The Blackstone does everything the basic grill does. It runs on propane so is super portable, and gets way hot. It is NOT the same as an electric griddle. I admit it, that is what I thought at first. And electic griddles are fine for making some eggs and pancakes in the morning, but it is just not gonna cut it for searing your meat. Camping grills are fine and get the job done. But the Blackstone covers both of those bases, all in one. And when space is at a premium, that is a big deal.

You can cook ANYTHING on a Blackstone. Sure, it is great for burgers, hot dogs, everything you normally cook on your camping grill. But can you cook eggs, bacon, pancakes, and hash browns, all at the same time on your grill? No you can’t. Well, you could try it with til foil but you will curse a lot and your food will come our mediocre at best. If you cook all of those things on your Blackstone they will be awesome. And don’t get me started on veggetables. Of course our husbands refuse to eat them, but the camping wifes love it. Not only can you do zucchini, eggplant, carrots, and corn on the cob, like you do on a grill, but you can do mushrooms and onions, asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and anything else you could roast, saute, or broil. Once we did personal pizzas. We did cheese steaks. Sausage and peppers. We are gonna try fried rice next. I wanna see you do that on a grill.

They clean up pretty nice. Not gonna lie, I thought this would be messier than it is. I would say it actually beats the nasty grill as far as clean up since none of the gunk falls between the grates. It’s still kinda greasy, so we try to wipe it all down since we store ours inside our bunkhouse. I do drape a towel over it before I carry it in, but I did that with the grill too to save my clothes. All that said, this ranks cleaner than a grill, but the electric griddle is actually probably the winner as far as this category goes.

Portability. This thing is shockingly portable. I am not going to say it is better than a camping grill, if I am honest it is a smidge more difficult in this regard. That said we have the larger table top version and I am 100% convinced that is the only reason it’s any harder to move around than the camping grill. We also have a great stand that folds up and takes up barely any space at all- way less than comperable grill stands in my opinion.

Cost. So I think everybody thinks Blackstones are more expensive. I’m not sure about that. The most popular camping grill (in my non-expert opinion) is this basic Weber- which totally gets the job done and we had one for years and it did hold up- which is on amazon for $189. This 17″ Blackstone is $105. We have this 22″. Of course those prices are the day I’m researching this so they may have changed. Whn we bought our 22″ I want to say I spent $89 but I got a great sale. Now I splurged on accessories and got a foldable stand, hood, and grill cover, which I totally recommend.

So if you are still undecided about this choice, I am going to leave you with this. We had a perfectly functioning grill at our house, and after enjoying the Blackstone camping for a year or two, we tossed our perfectly good drill and replaced it with a 28″ Blackstone monstrosity with an airfryer.

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Wow, that blog post was easy to write! Just kidding, I’ll give you a real review, but – spoiler- this is quite possibly the best campground I have visited. My disclaimer is that this is MY favorite all around campground to date, and that is admittedly very personal to me. There is no “best campground” out there, and if I am being honest, I always say the most recent place we’ve gone is the best place I’ve ever been, so take this how you will. But this place was awesome.

Let me start by saying this is actually a very small campground. We visited thier sister site at Castaways a few years ago. I remember that place seemed huge, although I was new to camping so that might not have been a great assessment. Either way, I assumed Massey’s would be sprawling. It was actually on the smaller side. Which made if feel quaint and intimate and I really liked that aspect. It is impeccably clean and well kept. It is a very new campground, only a couple of years old, so it is expected that it is shiny and new, but it was beyond expectations. The sites were beautifully kept and clean. I did not see a single piece of trash all week. The buildings were pained vibrant, island colors with Bahamian architecture and palm trees on the beach, making you actually feel like you were somewhere tropical. And pro-tip: the back to back sites are situated so that two campers can back up to eachother and almost have an elongated “buddy site.”

Did I mention there’s a beach? Massey’s Landing is situated directly on Rehoboth Bay. The curve of the shoreline, along with canals, allow for an unexpected amount of waterfront RV sites and cabins. The campground is situated into the “bay side” and the “canal side,” the former offering more sheltered (read: less windy) sites, while the latter offers stunning views and proximity to the ammenities. There is a decent sized bay beach. We were here in the off season and it was a bit cold to see the beach in full swing, but I can certainly imagine it is a fun beach day. This is a bay side beach so no waves, which is a plus for those with younger kids.

There is also a lovely pool. By lovely I mean, there’s a swim up bar! What? Yes, there is. The pool is on the smaller side, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in…did I mention there’s a swim up bar! Swim up bar. Okay, sorry I got carried away. The pool is separated into a family section which features a walk in beach-type slope (not sure what the official name for that is) and an adult section which features, you guessed it, a swim up bar. They are both part of the same pool so you can keep an eye on your kids if they are older and strong enough swimmers to hang our by themselves. The bar wraps around to dry land, so if you do not want to get wet, you can still sit and watch the action while having a cocktail. It was far too cold for us to do any of this, so while our insane kids swam we enjoyed the delicious drinks our cocktail waitress brought to our lounge chairs. Try the “dirty captain” you will thank me later.

Side note: they were building a second pool while we were there on the “canal side” but it was basically just a hole in the ground at that point, but a second pool is never a bad thing.

There are 2-3 restaurants on the premises, depending on your definition of restaurant. First there was a sit down indoor restaurant near the canal which was closed due to COVID at the time. There was also an ice-cream parlor/take out counter. These both are located in the main building next to the pool, which also housed the decent-sized and well-stocked camping store, arcade, main office, and quaint little fire pit/sand/rocking chair deck area for relaxing and eating your ice cream. The other restraunt was next to the beach and was on the water, featuring indoor/outdoor seating and a bar. This was more of a small tiki-bar type atmosphere, pretty informal, with friendly laid-back service and a killer view. Bonus, this bar was also accesible from the beach. The menu at all locations was the same. It wasn’t expansive or fancy, but had something for everyone, and everyone in our group was pretty happy.

