We decided on Thursday to go away for the weekend and decided on Goodwin Park in Chapel St Leonards (Lincolnshire coast, between Mablethorpe and Skegness). It's just over an hours drive for us, which is just as well as we couldn't leave until after school/work on Friday - it was almost 5:20pm before we got away, and we were surprised at how quickly it got dark, we ended up having to put the tent up with the car headlights on so we could see what we were doing! We didn't even attempt to put the porch up, it's hard enough getting the position right in broad daylight so we did without it for the weekend, there didn't seem much point putting it up on the Saturday only to take it down on the Sunday! If it had rained we'd have had to rethink, but it didn't - it was glorious sunshine and HOT!! 
The park itself was very nice, I've done a review so I won't bore you with the details here!
Location wise it's fab - only a 15/20mins leisurely stroll from the shops, beach, cafes etc
Anyway, here's some piccies -
Our pitch - nice and spacious, very level and quite private too as it was partially delimited with hedging
Our tent minus the porch - it worked well for a weekend set up but for trips any longer than a couple of days we'll always put the porch up
We had plenty of room outside for tables/chairs/the trailer/cooking area and for our little boy to play
Our cooking area - all this and more would normally be in the porch!
The only downside was we were VERY close to the busy road which ran across the front of the camp site...
The campsite itself was well laid out and immaculately clean
Other than the pitches there's nothing else there apart from this building which houses the reception, showers/toilets and laundry with pot washing facilites
The toilets/showers were lovely - heated with copious hot water (free) and like the rest of the site very clean
Our 'weekend' set up inside the tent - again the table/cupboard would normally be in the porch but we had plenty of room for them inside the tent
The beaches round and about are beautiful - our 4 yr old had a whale of a time!
We paid £5 extra to stay until 5pm on the Sunday which was money well spent - it gave the tent time to dry (there was a lot of condensation outside and in despite the hot weather. It also meant we had time to go out in the morning (back to the beach!), and then out for Sunday lunch before packing away
We had a few new camping bits and pieces with us...
1) The trailer - what a godsend! It was so much quicker packing ready to go and again at the end of the trip...and when we got home it was a 10 minute job unhitching it, getting it back in the garage and emptying the car. Definitely money well spent  It also meant we were able to stick all the tent bags and all the gubbins that normally go in the spare pod in it, so we were able to use the spare pod as our 'en suite' lol
Which leads nicely to the next new thing -
2) Kampa Khazi! I LOVE it!! It was so much nicer being able to get up for a pee in the morning without having to get dressing gown/crocs etc on and traipse across to the loos, only to be wide awake by the time you get back....2 minutes literally and I was back in bed snug as a bug in a rug 
3) clothes rail with hanging shelf organiser thingie...I've had the clothes rail a while but never thought to take it camping before - it's just a cheapie one from Argos. I bought a hanging shelf organiser from Ikea, and it was just big enough for sponge bags, loo roll/toilet wipes etc - I put it up in the spare pod next opposite the loo. I took a few coat hangers, not many but enough for fleece jackets etc which normally end up lying around as there's nowhere to hang them. It worked well and took up minimal space in the trailer. I left the wheels off to make it a bit more stable. I also hung a UFO light from the rail which made it easier to get to than the hanging loop at the back of the pod
4) Outwell folding bin - someone recommended it on here, it's fab, just the right size to hold a black bin bag - no more tying the bags to the kitchen stand You can probably see it in the photos above
So that's it for us now, no more camping trips until Easter  Lots of planning to do for next year though, we've got 2 trips booked but want to go on at least 2 more , 1 for perhaps 10-12 nights and another one over the bank holiday at the end of August plus hopefully some more impromptu weekend ones like we did this weekend
Post last edited on 03/10/2011 18:26:09
Post last edited on 03/10/2011 19:53:42
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Bev :o)
2013
March - Pooley Bridge (Pod booked!)
May - Spiers House, Pickering
June - La Garangeoire, Vendee, France
Aug - The Cotswolds?
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Topic: Our last minute weekend away - pics :o)
