Category Archives: Camping

Camping Tips for the Rhythm & Roots Music Fest

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Music, dancing, food, vendors and fun with camping options. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? The only drawback, at least for me, is it is dry camping. Or “camping in the rough” as they call it.

Camping without the full hook-ups is really not my gig. My husband was sure we would be fine. We have a generator with the camper. But I know I like my amenities. This is especially true in the hot summer months.

This music fest’s camping setup does not include full hook-ups. They have a pump-out truck for black tanks. It drives around if you wish to do the pump out for a fee. This service is available before hitting the road after the music fest.

There are camping showers for a fee and porta-potty setups for rent if desired. They offer free portable water refill stations.

Despite my apprehensions, my husband convinced me into signing up for the Rhythm & Roots festival. It is held in September in Charleston, Rhode Island. He assured me the camper generator would be fine. He said we’d have enough water in our camper’s holding tank. And all that jazz.

I was glad I purchased two shower passes as a precaution. Our camper tank water did run out rather quickly. This didn’t surprise me. But then we had an issue with our refrigerator, and some of our food got spoiled. I learned to take these situations in stride. There are many food options at the fest so that is good. We would not starve. LOL. And it was a good idea to have a cooler on hand.

THE MUSIC FEST

The Rhythm and Roots Festival is a big one. They have 3 large stages. One is for the main acts, and another stage is covered by a white tent. A third stage is all about dancing, and some of the attendees really can dance. It is super fun to watch them dance all day and all night! There are Cajun, zydeco, blues and more styles. All the music fest stages are spread out on a very large property. Plenty of lawn to find a spot to put your chair and enjoy the music. The camping area is off in the background of the fest setup. It is very walk-able from the camping areas to the festival areas. It can be a longer walk depending on the camping site you picked upon your entry. Bikes are allowed in the camping areas.

There are plenty of food vendors, wine and beer, and craft vendors at the music fest. We found the prices of the drinks to be rather high. They do not allow outside alcohol in the concert field, and all bags are thoroughly searched. This is mostly due to the town’s regulations of the park’s property. You can bring snacks in a small cooler.

No open fires are allowed at the campground. This didn’t really impact us because we didn’t hang out at the campsite too long other than to sleep. We were mostly there for the music shows. I liked returning to the campsite occasionally during breaks. Having extra outdoor lights, maybe solar, is helpful. They help you find your way back to your camper after dancing and listening to the music all day. Bring a small flashlight with you too. I actually used the small flashlight at the music fest’s porta-potty in one area. It was dark, and it helped me see! A battery-operated lamp to put outside of your camper on a table is a good idea as well. We usually listened to the music into the evening, so it was dark walking back.

The camper generator use was limited. I remember we used it for lights and such at night until we were ready to crash out. The fest site indicates the time which generator use is allowed. No one likes a loud generator noise all night. We kept it on for maybe an hour at night.

WATER

As mentioned, we did run out of water because we had a smaller camper. It was our first time trying to judge how long the water in the holding tank would last. Luckily, the camper festival showers provided by the fest for a fee were setup nicely at the campground. A camper neighbor heard we ran out of water. They offered us a 5-gallon container of drinking water they had extra. Very generous of them. I had water bottles but that wasn’t enough. I learned buying a refillable 5-gallon jug was a good idea. I always take one of those with us for dry camping situations now. It’s also wise to have a shower robe. You’ll need it for walking through the camping area to and from the showers!

PRIOR CAMPING ARRIVAL TIME

The way the camping is set up as first come first serve after purchasing your camping passes from their website. There are no reserved spots. You drive in after waiting in a long line of campers. You can arrive the day before the fest starts or during the fest. We waited in line for at least an hour or two with the campers to enter the park’s grounds. This was the day before the weekend show starts. We left our house early. By the time we arrived to get in line, there were many campers there ahead of us. So, arrive early! We found a spot that was paved once we entered and received our wrist bands. We backed in easily to the location we selected in a paved area. There are some paved areas and some lawn areas to set up camp. It was well organized, so it didn’t feel hectic.

When it comes to attending music fests, there is no beating having your sleeping arrangements right on site. I love that part. Being capable of walking back to the camping areas was perfect. It is so convenient. What’s not to love? But for me, I love a nice shower after dancing all day and cold refreshments at my site. Thus, dry camping is not really my thing. I try to be as organized as possible. After a few camping trips, I learned to take a lot in stride. I also try to do my best. It is a good thing I am an over-thinker. I often think of things like flashlights. I brought a battery-operated fan for air circulation in the camper. I also think of other simple things. Like light weight blanket for the fest to sit on, etc. Maybe some hand sanitizer or hand wipes for clean up at your camper, etc. Sometimes it is the little things to help dry camping situations.