There is lots to do in the Rehoboth area. The campground does provide a shuttle, although we had our truck so we drove ourselves. About a 5 minute drive from the campground is a busy downtown area including lots of restaurants, outlet shopping, and other stuff we didn’t explore. About 15 minutes takes you to the actual ocean. It was too cold in April to visit the beach and swim, but the beach looked very nice and clean, there was a nice boardwalk with shopping, food, and arcades. Just off the boardwalk theres a stip of local shops, restaurants, ice cream parlors, and a small amusement park. We thoroughly enjoyed two of the local ice cream shops, and the Dogfishhead Brewery restaurant, which I cannot recomment enough, it was amazing. We also thoroughly enjoyed dinner and drinks at Craft & Crust, which was on the downtown area between the campground and the boardwalk. Dogfishead and Craft & Crust both had excellent service. I really should do separate reviews here, but maybe that would be a good excuse to go back and repeat this trip again next year.

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Camping Club Chairs

These chairs are the best! We have four of these in our camper, plus two ottomans. They are a bit of an investment compared to some options, but they are super cozy. The stuffing makes them feel like you are sitting on a sofa, not like most hard outdoor foldable chairs. They are really roomy. I can comfortably curl up in the chairs with one of my kids, or sit sideways to lounge and read a book. If you want a spacious chair, this is for you. They fold up relatively easily and come with a carrying case that has a handle, making them sort of portable. I like any chair with a case because we store ours in our bunkhouse and the case keeps the dirt/mud/etc. from tracking all over the camper. Plus it’s my job to set up and put away chairs, so the handles make it super easy to carry in and out of the camper. I feel like they are more compact and easier to store than some options out there, but less than others. Our friend fit a couple in their under-bunk storage without issue, although you might not want to carry them to the beach.

Another “con” is that because of the stuffing, when they get rained on they do take a little longer to dry than some unstuffed options. But once the sun comes out they do dry in a couple of hours. Also, ours didn’t come with drink holders and there are no options I have found to attach any. The one I linked to actually has a little pouch on the side that would totally hold a beer, cell phone, etc. Kinda wish mine had this, any ideas are welcome in the comments!

The ottomans come with similar cases and are pretty compact. I suggest getting these because they really add a little extra comfort. They are sturdy enough to use as stools for kids to sit on by the fire, too. I think one or two is a nice addition, we have two ottomans to our four chairs and that’s plenty.

Gravity Lounge Chairs

These are sometimes called “Zero Gravity Chairs” and they are the best option if you are looking for a camping recliner chair. These are very popular and lots of our friends have these. We did at one point, but like the previous ones for comfort and the covers. These do not have covers and fold up to a flat-ish rectangle. This may be better for some storage situations (like if you are lucky enough to have outdoor pass-through storage- in which case I am super jealous). They are definitely super easy to fold up quickly and don’t have a case (which is a con if you like a case like me, but a pro if you like being quick and don’t want to have to wrestle with a case to pack up). They are really comfortable. Because they adjust you can sit upright or lean back and put your feet up. The headrests and cup holders are a nice touch (not all options come with these).

Cons include a little rust on the legs when we had them. Also they need to be tightened every once in awhile. There are a lot of bolts and moving parts so the combination of the rust and adjustments can lead them to break after awhile. I do not suggest cheaping out on these- read reviews.

Folding Rocking Chairs

These are actually a thing. I did not even believe it when our friends showed up at our fire with a camping rocking chair. Honestly they don’t even look like rocking chairs…but I assure you they are. They are also quite comfortable. I am not hugely into rocking chairs honestly (did not get them for any of my kids nurseries) but some people are and if so, this is for you. Even as a non-rocking-chair-person, these were nice to sit in by the fire. They have a little cup holder attached and the fabric dries quickly after rain. They fold up easily and are light and compact. They do not have a carrying case. They are reasonably affordable too.

Hiking Chairs

Disclaimer: I have not tried either of these chairs but they are just so cool and I have to include something for those who hike out to the middle of nowhere for some sweet sweet solitude (I love my kids, but damn that sounds nice).

I have seen awesome ads for the Cliq Bottle Sized Compact Chair and it is just so teeny-tiny when folded that it blows the mind! It claims to set up incredibly easily (undo a strap and extend the arms, that’s it!). It is indisputably the smallest options out there that is an actual chair and not just a stool. Seriously, it’s the size of a water bottle, which is crazy. It looks to be somewhat comfortable if you have a small to medium frame, but I am not sure how it would hold up for larger people. I would get these not for camping but to have for family outings like hiking, fireworks, sporting events, and all those things I imagine we will go to once the last kiddo is out of diapers.

These other compact backpacking chairs look pretty great too. They are slightly larger, but still compact. Set up looks to be more complicated. The chart actually looks like pitching a tiny tent. That said, they are much more budget friendly. They look a little more comfortable and have a slightly higher weight capacity. They also have a cup holder! So cool.

Hitch Hammock Chairs

These are next level. You can’t sit by the campfire, but who cares! I saw them on a truck at a campground and immediately bought them for my husband as a Christmas present. They are heavy, not gonna lie. But just so cool and a fun way to use your hitch when you are parked. There are also models that covert to cold a regular hammock as well. I almost got this, but it was a bit pricy so I went with just the chair option. That said, these are pretty affordable and the hitch attachment comes with the chairs. I’m so excited for these chairs!

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