Charleston and Edisto Beach SC

Plan Early and Often!

Finally, It looks like we will get to Edisto Beach State Park! Several times in the past we have tried to get reservations at Edisto, a beautiful SC State Park right on the beach about 35 miles south of Charleston. But with the new online reservations system, it is so easy to book these beach side campsites, that most of them are booked an entire year in advance. That doesn't leave much space for us folks that have to plan trips around work and other events. After the FMCA rally in February of this year, I decided to see if I could get a site at Edisto in May. Our wedding anniversery is May 25, so we always like to do a little something special on that date. So after 31 years of maritial bliss(?!) we decided on Edisto.

(Some pictures are posted here. View all of our pictures for this trip at our Dotphoto.com site.)

But even in February no weekend spaces were available that would accomodate our Bounder unless we opted to stay back in the woods a mile or so from the beach.. which is not where we want to be. Checking out the reservations system I did find a beach area site that looked reasonable and it was available on Monday and Tuesday. So why not go back to Charleston for the weekend and stay at Oak Plantation Campground, then move to the beach and head home Wednesday? Sounds like a plan to me, so Edisto and OPC were booked.

Getting Ready to Go.

I am not going to go into all the prep that had to be done to get ready for this trip. After the trip to Florida in February, we did decide to upgrade the toad, so I bought a 2004 Chevy Tracker from Helms Auto Sales in Monroe. The Helms' (Cousins Brad, Bennett, and Uncle Dub) had just what we wanted at the right price. The Tracker is 4X4, 4 Door, and easily towable behind the Bounder. I added a Blue Ox base plate to the tracker and a Blue Ox Tow Bar that is soooo easy to use. It stays on the back of the Bounder when not in use and is almost invisible when removed from the front of the Tracker and only takes seconds to remove. I'll try to write about that on our Miscelaneous page at a later time. I also added a rock guard skirt to the rear of the Bounder to keep road derbis and rock from chiping the paint on the front of the Tracker.

The Tracker is very easy to tow.. just put the 4 wheel drive in Neutral and you are ready to go!

Friday Departure.

Late Friday, May 19 after work we were able to hit the road about 5:00 PM. I was hoping that daylight saving time would give us time to get to Oak Plantation before it gets too dark. Our planned route from Monroe, is US 601 to Sumter SC, then US 521 to I-95, then I-26 and I-526 to US 17 south of Charleston. Oak Plantation Campground (OPC) is about 5 miles south of i-526 on US 17.

With the water tank sanatized and partially filled, gas tank about half full (gas is about 17 cents less in SC), groceries, summer clothes and bathing suites, and the cat loaded we were on the road again. It was a much slower trip than I anticipated. It seemed like every elderly person in Camden and Sumter was out visiting or going to the Golden Corral for dinner. During one segment we followed a big ol' Buick that would not dare go over 35 miles per hour. And of course with the Bounder pulling the Tracker and traffic being what it was, I could not pass, so just settled in for the ride.

We pulled into OPC at about 8:30 PM. The office was closed but they left the directions for out site taped to the door with instructions to come back to the office in the morning to check in and settle up. The sites are very large - spacious is the right word, so we were able to quickly pull in, connect the water and electricity and settle in.





Here we are at Oak Plantation GC in between a couple of diesel pushers.

Beautiful sunset through the old oaks at Oak Plantation, Charleston SC.

Saturday we slept a little late, and took our time getting out. About 9:00 I went to the office and checked in and paid up. OPC has what I think is a good policy for reservations and returns. They get a $20 deposit to make the reservation so if something happens and you can't make the trip, you are only out $20. A lot of RV parks get your entire fee up front and may or may not refund if you have problems getting there. I really like OPC. Here is their web site: http://www.oakplantationcampground.com/

Later we took a ride down to a little place called Rockville on the mainland west of Seabrook island, then up to James Island area. We then rode up the Ashley River Road, Hwy 66 past several plantations on the Ahley River. We decided to stop at Drayton Hall Plantation, the oldest continuously occupied plantation in America, according to the tour guide. (http://www.draytonhall.org/. This is a beautiful old place right on the river.