THE TYPE OF MUSIC

This fest has top acts. There is a mix of blues, zydeco, Cajun, and many more. See the festivals website for the line up schedule. There are many to enjoy. It is spaced out really well. Lots of volunteers direct you to the appropriate lines. All of that is good. The food is good too. The acts are excellent, so my opinion on the cost, is just my opinion. Some would definitely feel it is suited for the quality of the acts. It is not that – it is just we like to save money and some of the extras feel pricey. There are a few more restrictions at this festival compared to others we have attended.

ALL THE OPTIONS

For us, we find the overall fest pricing high. I personally get confused at the options. You pay for camping, and it includes a ticket to the fest for 3 days of the fest. I am confused by that. Does one cover the two people in one camper? Or do you each have to buy that 3-day pass? And then there are the extras. Extra price for the shower passes (which did save us when we ran out of water). Extra for separate vehicles (some people camp in a car or van). Extra if you want a porta-potty set-up. They are providing many options which is a good thing for festivals of this size. At times, however, I found it confusing.

CAMPING PEOPLE

It was fun to walk around and see the different set ups. And fun to see the decorations. People are so creative with showcasing their personal style at each tent, camper, van, you name it. We did not experience any loud party animals where we set up. It was mostly quiet. And we did select a camping spot in what they called the RV “quiet area”.

THE CAMPING MAP

Here is the festival map: https://rhythmandroots.com/faqs/festival-map/

One of our camping neighbors was a musician and he and a friend quietly played guitar tunes one night. I often have trouble sleeping. The next day, I told him that his gentle guitar music serenaded me to sleep. I listened to it from our camper window.

Walking from the fest grounds to the camping area is easy. They do not allow non-campers in the camping areas. Someone checks wrist bands as you walk into the camping sections. Depending on where you camp, the walk can be longer. Bikes are allowed but not into the music fest area. Bring a lock.

THE GENERAL RHODE ISLAND AREA

Misquamicut Beach in Westerly, RI is not too far from the fest area. If you were to make a week trip out of it for some beach time around the fest. I did not research camping options around the beach.

And if you like plants, check out a place called The Umbrella Factory! It is not far from the fest area either. Very cool plant place.

By the way, I believe the fest camping sells out fast. It is a popular fest and a fun one. Just be aware of the need to sign up early if you give it a go!

Cathy Testa
Date of Post: 1/21/2026

Sorry no photos on this one either – They have been already deleted from my i-Phone. We attended this fest in 2023. Even thought it was September, it was hot. I remember I was happy to have my umbrella with me for some shade at the fest!

Camping Adventures Near Scenic Cape Cod

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For many years, my husband and I would venture to the Cape Cod in Massachusetts for summer vacations. Our favorite location was Orleans and going to Nauset Beach. We stayed in B&B’s, cottages, or motels. This was way before we started our camping adventures in our early 60’s. When we went to the Cape to head to Nauset Beach, we were in our 20’s, 30’s and 40’s probably! We have a history of going to the Cape, but camping near the Cape was new to us.

Nauset beach is the type of beach my husband loves. It has big waves and rushing waters. It also has a very long beach. The sand is beautiful. The area is nice. The area near this beach has couple good restaurants, bars, and market-like stands. Shark sightings began to appear in the waters at this beach. We went there at least once every summer for a beach vacation. Nevertheless, after many years, we stopped going to the Cape because of the sharks.

BOURNE SCENIC PARK CAMPGROUND:

Fast forward to 2023. As new campers, I wanted to find a campground on or near a beach. Naturally, Cape Cod came to mind. After some research, we decided on a campground called “Bourne Scenic Park” located at 370 Scenic Highway, Bourne, Massachusetts.

It is actually located before officially entering the Cape via the Bourne Bridge. We were super excited to check this place out. On the day of our arrival, it was an extremely hot humid day in July. Check in offices were very professional, busy, and well-setup. It was a smooth check in process.

We proceeded to go find our assigned camp site spot. We were new to this so had no idea about prior research. Let’s just say, the site was not good for us. It was on a slight slanted hill, and there was no easy way to back in. As we tried to navigate getting to it, we got stressed fast due to the heat and humidity.

I actually jumped into our truck to sit in the air conditioning. My husband pranced around trying to figure out how we would park our travel trailer. It was our first camper travel trailer and was only 16 feet long. He is a determined guy, but I was really thinking this is not going to work.

