McPenguin5's Reviews

Assateague Island accomodations

We just returned from a long weekend at Assateague Island, Friday the 7th thru Monday the 10th. Our son and his wife first met on a camping trip here, and come back every September to remember that time. As my husband and I find camping a problem, last year our daughter-in-law booked us at a bed & Breakfast in Berlin, a nearby town. We were not impressed with the B&B, The Merry Sherwood Plantation, but we loved the beach! The Park Service reserves campsites far in advance, and the group our son and his wife go with always book a year in advance in order to get the same area and for all of their campsites to be together. They are arranged in loops, and all have ready access to the beach, which is amazingly uncrowded. There are Bath Houses near each loop, with outdoor showers, indoor real showers & toilet facilities. The surf is generally mild unless there is a storm out to sea stirring things up. then you can find interesting shells the ocean delivers to your shore. The campsites are separated by a large sand dune from the beach itself, with regular openings to access the beach. You hear the sound of the ocean quite well from the camps. There are metal fire rings at each site, as well as paved parking areas, so your car doesn't need to get stuck in the sand. We stayed this year at the Comfort Suites on Route 50 at Route 611, which is the road down from Ocean City to Assasteague, about a 9 mile drive. We came down every morning and spent the day at the beach, with one trip out to the Miniature Golf and Go-Kart amusement center near our motel. Grandchildren require mini-golf on vacation. There is also a lovely IceCream place near there where we finished up before returning to the beach.

I saw so many stars there at night, I have never seen so many. It was close to the new moon, so the sky was dark, and the nearest lights were from Ocean City, far enough away to keep from dimming the stars.

We found that it is best to cover oneself with mosquito repellant first thing upon arriving, but there are some excellent ones out now that aren't greasy or smelly. We were untroubled b y the critters once we applied our lotions.

I highly recommend the camping at the National Park sites, though I was very unhappy with the Comfort Suites. I booked us online and found a really good rate, but it seemed that the rate kept creeping up,with every booking acknowledgement we received, and finally more than doubled by the time we arrived. I won't be using them anythime soon again. Corporate said that the individual hotel is responsible for the rates, and the manager we spoke with there said they were at the mercy of the Corporate Policy. No one takes the blame, but we paid thru the teeth. We didn't cancel and book elsewhere as we found that canceling would leave us paying for the rooms anyway. Boooo!

Even with the Hotel mess, we had a fantastic time, and I love my "Camping" adventure we will be sharing with the crowd every September now.

Reviewed on: September 12, 2007