As we continued up the coast, we also continued using GoogleMaps to find places to camp. We were a little more leery of what to expect after Jekyll Island, and decided that we would look at Fort McAllister in person before committing to stay there. There were other campgrounds in the area that we could use as alternates, if needed. It didn’t take long to decide that this place would suffice; it had newish facilities, was on the water, had two nice playgrounds, and large campsites. Per usual, I moved to the front of the campervan to help pick the “perfect” site. I take a lot longer to decide then Ryan would like. We found a pretty nice spot on our second lap of the campground. We arrived fairly late in the day, but managed to set up the bike trailer and head back towards the entrance of the park, which is where the better playground was. After the lack of playgrounds at Jeykll Island, Cooper was in need of a twisty slide – a round-and-round slide, as she calls it. We played on the playground and then we went on a short hike to see the sunset over the marsh…well we attempted to see the sunset. The no-see-ums were so terrible that we couldn’t stand it and headed back to the campsite. Ryan eventually set up the screen room so that we could eat dinner in peace and avoid the evil biting bugs. Once the kids were nestled in their beds, we had a nice fire. Every night we wonder if it will be our last cold night, so we take advantage of the fires when we can. While enjoying our smores, a fearless raccoon came a little too close for comfort, even with a flashlight beaming right at him. The next day pack up was a lot of work since we had the bikes, trailer, screen room, stove; basically, everything was out as if we had stayed there for several nights. While working on getting everything put away, we had the main campervan door open, but the screen door closed. This is usually how we have things so that we keep the bugs out, but let the air circulate. The screen door latch isn’t very sturdy, but closes well enough to keep it there. I had feared since the camper van was sitting in our backyard that Brooks would fall out someday, and here at Ft. McAllister is where it happened. Brooks leaned on the door, and like a Slinky, he bounced head-over-heels down the metal stairs, landing with a thud in the gravel. I watched it happen, but was too far away to stop it. Ryan was outside and turned to look just in time to see the spectacle. Other than scrapes on his face and tears from the experience, Brooks was fine. We continued packing up and got on the road before something else could happen.
