Hunting Island State Park - Hunting Island, South Carolina (November 2019)

When we camped here in 2014, the park’s volunteers greeted us with, “Welcome to paradise!”  There was no such greeting this time.

Sign at the park

We were shocked to see all of the beachfront sites were gone along with most of the trees in that section. Hurricanes and storms have taken a toll on this park.

The old beachside loop

Also among the missing was the maritime forest that we found to be very interesting during our first visit. It is somewhat ironic that the majority of the park’s destruction came from Hurricane Michael, the same storm that leveled Port St Joe Peninsula State Park on Florida’s Gulf Coast. It was sad to see two state parks, one on the Gulf Coast and the other along the Atlantic, were damaged by the same hurricane.

The beach

The loop we camped in the last time was about six rows of campers back from the beach. Those sites are now as close as you can get to the ocean.

Rosie in the campground

Another photo of Rosie in the campground

Bits of asphalt and disconnected wires from the old campsites were visible along the beach. These reminders of destroyed sites were under water during high tides. 

It was easy to see where the beachside loop was before Hurricane Michael

Two of the things that were the same from our earlier visit were the mosquitoes and raccoons. We learned how important it was to quickly open and shut the door to keep flying pests out of Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 

Our 2019 Southeast Coast WBCCI Caravan was able to attend morning colors and graduation ceremonies for approximately 500 new United States Marines on the training base at Parris Island. It was inspiring to ride around the base watching Marine recruits in training and to see the newest Marines graduate from basic training.

Morning Colors at Parris Island

Graduation at Parris Island

Drill Instructors wait for their platoons to arrive for graduation

Pass and review at graduation

As our caravan group was riding on a bus to Parris Island, I couldn’t help but think about the last time I was on a bus in South Carolina heading to a military basic training facility. I remembered the names of my Drill Sergeants and the head Drill Sergeant screaming at us to get off “his” bus and how a certain part of our anatomy belonged to him. He also emphasized that we needed to quickly move that part of our anatomy off his bus. 

Looking back, it seemed as if drill sergeants tended to believe they owned everything and I was not going to challenge that assumption then or now.

Sign at Parris Island

A Marine Corporal served as our host on the base. He was knowledgeable and a great example of a U.S. Marine. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was a back-in
• Our site was paved with gravel 
• We had to use leveling tools to correct a left-to-right lean
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service
• Our site had a water connection with low pressure problems 
• Our site did not have a sewer connection
• There were two dump stations in the park 
• The bathhouse near our site was clean and well maintained 
• We were able to occasionally watch ABC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna as the signals tended to drift in and out—mostly out
• We were able to occasionally watch TV digital channels Bounce and Grit 
• AT&T placed one bar of service for voice and data over our site 
• The campground provided WiFi service that never seemed to work for us
• The campground had a good and well stocked store

The Hunting Island lighthouse

Campstore

Visiting a Kazoo factory while in the area

We enjoyed a horse-drawn carriage ride around Beaufort 

Huntington Beach State Park - Murrells Inlet, South Carolina (October 2019)

Huntington Beach State Park has been on our list to visit for a while. We were happy when we saw that the 2019 WBCCI Southeast Coast Caravan planned a stop there.

There were two camping loops in this park. The south loop was a parking lot. The sites were close together and there were few trees for shade. Those sites also had concrete pads and full hook-ups. 

We camped in the north loop. While only a few of these sites had sewer connections, the large sites and shade trees made this our preferred loop.

Rosie's site in the campground

It was easy to hear the sounds of the ocean when outside Rosie, our Airstream trailer. There was a short trail from our loop to the beach.

Path to the beach

Enjoying walking on the beach

Most roads in the park were paved. This made it easy to walk Suzy, our Yorkie. 

We watched a raccoon steal something in a plastic bag under a trailer one evening while on a walk. Suzy was suddenly restless a couple of times while we camped here. We figured she heard some raccoons as they checked out our site. 

We toured Brookgreen Gardens and took the creek boat excursion while camping in Huntington Beach State Park. The gardens featured hundreds of sculptures from American artists. Our guide said that more than 2,000 sculptures were there.

