Fort Whaley
Ocean City, MD - July 2-7, 2007

Happy 4th of July!  Now that Samantha is 18 and a working girl, she only had a single week off this summer for vacation.  Her choice was to go camping in Ocean City for the week.  So, we made reservations at Fort Whaley Campground (sister campground to Frontier Town).  It was just Samantha, Skyler (her Husky dog) and I.  This was our fist trip to this campground, and I must say, it was quite nice.  Large sites, and a lot less crowded then Frontier Town.  And, you still get to use Frontier's water park.

We also met some great folks who were our neighbors at the campground.  Two families camping together - Joe, Joanne, & Greta, and Eric, Jen, Aly, & Tori.  They were the nicest neighbors, and we most certainly enjoyed their company.  We shared some campfires, did things with the kids (s'mores, fishing, tie-dying), and Skyler was the recipient of a lot of wonderful extra attention.  The week of camping was much more memorable having shared the time with them.  It was so nice to have met you folks, and thanks for making it a great week!

We arrived on Monday afternoon after an uneventful ride out, and quickly got set up.  Samantha started putting together her itinerary for the week - fishing, crabbing, jet skis, spa day, beach, boardwalk, fireworks, and fine dining.  As it was, we got through everything on the list.  

Tuesday, we went crabbing in the morning at piers at the base of the bridge leading to Assateague Island, then spent the afternoon on the beach.  This was Skyler's first introduction to the ocean, and she had a really good time. Wednesday was the 4th, and Sam and the neighbor girls participated in a campground parade during the day.  That was followed by an afternoon at the Frontier Town water park.  Unfortunately, the threat of bad weather caused the postponing of fireworks for the night.  Thursday was fun day - jet skiing in the morning (Sam drove her own), followed by massages at the Spa in the afternoon.  Later in the evening, we watched the fireworks from Assateague Island.  They were quite nice.  Friday, Joe, Sam and I went out on a fishing cruise out in the bay.  Joe and I got a few catches (throw backs though), while Samantha got shut out.  We won't make any mention of the non-fish item that I caught though!  Samantha did much better back at the campground pond netting several sunnies and a turtle or two.  Friday evening we enjoyed a nice dinner feast with our neighbors - consisting of crabs, steamed clams, corn, and short ribs.  Friday night Sam and I went out on the OC boardwalk, went into Ripley's, got some junk food, and had one of those Old Time photos taken.  It was a good day.  Saturday was pack up day, and out by 11am.

All in all, it was a terrific week.  We had a lot of fun, enjoyed the company of some great neighbors, and had mostly perfect weather.  I would not hesitate to go back to Fort Whaley campground again.  It was a nice stay.

(Click on the pictures below for more pictures & some videos)

	Beach Time
4th of July Parade
	Misc Pictures
Skyler's Page