I remembered my more experienced camping sister. She has been camping for years. She told me her husband called the office once to say this site is not going to work. I got on my cell phone and long story short; they offered 3 other sites to go look at. After some nudging, my husband agreed.

Viola. We got a much better spot and a fellow camper even helped direct us into our site. I guess he knew we were already stressed. By the way, the site we did not like was C-12. The site we ended up with and did like was site 54. Site 54 is on a corner and it is not huge site but fit our little camper just right. I liked that there was a stairway down to the Canal trail. It was almost directly across from it as you walked over the other side.

CAMPSITE MAP

Here is a link to the PDF of the park’s camping site map:

Click to access Web-Map-2024-w-Border.pdf

This site had electrical and water but no sewer hook-up. It was our first experience with the infamous honey wagon and using a dump station. But I won’t go into that part of the story just yet! Let’s talk about the fun stuff first.

NEAR A BEACH

This place was not on a beach but a beach was super close by, called Scusset Beach. They had a daily parking fee payable via a thing called YODEL app using your cell phone. We drove there and paid to park. You can easily bike there on the canal path from your campsite. This is possible if you are a biker. At that time, we did not have bikes yet. Those came later. So, we drove to the beach, and I think it was about 3 miles away.

There is a large bathroom building at the beach. It was fairly clean. But it was a little bit of a walk to the beach from the very large parking area. The path was uphill but not bad. We always bring a wagon to load our daily beach gear onto. We did try fishing one morning from the beach but a lifeguard told us that was not allowed. I’m not so sure about that, however, we stopped fishing and said, oh well.

Scusset Beach is at the southwest corner of the Cape Cod Bay and has about 1.5 miles of beachfront, plenty. The water was refreshing. We really enjoyed spending a day or two on this beach. It was part of our camping adventure during that hot week in July.

BACK AT THE CAMPSITE – THE BATHROOMS:

The facilities at the campsite were clean and they provided a bathroom code to enter the building for that. There are all types of campers here from seasonal folks to all types of travel trailers and RV’s. I don’t recall tent camping being there though.

MORE ABOUT THE LOCATION:

The best part of the campground location was that this place is on the banks of the Cape Cod Canal. Along the canal is a paved bike path. We would carry our wagon down the steep steps to the canal walkway from our campsite and bring chairs. Sitting there with a lunch and watching the canal and an occasional boat go by was entertainment for us two. We found it was difficult to try to fish there, due to the large boulders along the water.

GOTTA GET LOBSTERS!

Of course, being near the Cape meant lobsters for us. We visited a place called the Lobster Trap not far from the campgrounds. It is at 290 Shore Road in Bourne, MA. We absolutely loved getting lobsters there. Eating while watching the views was wonderful. Here’s their website: https://www.lobstertrap.net/ I think it was about 5-6 miles from the campground.

VISITING OTHER PARTS OF THE CAPE:

We are the type of campers who enjoy visiting the area where we camp. Of course, we had to spend a day doing that. We drove all the way to Provincetown for shopping, eating, and hanging out. P-town as they call it is a great place to go on whale watches too. We did not do that this visit because we had done that plenty of years prior. They are excellent. Really fun especially on a beautiful hot sunny day.

THE BRIDGE

If you decide to try Bourne Scenic Park yourself, be aware. There has been talk for years about construction on the Bourne Bridge. There has also been talk about the bridge itself. I do not know the current status at this time. I imagine it would affect your travel or bookings. Also, entering the Cape via the bridge is where traffic can back up. We arrived at a good time with no concerns around that.

As far as overall, the campground was good. It had features we enjoyed, it is a busy place with lots of campers and a big mix. Many seasonal folks too. It is laid out in an odd way. Some sites are along the fence above the canal trail. Some are mixed together lower. Some were across a bathroom facility. Some were tucked in tightly. It is kind of spread out in different scenarios.

We had a great time and the staff was amazing. They did help us when we needed to change our site and we were lucky there was another choice. They made that process seamless. They did have firewood and propane available. I remember they had a band one night, but we did not go see it. I don’t think they have a pool. But there are plenty of water views all around and a beach very close by. It felt secure with a gated entry.

NO PHOTOS:

I can’t find photos on my phone or in my files from this trip unfortunately. Sorry about that! If I do, I will add them later for you.

Thanks for visiting!

Cathy Testa

Date of this post: 1/16/2026

P.S. I left out the sewer part – just a job which was assigned to my hubby – that was part of our deal if we became campers – LOL! It was fine with no issues. There is a dump station on the way out of the campground park.

