So, last weekend my friends and I went to Put-in-Bay, South Bass Island, OH – a tiny island in Lake Erie, located about an hour or so west of Sandusky.
It’s a huge party island, with bars far outnumbering any other type of establishment. Everyone drives around on golf carts and there are boats lining the side of the island. It’s actually a really pretty place.
However.
We opted to stay on South Bass Island State park and camp out in tents. Like, dumbest idea EVER.
Friday night it poured – aaallllll night. I woke up to water dripping in my face and a huge puddle of water and mud inside the tent, soaking the air mattress, blankets and pillows. Everything was wet. Everything was muddy.
As I made my way to the disgusting campground bathroom I passed our fire pit/picnic area. We had forgotten to put some of the food away the night before. The animals had gotten into the cooler and eaten all our hot dogs. They also ate three bags of chips and managed to break into a huge plastic tub of peanut butter pretzels. (Obviously, we are not good campers. We’re lucky someone remembered a flashlight.) So, not only was everything wet and dirty, but our food was gone, too.
Needless to say, we spent the day in town and not on the campsite. And things improved, since Saturday was beautiful and we drove the golf cart all over, checking out the restaurants and shops and people. By the time we got back to the campsite Saturday night, most of it was dry. The inside of the tent was still damp and dirty, but at least it wasn’t raining.
Sunday as we packed our things to go we started talking about coming back again sometime this summer but definitely NOT staying 
in a tent at the campground.
“You know,” Gaby said, “We’re big girls now. We all have big girl jobs. We could have afforded to stay in a hotel.”
And she was completely right. We didn’t even look for a hotel; we just decided to camp, because we always have in the past. This last trip made me realize we’re getting old and camping has completely lost its appeal.
When we were finally home Sunday afternoon and I was bringing in all my bags from outside, coiled up under the air mattress, was a wiggly, disgusting brown snake who almost gave me a heart attack. That sealed the deal. No more camping again.
EVER.
But Put-in-Bay, definitely. Just in a hotel.
