Great Food + Great People = Great Times!

Can hardly believe we just finished up another Annual Thanksgiving Celebration at PirateLand. Something you may not know, unless you have worked at this campground during Thanksgiving, every year when it’s all said and done, the crew members look at one another in astonishment and ask “Did we really just have a dinner for 500 people?”

Yes, folks we sure did! And it would not have been possible without some serious hard work and dedication. Our four night camping special helped bring in a big crowd. Have you ever wondered how many turkeys it takes to feed everyone? Well this year we cooked 18 of them. Yep that’s right, and they were cooked and carved right here in our vacation rental ovens by a few long time crew members. 

Jo Ann Mayhew, our Housekeeping Manager, has worked at this resort for over 15 years and she heads up most of the cooking – 18 turkeys, 6 hams, 50 pounds of mashed potatoes (NOT instant), 12 pounds of mac and cheese, and enough gravy to go around twice! Can you imagine going from oven to oven to oven ….18 times to check those turkeys? These rentals are about 400 square feet total and have three bedrooms so you know we’re not working in a gourmet kitchen here! Jo Ann has an extensive catering background so she knows how to make it work with what we’ve got! We are so thankful to have Jo Ann and her crew!

If you’ve been to our Thanksgiving Dinner then you know we don’t make all the food, guests bring dishes too! We usually get a variety of sides, and a whole lot of deserts. It’s always iffy with Pot Luck and we’re always worried we won’t have enough food, but our volunteer servers make sure we make it last. Our volunteers are usually campers, residents, and even off-duty crew members. They are so generous to spend their valuable time helping us out and making the dinner possible.

  

Local businesses also lent a hand by donating goods and prizes. Meritta Bread supplied the dinner rolls, and Coke and Reddy Ice hooked us up with soda and ice! They’ve been helping us out for years and we are so grateful to have their support. We had a prize wheel again for guests to spin for a chance at one of our special prizes. We had over 20 local restaurants, shops, and vendors donate tickets, gift certificates, and promotional merchandise. 

2011 marks a special milestone, not only because it’s our 45^th Anniversary, but this year was Patch’s first Thanksgiving Dinner! If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Patch, our Pirate Mascot, make sure you check out the activities schedule for his appearance time next time you’re camping with us at the beach! He likes to take pictures and the wee little ones think he’s a lot of fun!

We’re so grateful for y’all coming out and sharing Thanksgiving with us! We hope to see you again next year.