Experience Niagara Falls: A Camping Adventure on the US Side

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Anytime you hear about someone visiting Niagara Falls, the question of which side is better to view the falls comes up. Discuss it with friends who have not yet been there or have been. “Is the US side or the Canada side better?”

Well, when we picked our 2nd camping adventure, we picked the US side, primarily because we had seen the Canada side many years ago on a non-camping trip. We looked for campgrounds not far from the falls and found a place called Branches of Niagara Campground Resort.

We stayed at Branches of Niagara in September of 2022. Since then, the campground’s name has changed to HTR resorts. The address is 2659 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island, NY. It took us about 8 hours to get there from our home location in CT. But the campground is only about 8-10 miles from the falls on the US side which was perfect for us.

It was a rainy trip on the road. It was quite an adventure for us as new travelers. We were pulling our 16-foot travel trailer with our older truck. We were so excited to be going. Nothing was going to stop us.

Because it was September, there were not too many campers at the campground – just a few – maybe like 6. The pool was closed but the pool area looked very nice and is well set-up. There is a fishing pond, and the grounds were very nice with lush green lawns. There are also some cute cabin rentals at this campground. It is a well-maintained place, and nothing looked old or worn out while we were there.

We were new to camping so we had no idea, but they didn’t give us the best site. It was number 71 on the map. My husband recalls it wasn’t completely level. It was good enough for us because we were newbies on the camping scene. It was a smaller site in an odd space. The bathroom was directly across from this site, which was handy. We have a bathroom in our small camper as well.

We couldn’t wait to go see the falls on the US side the day after our arrival. It was about 10 miles from the campsite to the falls park on the US side. We prepared for the day by making sure we wore good shoes and a sweatshirt with rain jackets. It had been mostly cloudy and rainy on our travel up to the campground. However, when we went to go visit the park, it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. I was so thankful for that.

To be honest, I was sold on the US side of viewing the falls immediately because you can get so close to the water views. There are a couple parking areas on the US side on Goat Island, and I think we were in parking lot 3. We kind of just winged it and parked and then found the trail and followed it. It was so much fun. You can spend the whole day following the trail here. And you can get very close to rushing falls. We loved it. There are many spots to stop and check out various views of the rushing waters.

We came across a seating area and things like that. We did bring a small bag pack of snacks and stopped to eat where there were some tables and I think they sold food there, but we didn’t check that out at that time.

Look how close we were on the US side to the rushing waters. It was a thrill to be that close. While the Canadian side has many benefits, you really can’t get this close to that view shown above in the photo I took.

This was another area you reach while following the paved trails. You can see how lovely it is. It is a spot you want to just gaze for a while.

You can see the observation tower across this water view. However, for me, being so close to the fast-moving waters was bliss. Hearing the rushing sounds of it felt amazing.

I could share lots more photos of our walk on the trail. I’ll save them for when you go visit the falls yourself. There are many points to stop. You can take in the views and feel the misty rainfall from the falls. I’m sure there were things we missed too because we just winged it for the day.

The next day, we did go over to the Canada side. I did think ahead to have our passports handy. It was easy to cross over a bridge to get there thru customs. The Canada side is more hectic. There is a casino and more restaurants, and lots more people.

As I mentioned before, we had been there on the Canada side many years prior. We didn’t do the walk along the falls on the Canada side. Nor did we venture to the wine trail. We are “been there, done that” type of people and like seeing new things. We had explored the whole Canada side of the falls many years ago, doing a boat ride and visiting the casino, and having dinner at the top of a building, stuff like that.

Canada side above photo with the view of the casino and other buildings. When we exited here, we saw a nice view of the falls on the Canada side. But there are walkways below this area to view the Canada side of the falls. The trip happened back in 2022, which was 3 years ago. It is difficult to recall everything. Let’s just say we had a pleasant time.

The campground was a great location for us. We ate at two places nearby. One was called Griffon Gastropub on Military Road. I recall it wasn’t too thrilling. And another place was called the Brickyard Pub and BBQ in Lewiston, NY which we liked.

I would say in regard to the campground, it was a very nice place. We’d go back in warmer weather months. We actually used the heat in our camper because it was very cool at night that visit. We had full hook ups, and it was a clean place with full bathrooms. It was also a quiet place in September.

Hope this helps you visit. You may decide to see Niagara Falls in the US. You could also choose to visit Canada. You can do both like we did!

