Cedar Point Campground, Croatan National Forest September 14-28, 2011

Dan and I headed to Cedar Point Campground to help my Mom and Dad with some repairs that were needed compliments of Hurricane Irene. Gin and Syl had told us about this campground and we decided to check it out.  We were not disappointed (more on this later). 

Site 31 - nice big site!!

We spent the first few days evaluating the damage at my parents, tearing down their dining room wall, replacing the wall, painting the wall and ceiling (in two spots!!) and taking umpteen trips to the burn pile.  Mom fed us very well (and worked right along beside us!) and Dad kept dibs on us to make sure that the work was up to par!  Before we could complete the hurricane repairs, Mom decided that she wanted to rip out the "false" ceiling in the spare bedroom.   Whew!  Despite a very close call with the ladder leaning and the pry bar falling on Mom's shoulder, we made it through the repairs with no major injuries!   I don't have any pictures to share but all in all, the project was a success. 

We originally were only going to stay at Cedar Point for a week but liked the campground so much, we extended our stay another week.  There are some very nice trails including one that goes out (via a boardwalk) into the estuary (White Oak River).  We were easily entertained by the "spitting" clams and saw a handful of blue crab too.  Too bad we didn't have the dipping net otherwise we would have had dinner!    Dan and I put many many miles on our bikes and even pedaled to Swansboro and back.  Emerald Isle has some very nice bike trails and we took advantage of those as well.  We found a very small town park off of Coast Guard Road and explored all of the hiking trails the park had to offer.

The weather was quite overcast and rainy for a number of days but we did get these two pictures!


EI bridge is in the background.



This little guy let me take his picture a number of times.  The end of this pier was lost during the hurricane.

We also visited Ft Macon State Park in Atlantic Beach.  Despite my parents living in the area for 20+ years, my family had never been here.  It was a very interesting place to visit and I'm glad we were finally able to do so.  On the way back to Cedar Point, we stopped at Big Oak Drive In and enjoyed a shrimp burger, bbq sandwhich and onion rings.  Yum!! 

My Mom and I took a day trip to Wilmington to see my daughter, Ashleigh.  She is a freshman at UNC-W and I haven't seen her since she moved into her dorm on August 20th.

Ashleigh and proud Mom!!

We went out to lunch and then stopped by Wal-mart to pick up a few necessities for a college freshman....popcorn, crackers, fruit, nutella, cereal, juice etc etc.  We then went back to her dorm and chatted for a few minutes and then Mom and I headed back home.  The time went by too quickly!!

We will be back to stay at Cedar Point later this year for my family's Christmas celebration.  Thanks, Gin and Syl for giving us this recommendation.