In the gardens

Enjoying the sunny day

Trees in the gardens with Christmas lights hanging from them

One of the sculptures in the gardens

The creek tour was fun and we did see an alligator from the boat.

Waiting to board the boat

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was a back-in
• Our site was paved with gravel 
• Our site had 30 amp electrical service. 
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site did not have a sewer connection
• There were several dump stations in the park 
• The bathhouse in our camping loop was clean and functional
• We were able to watch ABC and FOX using Rosie’s TV antenna 
• We were able to watch TV digital channels ME-TV and MY
• AT&T placed one bar of service for voice and data over our site 
• There was WiFi available at several bathhouses 

Sunset over the lake

Sunrise along the Atlantic

Sunset along the lake

Back to the beach

Mount Pleasant / Charleston KOA - Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (October 2019)

The seventh stop on the 2019 WBCCI Southeast Coast Caravan was in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This was just across the bay from Charleston.

The KOA sign at Mount Pleasant

We arrived about an hour before our scheduled time to enter the campground. We found a Costco about half a mile away from the park, so we stopped there and ate lunch inside Rosie, our Airstream trailer. By the time we finished eating, our campsite was ready.

Airstream trailers in the campground

It was easy to see that this was a well-maintained KOA campground. The park had gone all out and decorated for Halloween.

Decorations at the campground

This campground appeared to go "all out" for Halloween

Many southern cities have their own unique charms and Charleston excels in charm. What better way to see the historical district than from a horse-drawn carriage. Our guide was interesting and he knew many local facts and legends.

Our guide on the horse-drawn carriage ride

A horse-drawn carriage in Charleston

Our carriage ride ended next to the open air market in the historic section of Charleston. It was interesting to watch local craftsmen and women weave sweet grass baskets, something that was famous in that part of South Carolina.

Entrance to the Open Market

Our boat ride to Fort Sumter was interesting. We would have disliked be a soldier there because the fort was very small and the only thing on that island.

Fort Sumter

The fort’s design was similar to Fort Pickens, which is at another campground we enjoy visiting in Florida. The difference was that Fort Pickens was larger and it wasn’t stuck alone on a small island.

Next, we visited Patriots Point and the Aircraft Carrier Yorktown. This ship entered service during World War II until the Vietnam War.

The Aircraft Carrier Yorktown as seen from the ferry boat that took us to Fort Sumter

The Yorktown in the shadow of the bridge 

Flight deck on the Yorktown

Costco was our final stop in the Charleston area. We noticed that a tire on our truck was losing about a pound of pressure a day.  Costco found and patched the problem. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was a pull thru
• Our site was paved with gravel 
• We had to use leveling tools to correct a left-to-right lean
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site had a sewer connection
• There was a dump station in the park 
• The bathhouse near our site was clean and well maintained 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS,  FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna 
• We were able to watch TV digital channels Antenna, BUZZR, Decades, Get, Grit, ME-TV and MY-TV
• The campground provided basic cable TV service 
• AT&T placed one bar of service for voice and data over our site 
• The campground provided WiFi service that appeared to be overwhelmed

This campground was along a lake. It seemed that a sign was in front of every body of water in South Carolina warning that alligators may live there.

A hayride at the campground

The bridge connecting Mount Pleasant and Charleston

Selfie at Fort Sumter

Eating crabs in Charleston

Airstream trailers from our WBCCI Caravan in the campground

Iron City Campground - Blacksburg, South Carolina (July 2019)

We were on our way to the 62nd WBCCI International Rally, which was being held this year in Doswell, Virginia. (The WBCCI is the Wally Byam Caravan Club International, the Airstream owner’s association.) Our plan was to take it easy heading to the Rally and stop along the way before dinnertime for the night. 

We used Google Maps, AllStays and Campendium to find Iron City Campground. It was about half way to Doswell and the reviews looked favorable. 

You need your GPS to find this campground. There wasn’t a sign along the road to point you in the right direction. Maybe the signs will show up later since this is a brand new campground and a work in progress.