We were able to hear a short program on how slave labor was used to build the plantations and suport the economy of the area during the rice planting era. Then we took a guided tour of the house. The house has not been restored and is being maintained in original condition.

Drayton Hall Plantation on the Ashley River.

Chillin' on the Ashley River at Drayton Hall Plantation

Later we headed back toward Charleston and thanks to the recommendation of Roadfood.com we checked out the Anchor Line Restaurant. This spot is on the Folly Beach road just before crossing the waterway bridge from the mainland to Folly Beach. I say thanks to the recommendations because it does NOT look like a place you may stop without having some advanced knowledge.

See what I mean? The tables are picnic tables on the deck out back. 3 or 5 guys are inside cooking up some of the best fresh fish and shrimp you can imagine.

Sunday morning we went to Fort Sumpter National Park. With all the trips we have made to Charleston we have never made it to Fort Sumpter. This was a great boat trip across the harbour with a beautiful view of the houses along the battery and the awesome new Cooper River Bridge.

Here I am at the ready, waiting for the Yankee's to return...

whoooops, they are already there! Lots of 'em.

After the few hours to Fort Sumpter and back, we walked around the historic district for a while. We decided we should have a late lunch/early dinner in town then head back to the CG. We tried Hank's Restaurant, but he was closed until 5:00 PM.. and it only 3:00! So we walk back down to Cumberland on Meeting Street and stop in at Diana's for a good flounder sandwich and we had to try some of her Peach Cobbler! Man.. I'm glad we have a lot of walking to do for the rest of the day. Great meal!

FMCA Rally

During the last week in January thru February 5, 2006, we were able to take a week to attend our first Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) South East Area (SEA) rally. This was the first time we have been able to attend one of the FMCA rallys. Since the rally offically started on Wednesday February 1, we decided to leave home on Friday afternoon January 27. This would allow us to spend several days exploring some of the Gulf coast for a few days before checking into the rally. The rally is held at the Hernando County Airport near Brooksville Florida. My Dad and Mom attend this rally regularly, so we thought this would be a good oportunity to go RVing with them for a change.

Leaving Homosassa on Wednesday morning, we said good bye to our spot on Halls River and headed for Brooksville and our first FMCA Rally. This rally is the FMCA SouthEast Area (SEA) Rally. http://www.fmca.com Mom and Dad have been to this rally many times, as well as other larger national FMCA rallys, and wanted us to join them for this one.

FMCA is the Family Motor Coach Association, and with over two hundred thousand family members, some of the rallys can be quite large. The national rallys held two times per year may have as many as 5000 - 6000 coaches. The SEA rally in Brooksville is the largest area rally. Since it is in Florida in the winter, it attracts about 2500 - 3000 coaches. It is held at the Hernando County Airport.

This airport is an old military facility that was given to Hernando County in the 1980s. It is a very large facility and the County only uses a small part of it for their General Aviation facility. It it is pretty awesome to see thousands of RVs parked on the two 5000 foot runways that are no longer in use.

We met Mom and Dad there on Wednesday afternoon and checked in and parked.






Here we are parked with the Civic next to us. Thats Mom and Dad's Southwind right behind us.















Here is a view up a row of motorhomes.










The rally was lots of fun. It reminded me a little of an old time county fair with vendor and craft booths under a very large tent. And of course, there were lots of motorhome dealers showing the latest and greatest in new coaches. We looked at coaches of all sizes, from $1.3 Million Prevost conversions to very small van conversions and everything in between.

If we were retired........

We are all 3 looking forward to going to another rally in the future.

Crystal River,Homosassa Springs, Cedar Key

While in the Homosassa area we made a couple of side trips. One of note was to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. This place is kind of like a little zoo but not quite. It is home to hundreds of species of birds and fish, as well as several "resident" manatees. There is also a underwater viewing area. This is built right over the natural springs that feed the river and in the deepest part of the river. You go down a couple of flights of stairs and look through the surrounding glass to see into the clear water. Thousands of fish and several manatees can usually be seen.

