The older I get, the more surprised I am by how much I enjoy the outdoors. Don’t get me wrong. It’s likely that I will not ever be the “pitch a tent, sleeping bag, scaling fish for dinner” kind of nature lover, but the 20-something me would have balked at the mention of a family “glamping” trip. Things like hiking, kayaking, and crabbing– and yet the 30-something me continues to find peace and dare I say, fun in these things– I mean, as long as at the end of the day there is a clean, hot shower, bathroom, bed and A/C– … let’s not get carried away.
This month my family and I were invited to stay in a cottage at the Resort at Massey’s Landing in Delaware. Being primarily a resort for RV and campers (both of which we’ve never done before), we knew our visit to Massey’s was going to be unlike any other vacation we had ever taken.
So we packed up the car and headed on a family road trip to Delaware that ended up being one of the best pure summer-fun getaways we’ve had to date.
[Check out the video on my YouTube Channel for a little tour of the resort.]
Since we did not have an RV, we stayed in one of the 32 cottages on site. Some of the rows of cottages had truly gorgeous views of the beach or the bay. Ours faced the bay, and let me tell you– waking up to that peaceful view is one that I don’t think could ever get old.
With 2 bedrooms (1 bunk, 1 queen, and a pull out couch) the cottage comfortably sleeps up to 6. Our “Lake house”, as Avery dubbed it (he is going through this thing where he thinks we OWN every place we stay on vacation), was newly updated, incredibly clean, had 2 LCD TVs, cable, wifi and was stocked with grilling tools, kitchenware and an AC unit in each room– making it a lot more like family “glamping” than camping– a total win in my book!
We like to take our time waking up, so we made easy breakfasts and coffee each morning while the kids woke up one by one– surprisingly sometimes sleeping til 9am (something my kids don’t often do).
For lunch, there were 2 restaurants on property – one by the pool (Jackspot) and the other on the pier by the beach (Sand Dollar Grill). Both restaurants served “All American” favorites– like hot dogs, chicken tenders, quesadillas, pizza etc– and were perfect for grabbing a quick bite for lunch while we were out during the day.
There are regular shuttles that run from Massey’s to Rehoboth Beach and boardwalk, which I’ve heard nothing but good things about, but we were enjoying exploring and relaxing at the resort itself so much that we added it to our “next time” list. Also on my “next time” list, the amazing Rehoboth outlets– because … shopping!
We did, however, leave the resort for a few hours to explore a couple of local farms and creamery– and that was fun!
But for the most part, we spent our days traveling via golf cart from the pool (which by the way, has a swim up bar for adults!), to the beach, going kayaking and even dabbling in a little crabbing– which as we learned from a fellow guest at Massey’s– only requires some string and chicken legs (of course a net or cage helps– and they sell those in the store on property).
And at the end of the day, I loved that we were able to retreat back to the cottage to grill up some dinner on the BBQ and unwind by the fire pit– which we naturally used every night for S’mores-ing.
(Check out that tan line on display– ha!)
It truly was the perfect family roadtrip and intro the the RV/Camping/Glamping life– and who knows, maybe next time we will visit with our own RV!?!?!!!
Disclosure: Accommodations provided by The Resort at Massey’s Landing.
Marie Mayor
Cori, I wasn’t able to be at Lavender Fields at Warrington Manor when you came by our farm. Your photographs are wonderful. I would like to publicize your blog and photos on our website. Would you approve our posting? Let me know when you are back in the area. Thank you for visiting our farm! Marie Mayor Co-Owner, Lavender Fields at Warrington Manor – Milton, Delaware