Cathy Testa
Date of Post: 12/8/2025

Our First Camping Adventure at Moose Hillock, NY

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When we took our very first camper out for the first time, it happened to fit well with a trip my younger sister had planned to Lake George, NY with her family. She mentioned a campground called Moose Hillock and it is in Fort Ann, NY near Lake George.

It was in mid-June of 2022, and it turned out it was going to be a very hot and humid week during our first camper adventure. No worries, luckily our new adorable retro looking little 16-foot camper has excellent air-conditioning, and the campground’s website indicated it had a huge, heated pool.

My sister was also staying there for her family vacation with her two young boys and husband with their 5th wheel camper. She was excited to learn we had purchased a camper at an RV show in the winter so we arranged to do our first venture out to Moose Hillock where she and her husband would be there to assist us if needed.

I did feel overwhelmed when I first started searching for campgrounds online. There are so many to choose from and being a planner, I really like to research, but I quickly learned, there are so many that it would be difficult to pin down which place to select for our first camping adventure.

On top of that, I learned campgrounds have rules and many of them all listed on their websites. It made me go cross eyed reading them all – pages of them. I remember thinking, “Holy Moly, these places have so many rules. Will I like camping?”

It didn’t take too many future trips to realize rules are more about just being a really good camper person, doing the simple things like not being noisy after posted quiet hours and picking up your trash, or not walking through neighbors’ sites, and keeping your dog under control, etc.

I don’t have a dog, but my sister does. When she was walking her dog the day we arrived to Moose Hillock, she saw us at our camper site setting up. She walked over and said, “I promise, I didn’t intend to show up immediately, but I was walking my dog and saw you.”

You see I had told her before we left, “Please don’t run over right away. I’m so new to this camping thing, I want at least an hour to setup our camper inside while Steve, my husband, would setup everything outside”.

Rosalie continued off to walk her dog after a brief hello, and I was excited to unpack all the boxes I had staged on the floor in the camper into the camper’s cabinets. It turned out to be a good system for this smaller sized camper, and I did the same routine every time we traveled with it.

Moose Hillock surprised me because I had absolutely no idea there were campgrounds more luxury style. This pleased me right away. You see, when we got our first little camper, it was quite spontaneous at an RV show. And I really was concerned about if we made the right decision. I knew I don’t like flying anymore, for obvious reasons, but would I like camping? I really never liked tent camping the few times we did that years ago when much, much younger.

When I saw the pool at Moose Hillock with a rock wall of skulls and waterfalls with a slide for the kids, I was impressed. I thought to myself, “My gosh, this competes with pools I’ve seen at luxury hotels.” I was really impressed with the abundance of lounge chairs around the pool area, the clean bathrooms, and the pool itself.

My nephews loved that we were there to join them in the pool too. My husband is a kid at heart and had no qualms about going down the big pool slide right after my nephews did – and repeatedly. It was fun to watch them having such a good time. I was even a bit disappointed that Steve and I had booked a steamboat tour on Lake George that day because we were having so much fun enjoying the beautiful big clean pool on a hot and humid June day.

Another bonus about this campground is the fact it is very close to Lake George, and lucky me, there was a wine festival happening the week we were there. Steve and I attended that on the next day while my sister and her husband stayed at the campground to enjoy the resort’s amenities. She and I are 13 years apart in age, and Steve and I really enjoy visiting an area’s features while she prefers to stay at the campground filled with amenities and fun for the kids. Make sense.

Regardless of camping styles and goals, we all enjoyed the private sites at Moose Hillock. Each site is lined with trees on each side of the site, and each has a big firepit with large rocks. One big rock on the back side and a few on each side. This was another surprise to me. I just had no idea it would be this nice.

Our first camping trip to brought surprises!

Again, one of the fun parts was my nephews really enjoyed visiting us at our site, making popcorn with Steve and roasting marshmallows. To honor our first camping trip with my sister’s family, I got her and I matching t-shirts. I had decorated my camper with the whole black and red classic tartan plaid theme, and even our t-shirts matched. She loved it!

We visited them at their site too. It was so fun. It really kicked off our trip and first adventure, and I knew we would have many more. Moose Hillock was a perfect choice for us beginners.

To recap, the things I really liked about Moose Hill lock are:

Big private sites with trees on each site
Amazing massive clean pool with nice lounge chairs
Being close to Lake George and doing things like the steamboat ride and wine fest
Big firepit to make amazing camping fires at night
The rv style to this campground

And unique to us – being able to enjoy our very first camper trip with my sister and her family.

