Bugtown, USA: Goose Creek

Imagine, if you will, waking to the solitude of a forest campsite.  As you lay in your tent, you hear the birds chirping, the trees rustle, and the bugs buzz.  You stretch, open your eyes, and see…BUGS!  A dense layer of bugs crawling all over the outside of your tent.  You are comforted by the fact that they are outside and you are in, but you know that you will have to leave your happy shelter if you ever want to pee!  This is the situation to which Bilbo and I awoke a few days ago at Goose Creek State Park.

When we left Fayetteville, NC, we set our sites on the beaches of Ocracoke Island.  Before we could settle down on the sandy shores, we had to find a campground along the way.  I am not much for spontaneity when it comes to beach trips because EVERYTHING is ALWAYS booked!  The summer of our first wedding anniversary intensified my abhorrence for tropical spontaneity.  There was a long weekend coming up, so on Wednesday night or Thursday morning (I can’t remember exactly which day but I know it was very short notice) we decided to leave for VA Beach as soon as I got off work on Thursday.  When 3:30, Thursday afternoon rolled around Bilbo picked me up with packed car and we hit the road.  We lived in Morgantown, WV, at that time, which meant an 8+ hour drive to the beach.  Add a few stops, getting lost while looking for a campground in the dark pre-GPS—that means with a map—and that puts us at around 2:00 am.  With each of us exasperated, we started looking for a hotel.  I’m sure you can imagine the looks given by the desk clerks as we inquired about vacancies.  We were turned out from what seemed to be a million hotels until we came upon the Hilton.  I went in, looking quite disheveled and exhausted, which apparently hit the soft spot of the manager’s heart.  He said that the cost of a room was $400, but since it was so late and I looked so tired he would give it to us for $300.  SOLD!  Since then, we have never gone anywhere without a plan!

With this story in mind you can see why we were a bit nervous looking for a campground between Fayetteville and Ocracoke.  Our first impulse was to call the campground at which we had reservations for later in the week, after our return to the main land.  SUCCESS…or so we thought.  They had vacancy but were hosting a bluegrass festival which made the cost of camping $25 more per person.  We thanked them kindly but conveyed that we could not afford that for one night.  The employee was very helpful, though.  She told us of a campground not far off in Washington, NC, called Goose Creek.  So, we punched it in to the GPS and Dolores (that’s what we call the voice) directed us there. 

When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised by the fact that Goose Creek is actually a state park..AND camping was only $13!!!   YAY!  The area was wooded with access to the Pamlico Sound.  We paused to take in the view, then set up camp.  It was a toasty night, but we had our handy-dandy battery powered fan to cool the tent down and were able to sleep well. 

  

 

Next morning we awoke to the insect apocalypse, as Bilbo called it.  You would not believe all of the creepy-crawlies that were weaving their way over our tent.  It is important to know that Bilbo hates bugs.  It’s not the girly “eww, that’s gross” kind of hate, but the dread of being bitten and itchy.  Bugs, on the other hand, love Bilbo.  There can be a swarm of bugs around him and not a single critter bothering me.  To wage war against his archenemy, Bilbo uses a bug fogger, two citronella candles, and a copious amount of bug spray each time we set up camp.   I bet you can imagine his response to our morning visitors.  Bug spray in hand, he emerged from the tent to take down the “predators”. 

After everything calmed down we packed up and got ready to explore Goose Creek State Park.  The first stop was the visitor’s center to figure out our plan.  In the visitor center was information about the park’s trails and all of the wildlife in the area, including information on the repopulation of the red wolf.  There was also a gallery with stuffed wildlife from the region.

We left the visitor center to walk along the Boardwalk Trail.  It was a self-guided tour through the hardwood swamp and marshland.  The marshland actually used to be a part of the swamp, but converted when a hurricane brought salt water into the area, killing the freshwater vegetation.  Along the Boardwalk Trail we also saw birds, lizards, and more bugs. 

 

After conquering that trail, we took a short little hike down to the swimming area of the sound.  It was gorgeous, but we didn’t stay long because of…you guess it…bugs! 

Plus, we were itching to set of to the beach.  So, we waved goodbye to Goose Creek, where the toilet is a hole in a shed, the bugs are thick, and the scenery is beautiful; and we told Dolores to take us to the beaches of Ocracoke.  We will tell you all about that adventure next time!