The entrance at the Iron City Campground

Speaking of new campgrounds, it was good to see one in operation. It seems to us that more people are on the roads camping and new locations are always welcome. 

One of our first questions when we arrived was about refilling our propane gas tank. We had to switch to our second tank before leaving the warehouse where we store Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer. We always feel better when Rosie has a full spare propane tank. We appreciated the campground owners help in refilling ours.

Rosie in the campground

It was clear to see that the owners were trying to make this a nice campground for their guests. They were developing a fishing pond, playground and a pavilion. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was a back-in
• Our site was paved with gravel 
• We had to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean
• Our site had 20 and 30 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection 
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The campground had restrooms and showers that were clean and up-to-date 
• The campground provided WiFi at the campground store 
• The park provided basic cable TV service 
• AT&T provided two bars of 4G service for voice and data over our site
• The park had a swimming pool
• The campground had a camp store

This was a small campground with less than 45 sites. We look forward to seeing how this campground grows in the future.

The Swimming Pool

Lake Hartwell State Park - South Carolina

We attended our first Wally Byam Caravan Club International Rally last year. We were able to join the WBCCI Region Three caravan to the Rally and that helped make that long journey more fun. 

When we decided to attend the WBCCI International Rally this year, our first thoughts were to travel again with the Region Three caravan. One of the big differences this time was that we didn't have to travel 1,500 miles, as we did to get to Farmington, New Mexico. Instead, Lewisburg, West Virginia, was a mere 640 miles. While the Region Three caravan wasn't going to cover as many miles as last year, it had several fun excursions planned along the way, so, once again, we said we wanted to join the group. 

The plan was to take our time in joining with the group. Instead of putting in one long and tiring day, we decided to travel two half days. High on our wish list was to get through Atlanta when it wasn't rush hour. We also wanted to start our second travel day with Atlanta in our rear view mirror. 

Between the directions on our GPS and the tips on avoiding traffic delays from the WAZE iPhone app, we managed to make it through Atlanta without slow downs or incidents. 

There was a Corp of Engineers park that we wanted to camp in for the night. The reviews on All Stays were positive and it appeared that many sites were along a lake. About 45 minutes away, we noticed that this campground was about 20 miles off the Interstate. We were tired and the idea of adding more travel time to our day was rapidly loosing appeal. 

Once again, the All Stays app found a state park just a few miles off I-85 and we were there in a few minutes. 

Lake Hartwell State Park is just over the Georgia border as you travel into South Carolina. We were pleased to see that it was very wooded and most sites had shade. Arriving midweek without reservations, we were fortunate to get a nice site along the lake. 

Rosie's campsite in Lake Hartwell State Park

It doesn't take long to setup when you are simply spending the night. We didn't uncouple Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream Trailer, from the truck.

Suzy, our seven month old Yorkie puppy made it clear that she needed to burn off some energy and convinced us to take her out for a walk around the park. It was easy to see that this is a park that families love to visit. There is a lot to like at this state park.

Suzy seems to be uneasy with the "wolf: display

Family Selfie

The condition of the bathhouse is one of the things that needs improvement in this park. You expect rustic accommodations at state parks, but you expect them to be clean. They weren't. You could tell that the "essentials" we're glossed over on a somewhat regular schedule, but there were dead bugs inches away from the sink moments after the cleaning crew left. Add the growing crop of spider webs where you would not expect to see them to the dead bug collection and you end up concluding that keeping the park clean is a low priority.

Here are a few specifics about this park:

• The park is located along a beautiful lake.
• Our site had 30 and 20 amp electrical service. (We had to be careful both connecting and disconnecting electrical power because of an active wasp nest inside the power box.)
• Our site had water connection, but no sewer connection.
• There was a dump station in the park.
• We could only find one TV signal while in the park and this was a PBS station.
• AT&T placed a strong 4G signal over the park.
• This is a pet friendly park. 

The lake

Rosie with the lake in the background

Another view of the lake

View of the lake

Our campsite

Original watercolor painting by Becky of our campsite