Beach or bust in a Cessna 170

For a couple of years, I flew daytrips from Frederick, Maryland, to Ocean City, Maryland, and Ocean City, New Jersey—each city was less than a two-hour flight with airports close enough to the beach that I could take a taxi or Uber, or pack my folding bike and be self-sufficient.

My Cessna 170 has weight and balance sheets with the rear seat installed and uninstalled. The taildragger’s cabin offers cavernous space with the rear seat removed, perfect for loading with tents, air mattresses (call me a wimp, but I need an air mattress if I’m tent camping!), coolers, beach gear, and more.

A friend and I researched beaches close to Frederick so that we could plan a weekend getaway but easily come back early if camping didn’t pan out or if the weather forecast started to deteriorate.

Delaware State Seashore State Park in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, was just a 1.5-hour flight away, boasted views of the ocean and the bay, and was less than 30 miles from Delaware Coastal Airport. I arranged to have a rental car ready at the airport so that we could quickly unload our gear and head to the beach.

The state park features six miles of Atlantic shoreline that you can walk (I love looking for shells), and the bay side includes 20 miles of shoreline along the Rehoboth and Indian River bays. Fishing, boating, kayaking, swimming, hiking, and biking are all popular activities.

We camped in an area without shade, so we stayed on the beach all day, but at night a nice breeze helped to cool things off. The air mattress proved essential, not just a creature comfort: The sand at our site was so packed that it felt as hard as concrete to lie on without the mattress.

Perfect weather graced our flight to and from the beach, leaving me relaxed and ready for another beach adventure, this time farther away: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where I would vacation each summer growing up. This would be a four-hour flight in the Cessna 170 and would cross enough of the Eastern region that weather could be a complicating factor.

My husband and I decided to camp at Myrtle Beach State Park for my birthday in August. The park sits just off the end of Runway 36 at Myrtle Beach International Airport, so we would be able to watch general aviation, airline, and military operations arrive and depart while lounging on the beach.

I planned to pick up a rental car on site instead of reserving one in advance. That was a mistake: When we landed and went into the FBO to get a car, we learned that all the cars had already been rented out that day. We had to find transportation to the commercial side of the airport to rent a car in the passenger terminal. The state park is three miles from the airport, but a car is essential for hauling camping equipment and making grocery runs. But it also makes it possible to drive and enjoy other attractions such as shopping, putt-putt golf (Hawaiian Rumble Minigolf with a 40-foot volcano in North Myrtle Beach is my longtime favorite), shows, restaurants, and sightseeing.

Myrtle Beach State Park opened in 1936 and features cabins; tent sites; and campsites with electric, water, and sewer hookups. The park’s fishing pier offers fishing and crabbing, but if you are like me, it’s best for enjoying the sea breeze and views of the shoreline early of the morning. The park also offers equestrian, walking, and biking trails; bird watching; and swimming in an area with a lifeguard or anywhere along the coast at your own risk.

After a couple of days at the beach, our planned departure back to Maryland was uneventful with perfect VFR weather the entire route. Camping at state parks with immediate beach access gave me a new appreciation for the natural beauty of crashing waves, sand, and sunrises and sunsets without the hustle and bustle of crowds of people coming and going from beach houses, condos, and boardwalks. And the Cessna 170 made it possible to enjoy without the traffic jams.