Cathy Testa
Date of this post: 11/7/2025

Letting Go of Websites and Other Stuff

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I did it. Today I deleted another one of my websites called ContainerGardensCT.com. The website was primarily about my former service offerings as a plant person, such as container gardening and installing patio pots and such at people’s homes and on their balconies. It had some nice photos of plants and also a few articles, talking about what you could get for services by each season, and so forth.

As I have stated here and there, I’m technically retired, but it IS early retirement. It comes with letting go of some old passions and introducing new ones, such as our new camper adventures. I also no longer can lift heavy objects like I used to and that, with the combination of saving for travel, has reduced much of my former plant passions and work.

It is difficult to let go of my past plant writings and even more difficult to let go of my plant photos! But to maintain them at a cost online doesn’t make sense anymore, in my new early-retirement state of mind. However, like a band aid that must be torn off quickly, I deleted ContainerGardensCT.com quickly. I didn’t review the photos first or print the prior articles. I just did it quickly. Done!

Now, I will always love nature, plants, and all the wonderful surprises which comes from admiring nature and plants, like a butterfly visiting a flower to the abundance of bumblebees that recently covered the last fall blooms of my Stonecrop Sedum (Sieboldii). I had put two of these sedums in separate hangers and picked these sedums because they are very drought tolerant, thus while away camping, I wouldn’t have to worry about them not being watered often. They are also perennials, thus saves money when I would replant them somewhere in my yard in the fall after the hanger planter season is over. Saving money is also important as an early-retired individual.

What surprised me though was about 2 weeks ago, seeing all these bumblebees all over the sedums pink blooms. They were all sleeping (not sure if technical term) and not moving in the mornings. This lasted for a good week or so. During the day, they hovered and visited, and I couldn’t even attempt to water the plants there. They were not aggressive and kind of let me be as I took photos of them in the mornings.

They’d fly over and feed and then later in the day it was a scene to see them all frozen in sleep positions. That lead me to read about how all bumblebees die at the end of the season. I did not know this! Only the queen stays alive and hibernates in the ground. It was interesting to see that many, up to 20 bees on the plants, and also a bit sad knowing this was the end of their lives. Somehow it symbolizes the tragedy that we all face someday, that day we witness others face too. Anyhow, onto the sedum…

The Stonecrop Sedum Sieboldii is a full sun perennial plant and blooms in the fall, so if you like bumblebees, this is a great plant to have around in containers or hanging baskets like I did. It also has bluish-green foliage which draped over, perfect for a hanger, and prefers well-drained soils. It’s an easy-care plant for sure. I’m happy I had gotten two of them this year. They served multiple purposes.

Anyhow, the one website (blog) I still haven’t deleted is this one which you are reading on now. Container Crazy CT is still being visited by people. I noticed it recently, mostly folks looking for information on how to overwinter their canna lily rhizomes and elephant ears tubers. I’ve written about my process of taking them out of containers around early October and storing them in my basement in boxes many, many times. Just use the search bar and type in “overwintering” or canna lilies, or Ensete. You should find them. So, this blog site I still haven’t deleted yet. It still seems useful and has lots of articles I wrote for many years.

I mostly have the Alocasia elephants’ ears now. I grew only one canna lily plant from seed. Just one but it furnished a nice plant for the hummingbirds who loved the blooms in my tall patio container. And I have one big red banana plant (Ensete) which sadly it started to rot on the bottom this fall. I waited a bit too long to get it out of the soil.

We (my husband and I) went thru the process of digging that red banana plant (Ensete) out – It was on its 3rd year of growing in the summers, and it got huge! It was very heavy and when we dug it out – too wet, and it had been too cold, so it started to rot. I should have taken it out of the soil earlier, I thought to myself. Oh well, I knew I was risking it.

I told my husband to toss it in the woods after we dug it out and turned it upside down, when I saw the rot spot. He was like, “Really, this is your baby?” I had to remind him my baby Ensete was tossed 3 years ago after growing it for like 15 plus years. This one was only 3 years old, but it had grown quite a bit this season, was huge! Remember, these plants cannot stay outside over the winter here in my CT planting zone, so I always dug out my Ensete plant and stored the base (the stump so to speak) in the basement, and I did this for well over 20 years now. But this was one I just didn’t want to put away because I saw some rot and also it was soooo heavy. I don’t have the muscle power to deal with that anymore, I guess.

Anyhow, I am thinking that I may continue to use this blog site to not only write about plants, but maybe about some other things in my life and adventures. Perhaps my learnings as a new camper woman, maybe a bit about some other personal struggles, maybe I’ll write about a new craft I’ve tried, you name it. It doesn’t have to be just about plants, right?!

