South Carolina - Waltersboro

Waltersboro

On June 10, 2016 we headed to South Carolina. We stopped at South of the Boarder, which is right at the South Carolina boarder. 
It is the most insane tourist place we have ever seen.
 




A dozen or so buildings line both sides of the street, they are filled with every tourist trinket that you can think of. Along with restaurants, a coffee shop, ice cream parlor, and a reptile zoo. 

The parking lots and street are lined with statues of all kinds. Colorful and crazy would be a good description! 
There is a large tower that you can ride a glass elevator to the top and then get out to see the view. We passed on this offer but couldn't resist trying on a few hats. 



We stayed at Eagles RV Campground. We came here not really knowing much about this place. There were no reviews on any sites, but it was in the perfect location for the sightseeing we wanted to do. We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. 

It is a small camp, right on Hwy 15 which was a little loud at times. Most of the sites are filled with permanent residents, they are fairly well kept up. The owner is super nice and is living in his RV while remolding the house on the property. He brought us dinner one night, a slab of ribs and collard greens, can't beat that. He has plans to add bathrooms and laundry, neither of which exist now, and a small camp store. The sites are all pull through but are laid out so that you are driving across grass to pull into your site, so our tow-dolly was sitting on the grass. Sites are full hook up with 30 and 50 amp. The WiFi worked fairly well. 

Charleston, SC was one days outing. The South Carolina Peter Wolf Toth Indian is in the Charles Towne Landing State Park. 
This is the first one we have had to pay to see. In talking with the Park Ranger, there seems to be plans to move it to another park in town. 
While we were glad we could see it and add it to our picture collection, we were a little disappointed in the upkeep of it for being in a State Park. The tree that is next to it is covering it up and it hasn't been treated for the elements or bugs. 
This statue was carved in 1976 and is the 23rd on the Trail of the Whispering Giants. He is 22-feet tall and carved out of oak and is named Landing Brave. 

The park itself is very nice, they have Civil War memorials, an Indian section (not where the Peter Toth is) and a small animal park. 





Right after taking the picture of the carving, the skies opened and it started pouring so we didn't explore much more. 

With this sign at the waters edge - Nancy wasn't going any closer to
get a picture of this turtle enjoying the sun

The river front in Charleston has a nice walkway, that is wide enough for people to fish off of and people to walk past. Across from the walkway is a beautiful little park. There was a wedding in the gazebo as we drove past. 

The river was filled with boats of all sizes, small sailboats to ferries. We watched as one boat was making a wide sweeping turn as another was approaching. We hope they weren't as close together as they looked. 
At the end of the shopping area, old factory buildings filled with places to eat and shop, there is a large fountain for cooling off in. Just past the fountain we came across a wall, yes, just a wall - would love to know what the plans are. 

We crossed the Cooper River to Mt. Pleasant on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. It is the third longest cable-stayed bridge in the Western Hemisphere. You can actually walk across the 2.5-mile bridge, but we all know that Nancy had no desire to do so.

In Mt. Pleasant you will find Patriots Point, there are a number of military museums and displays.
There is an aircraft carrier that you can tour and also a Vietnam Experience Exhibit, which Les had no desire to do. For anyone into military history, this would be the place to go.

We made it to the Atlantic Ocean and found a rectangular lighthouse. The Sullivan Island Lighthouse was the last one in the U.S. that was built by the Coast Guard. It is 163-feet tall and the two rotating beacons can be seen for 26 miles. 

















Nancy was very happy to get her feet in the ocean, it was so nice and warm. She would also like to live in the wedding cake house at the end of the beach! 

We did find a Roadside Oddity, a larger than life Shriner. He is holding a little girl that kinda looks like a little old lady! 











Savannah, GA is a favorite, we have been here before but not for many years. 

If you go you need to check out River Street, but drive carefully, the road is made out of rocks so it is a little bumpy. One side of the street is lined with shops, eateries and bars - one of which has Nancy's nephews name on it. The other side of the street is a walkway along the river. It has beautiful flower gardens and art work. There are also a number of hotels in every price range. 

We headed off to Tybee Island, a first for both of us. Cute little town, full of vacation rentals and hotels. A nice beach front and lots of specialty shops. 
We enjoyed lunch at The Crab Shack, a wonderfully tacky Tiki type place. 


We sat outside on the patio, the food was delicious and the service was great. 
They also have an alligator pond. 

After browsing through some of the shops, a stop at the Tybee Lighthouse ended our day. 

The original lighthouse was built in 1732, when this was still the 13th colony. It is one of seven surviving colonial era lighthouses. 
This current one is the fourth tower at this station. The first tower, built of wood, was lost to a storm in 1741. The second tower, built of stone and wood in 1742, had no illumination but was topped with a flag pole and was lost to shoreline erosion. The third tower built in 1772 was constructed of brick, it was illuminated with reflectors and candles, a second tower was built next to it in 1822 to form a range and both towers had Fresnel lenses added in 1857. In 1862 both were burned by Confederate forces and the lenses were taken. In 1866 construction was started on this fourth tower, it was delayed due to a cholera outbreak. This new tower was 154-feet tall, it suffered some damage from a hurricane in 1871 and was replaced with an iron one. In 1933 the tower was electrified and the beacon was automated in 1972. The grounds are open to the public, and included a museum. They offer sunset tours twice a month, a small private tour of the grounds and lighthouse. 

We found a roadside oddity on our way back home. Two life-sized elephants outside a fireworks store. 


A quick stop in Callahan, FL then onto Winter Haven for a wedding.


Till we meet again...

Happy Trails to You! 

Tips and things we have learned along the way. 
~ Keeping your cool.
RV's aren't exactly known for there great insulation. A problem for both hot and cold weather. While we try to stay as far away from cold as possible, heat is another story. The extremely large windshield doesn't help much either, and while we can't really insulate the rest of the RV, we can block off the windshield. Finding a sunscreen to fit this space was quite a challenge. They do not make any the size of our RV window, so we took matters into our own hands and made one to fit. You can purchase large rolls of window screen material, it comes in a variety of sizes to fit most windows. With a little adjustment made with tape and scissors we can now cover the entire window. It not only keeps it at least 20 degrees cooler it makes it nice and dark at night. When not in use we roll it up and stand it in the closet.