The weather’s been so nice lately and it’s been so long since we’ve been camping that I packed the kiddo up and we went beach camping at McGrath State Beach. As I discovered, McGrath stinks. Literally and metaphorically speaking. Oh, where to start! In the morning, the lovely smell of sewage graced our campsite but you couldn’t quite tell where it was coming from. The restrooms, the beach, the weird factory down the road. Perhaps it was one of the seemingly hundreds of RV’s that were mingled amongst the few tents on site. In the evening, eau de rotten egg lingered in the damp ocean air. To enhance the calm and beauty of the camp, toddlers were allowed to run, wild and screaming, as only toddlers can do. I quickly realized that most were not there to camp and enjoy nature, but to use McGrath as a cheap alternative to a hotel. As a bonus, some neighbors set up camp on our first night there at about 10:30 p.m. and serenaded us with “Welcome to the Jungle” and the sound of pumps for the air mattress. The upside of all of this is that, instead of my agenda to lounge and attack some Tolstoy, Kaya and I got out and enjoyed a variety of things that we hadn’t planned. We explored (briefly) California’s longest wooden pier in Ventura, rented some bikes to ride for a couple of miles along the beach, enjoyed a seafood lunch on said pier, sunned ourselves on the rocky shores of the local beaches, and visited the San Buenaventura Mission. And we got to have campfires, which was beautiful as well as beneficial, since the smell of the smoke covered the stench J As proof of my excellent mothering skills, besides our lunch out, we mainly chowed down on s’mores for most meals. Mmmm…healthy!! So, family and friends, save yourself the time and expense by scratching McGrath out as a lovely place to visit.
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