Speaking of crafts, if you know me, you know that I have created succulent topped pumpkins in the past. Well, no more succulent plants here really so I attempted to create a pumpkin topped with faux flowers. It came out pretty good for a prototype.

I used Loctite Tite Foam in a can (a product used to fill gaps and cracks). It comes out soft and then hardens. I sprayed it to the top of a pumpkin, let it set for about 30 minutes so it was a little harder but still somewhat soft, and then started inserting dry flowers (faux) and it was working!

My only HUGE MANDATE is do not use this foam product stuff without wearing gloves. OMG, if you get it on your hands or fingertips, that foam does not come off – TRUST ME ON THAT. I did have gloves on but later I tried to use some again to make a scary topped pumpkin and got some foam on my fingers – big mistake.

And note, the faux flowers and decor I inserted worked well if they were not heavy and had a stem to insert into the semi hardened foam. The foam ends up waterproofed too, so putting my pumpkin on a patio table outside was no problem. You may also spray paint the form once it is hard if you want to, but I didn’t need to on this faux flower version as all the pieces I used to decorate the top covered the white hardened foam very well when finished.

Oh, and I did grow those pumpkins in a container on my driveway this year. I got about 4 good pumpkins to play with. I love the Cinderella shape of these. They are fun to create with either faux flowers or succulents. You cannot use that spray foam for live plants or live succulents because it would kill them (too toxic for plants). See my prior blog posts about succulents on pumpkins on this blog, Container Crazy CT. Just search for “succulent topped pumpkins” if you wish to locate that prior blog post.

Well, that is my mix of topics for today. It is a little cloudy and a little chilly outside today. Somehow, I feel we are in for a cold snowy winter. Just a gut feeling I have. But this year, we plan to do a bit of time in a warmer state in late winter before it warms up here, hopefully! I may just blog about that later.

Have a good weekend,

Cathy T.
Zone 6b
Broad Brook CT
Container Crazy CT

Written on 10/24/2025

Topics: Blog Deletion, Bumblebees on a Sedum, Faux Topped Pumpkin, and more…

Camping and Plants – Acadia National Park

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Camping is a new adventure for me and my hubby, Steve. We decided to buy a small camper last year. It was quite spontaneous, somewhat. We got a bit tired of the airline scene and thought, we could give this a try.

Steve really was all for it – but I panicked a little after he signed the dotted line and thought, is camping for me? Well, long story short – I absolutely love it. You are surrounded by nature, you are forced to relax and chill, and it is a fun adventure each time we try a new place. As one of his friends said, “Camping is just plain fun.” And it is and has been so far.

It got me thinking about plants too. On our most recent journey, to the Acadia National Park area, I saw plants here and there and welp, I decided to blog today on what I spotted.

Acadia National Park

Steve was the one who picked the Acadia location. Because I knew there are lots of nature things to do there, from hiking to kayaking, I wanted to make sure we could find hiking trails and know where to go, so I picked up a book by Hilary Nangle about the Acadia National Park area and it was quite helpful. She provides maps, tips and locations for hiking and kayaking, eating, etc. She divided the book into chapters about Mount Desert Island, Schoodic Peninsula, Blue Hill Peninsula, Deer Isle, Ellsworth and Trenton and more towns.

Our first little camper! You can see my basil on the table brought from home for my cooking.

Trenton, Maine

Trenton is where we stayed at a place called Wild Acadia Camping Resort. It is near towns like Ellsworth and Bar Harbor, and we liked the location. Originally, we picked this location because it has a kid’s zone, but we are kid-less, so it was more around the thought that my younger sister might meet us there with her kids. But that didn’t happen this go around, anyhow, we did like this little campground. One of the best amenities was a new barn they have complete with wonderful bathrooms, showers (coin operated), laundry and even a sink area for doing dishes for the campers. I thought it was just beautiful. They did have flowers barrels outside but stupid me, I didn’t take a photo, but it was several barrels of petunias out front.

Barn with showers and bathrooms

Every morning a crew cleaned this new barn, and I was very impressed with it – we got lucky! I had no idea this was there, and it is new. So are two new cabins they were in the process of building. They also have tents sites and RV sites. Some more in the wooded area in the far back than others. The kids’ zone is in the front entrance areas. I liked that our site was in the back by the barn.

Anyhow, that was our home base and we enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it was cool, misty weather the whole week with rain, but it was never a downpour or total rainy day. We had breaks of sun one day, and we were never rained out of sitting by a fire at the campsite, thankfully!

