promise, on the inside it looks much more like roughing it. 

Not really sure what's going on here, but I wanted to capture the cuteness of the inside of the Sundae Barn. We planned to go back for sundaes, but it never quite happened. 

Step 1 in the s'mores making process. Well Step 2 really, if you count building the fire.

 On Saturday, we discussed going for a hike as that seemed like a logical thing to do while on a camping trip. After I came back from the bathroom though, I found public opinion had shifted from hiking to going to Cape May. Having never been to the Jersey Shore, I was up for it. It turned out it didn't really matter that I had forgotten my bathing suit because it was far too windy and chilly to really feel like going for a dip. We had a nice time reading and relaxing on the beach though.

The boardwalk at North Wildwood.

I don't know if you can really read it, but this says "You are Now Leaving the Boardwalk of Fame and Happiness." I was tickled by that for whatever reason.

After our jaunt to the shore, we returned to base camp to build a fire and make some burgers. Which really concludes all I have to say about camping. Overall, it was a lovely and relaxing weekend and so nice to be away from work. We couldn't have asked for better weather. I came back refreshed and able to put the finishing touches on the book, which as mentioned before, is finally done. Still very excited about that.