This place is also a manatee research and rescue facility and is definitely worth a trip. The flock of pink flamingos was wild...and I thought you could only buy them to stick up in your front yard!










Manatees at Homosassa Springs








Pink Flamingos! (Really!)











According to Jimmy Buffet - "Travis McGee went to Cedar Key". Well, so did Chuck and Pam.

We decided to take a ride up to Cedar Key. It is about an hour north of Homosassa then about 30 miles west. Be prepared to see nothing much but birds and water. It is a beautiful area that is not developed at all. It is what Key West must have been like 40 years ago.


We stoped at a little place called Annies for a lunch of Crabcake sandwich and a cheesburger (inparadise). Here' s a picture of Pam standing in front of Annies front door. Its definitely not your chain burger joint!

Here is the view from the end of Cedar Key looking west across the Gulf.










Tarpon Springs....

Next day it was raining so we decided to head down to Tarpon Springs and see what was in that area. We drove through a little place called Hudson Beach and found a cool little resturant right on the beach (Hudson Beach Inn and Restaurant) for lunch.

Further on down in Tarpon Springs we found a place to park..no free parking so bring $ for parking in private lots. There are plenty of gift shops with all of the little tacky souviners, but there are also LOTS of sponge shops. The sponge boats unload right there on the streets and many of the shops sell local sponges.

And of course since Tarpon Springs in rich in Greek heritage....Greek Pastry Shops!





Sponge Boats

Sponges and MORE Sponges!

Homosassa Florida

Saturday takes us down I-95 toward the Florida border. I was looking for that Flying J near Brunswick GA to get fuel. GA fuel is 23 cents less that in NC. Fuel in GA looked to be in the $2.10 range, while in NC it was $2.33.

But we were talking about something or other and the next thing I know we were crossing the FL state line. Oh well.. we'll look for fuel further down the road.

I planned on turning west on route A1A; taking it over to US301 and staying on 301 until Gainesville. I figured that there would be plenty of fuel opportunities where 301 crosses I-10. In this part of Florida you really get the feel for the farming and agriculture that is still a major part of the economy. Most think of Florida as nothing but beaches and giant theme parks (Orlando). But Florida still ranks very high in fruit, vegetable, and cattle production. And you see many horse farms in this area.

Approaching I-10 in Baldwin FL I see several truck stops that will give us an opportunity to fuel up. I pull into the giant Travel America (TA) plaza to find that there are NO RV FRIENDLY GAS PUMPS!!! This crazy place has acres of space for diesel trucks to fill up and park. And even though they advertise to the RV community, their gas pumps were so close to the front of the store that there is no way that an RV could pull into the pumps and turn back to get on the street. Next door is a Pilot truck stop that is the same way. Looking on down the road I see nothing else and I do need fuel, so I do a U-turn and go back to a small BP station/convience store. It is a small lot but the pumps are parallel to the road, so I can pull in, fuel up, and pull back on the highway. $147 later, we are back on the road.

On south through Gainsville, onto Hwy 24 and south we continue. Finally we begin to see some of the lakes and springs for which this part of Florida is known. And the temperature was warming up too. Nice! Getting back up about 75degrees or so really feels good.

Making a left turn onto Hwy 19 we are almost to Crystal River and the Homosassa area. THe traffic is heavy indicating that we are finally in a tourist area. Halls River Road, our last turn before finding the Natures Resort RV Park.

Natures Resort http://www.naturesresortfla.com/ is a quiet kind of place located on the Halls River. The camp store and office is located near the main entrance. A winding road takes you through the cg down toward the river where you find a lagoon (pond), clubhouse and activity room, laundry mat, and a marina store with a little cafe.

We chose a site (there were only a couple to choose from this time of year since it is peak season) that is about 150 yards from the river. We unhooked the car, backed the RV in, and in no time we were in our Homosassa home.