Planter outside of a Store in Ellsworth

Ellsworth and Bar Harbor, ME

One day we met up with my sister, Lisa and her husband to have BBQ at a place called Mainely Meat BBQ at 15 Knox Road in Bar Harbor. It was very good and had an excellent vibe with a brewery next door. That was fun and after we decided to go to Ellsworth and do a little quaint store shopping. As Lisa and I walked store fronts, I spotted this planter above with a Coleus (with the bright lime green edges around wine-colored centers), Sweet Potatoe Vine (with the dark chocolate color), and a trailing fuzzy foliage plant (having a brain fart on the name at the moment – I’ll update!). I paused to take two photos. What a lovely combination, I thought! I loved how all three plants intermingled well together. And whomever was watering and caring for it was doing a nice job – all was very healthy. We shopped the stores here and I really liked several of them, from cool clothing to artsy finds. Worth a stop on a rainy day.

Update: The trailing silver fuzzy plant in the combination above is called: Helichrysum petiolare ‘Silver’

Roses along a shore path behind Bar Harbor Shops

Bar Harbor Area

My husband and I walked the Bar Harbor area as well on another slightly rainy day. There are several shops and restaurants. Down one side street off Main Street is a larger parking place, so we parked there and took a walkway shore path along the back that is lovely. We packed some snacks and a blanket, so we sat there admiring the views and watching boats for a while. Beach roses scented the area for us. We watched sea kayakers go by, there is a town pier to checkout, and a really nice Inn facing the water along the shore path. In the old days, we would stay in an Inn like that – but these days we are campers! LOL. And of course, there are shops and pubs. The shops had lots and lots of t-shirts and sweatshirts. Lots of trinket shops whereas Ellsworth had more artsy shops, at least I thought so.

Not Cimicifuga Plant! This is a Black Lace Elderberry!

Along the road to the parking area, where we started our walk the shore path, was a very impressive Elderberry plant. In my prior post, I mis-identified it as Cimcifuga. Their foliage is similar, and I was super tired when I wrote my blog post yesterday, ooops! I realized my error this morning. Either way, it was one of those that I knew the plant, but my brain fog made me forget the name at the time and later. Must be getting old! LOL.

Crabapple Tree at Lamoine State Park Beach

Lamoine State Park and Beach were not that far from our camping place, so one day, I said, let’s go look at it – maybe it is a nice place to camp next time we come out this way. They charge $6 per person to enter the area beach area, and because it was rainy or wet like weather, the place was pretty much void of people. There were a couple of people fishing and a few just kind of looking at the views like we did from the beach. It has a big vast ocean view, and I noticed this tree as we stood at the beach. I believe it is a crabapple. Anyhow, the beach area is not huge, and neither was the parking, so I can imagine when sunny and busy, it may be tricky to get a spot there. It has a boat launch too. There was also the state park with campsites area, however, we were not allowed to go there so we could not see how it was set up. Apparently, the state park area is 55-acres. I was disappointed to not be able to drive thru to see how it was setup.

My homegrown basil
Yummy pasta creation with Gorgonzola Sauce

After several days of grilling food, we really had a hankering for some pasta by our fire at the campsite. I had purchased some Gorgonzola Cream Sauce from Difiore’s in Ellington and made up this quick recipe with my basil, of course. I cooked the small sized brussel sprouts in a little bit of olive oil and tossed them around for a while. The were frozen in a bag, and then I added the yummy sauce, some white wine, and angel-hair pasta that was pre-boiled, and wow, I have to say, it was just delicious! Maybe it was that sauce and the fact it was like a cool fall wet day; we gobbled it up!

Lively Lobsters!

We also had lobsters, of course, while in Maine – and found this place from the book I referenced above. Wow, it did not disappoint. Nothing like fresh lobsters while viewing views of the pier and ocean, and boats. This place was 12 miles from our campsite location and worth the drive. It is called Beal’s Lobster Pier at 182 Clark Road, Southwest Harbor area.

We did tons and tons of other activities, from walks to browsing areas. Two favs of the week were the drive to Schoodic Point and Peninsula of Acadia National Park. And hiking Ocean Path starting at Otter Cliffs on the one sunny day we had. Those were amazing sights to see. We did not eat and only sit by campfires but the weather prevented us from some hikes and kayak plans. There’s always next time!

I hope to take more photos on the next camping adventure and continue sharing it with you. I think it will become a new hobby for me.

Thanks for visiting!

Cathy Testa
http://www.ContainerCrazyCT.com
Located in Broad Brook, CT
Date of this post: 7/10/2023
Location of Camping: Trenton, Maine