The next thing is to find some fresh seafood. I had spent time on Roadfood.com (http://roadfood.com/) to try to get some recommendations for this area. One of the places is Charlies Fish House in Crystal River. So that was our first stop. It is right on Crystal River and the view was great, as well as the food.

Over the next couple of days we'll explore the area.

Headed for Florida

We have spend most of the week during our "Spare TIme" to get the Bounder ready for our trip to Florida. Last week I was able to get the coach back to Tom Johnson RV in Concord for some warranty service. This included finding and fixing a leak under the kitchen sink, working on the slide mechanisms (they seem sluggish and require you to push the slide switch several times in order to get them completely out), plus several other small items that needed to be taken care of. Most of the stuff was done well, but they still didn't get the slides fixed. My concern is that that will cause something else to go wrong with the slides, but they assured me that its ok. A part has been ordered from Fleetwood that is supposed to take care of this issue.

I also was able to get up to Rowells RV and Customizing last Saturday to get some valve stem extenders added to the rear dual tires. This has taken care of the tire pressure check issues I wrote about earlier.

Most of the evenings this week were taken to load up the Bounder with our clothes and other supplies. Pam cooked several cassaroles that she put in the freezer so we have several meals ready to eat. But I am looking forward to getting some fresh seafood in Florida.

6:10 PM Friday we pull out of the drive way and head south. Since the FMCA rally doesn't start until Wednesday, Dad and Mom will not leave until Tuesday, so we will meet them in Brooksville Wednesday.. so we have several days to explore the West Central Gulf Coast of Florida.. the Nature Coast.

Headed south down Hwy. 601, we intend to stay on US 601 to Camden SC, pick up US 521, then I-95 to FL. After that, I want to take Highway US 301 south to Gainsville then cut cross country to Homosassa. We have reservations at Natures Resort in Homosassa FL from Saturday through Tuesday.

Traffic was light, so the drive was easy. Bobbi was her ususal nervous self the first hour or so, but after that she settles into the routine nicely. Camden is a pretty town, and there we found our way to US501. Sumpter is a little further down the road. The last strech of 501 before getting on I-95 had some major construction going on, but eventually it will be a 4 lane road from Sumpter all the way to I-95.

It was dark when we turned onto I-95, but when you first get on the interstate you really feel like you are traveling! We pulled off at a rest stop just south of I-26 for a very short break and then back on the road again.

By about 10:00 were getting near Savannah and had to decide what to do for the night since I don't drive all night. I did want to leave early so we could get to Homosassa by mid day Saturday. The last thing I wanted to do was pull into a strange RV park after dark. But by 10 we decided to find a place to get some sleep. I knew that Brunswick GA has a Flying J truck stop that we could use for fuel and rest... but that is still well over an hour away. A friend with Savannah coonnections had told me about a Wal-Mart parking lot at the airport exit in Savannah. We found the exit and pulled off. The Wal-Mart had a small parking lot, but the Home Depot next door had plenty of room... and there were already over 20 RVs pulled in there.

We had to circle the lot a couple of times to find an out of the way place to park, and I wasn't sure when the Home Depot opened on Saturday morning, so I wanted to aviod taking any space that early morning do-it-yourselfers might use getting an early start on their weekend projects.

It was a rather noisy place, with trucks in and out all night, and at about 2:00 AM the parking lot sweeper started work, but all in all, sleep was accomplished and by 8:00 AM we had had our coffee and were back on the road.

Editorial: There seems to be quite of emotion in discussions and on the internet forums about spending the night in a public parking lot as opposed to paying for a campground space. I understand all of the sides to that discussion... but for me it is not a matter of money.. it is a matter of convience. Why spend the time finding, getting into and out of, and paying for a space to spend a few hours resting? If the campground owners want to provide that service, then they should have an area within their property that is esentially a parking lot. For a very small fee ($5 - $10), you could park - no hookups, generators ok, in and out. If you need it, for another couple of bucks take water and use the dump station. I think a secure area like this within the CG property would fill that niche.