South Carolina ~ Southern Charm & Family

Welcome to the Palmetto State whose image is on all of South Carolina's license plates.

You never really know what a campground is going to be like until you get there so you always hope that it needs your expectations.  Trying to find a campground close enough to where our grandson was going to school in South Carolina was a challenge, but we found one that was almost a stone’s throw away from the town where Joe attends Camden Military Academy. 

Lugoff ~

The RV park was to be our home for a little over three weeks.  information sheet was a little different from what we normally read in a couple of ways, in that it was very explicit about saying that “alcohol can and does cause many problems in our world” and on  profanity, “we simply do not need it, nor will we let it go on”.   I guess that might be the Southern way.   In our travels to get to this point, we have definitely noticed that the people are very polite, accommodating and overall very gracious, answering with a "Yes, Mam" or "Yes, Sir".  It definitely is a nice touch for travelers new into the area.

It would be here in Lugoff that we would have to order a new refrigerator  (cooling unit), but we made due but not after having to dispose of most of the food that composed of condiments, etc.  We saved pretty much all items in the freezer as we were able to switch over our outside cooler/freezer that exists in one of the basement bays.  Thank heaven for this option.  Kay pretty much Googled various foods to see what we could freeze so her knowledge base on this is pretty good now.  Not that we want to go through this again, but it sure does help with savings some of the food.  We were so fortunate to get hooked up with a terrific mobile RV repair service . . . Jarrod to the rescue!

We had planned to have Joe on 2-day furlough to help him celebrate his 17^th birthday on October 12.  He was pretty excited as overnight furloughs are few for the students.  He was really looking forward to being with us off campus to relax, catch up on TV/movies and of course his phone, which is very limited for the students during their school week.

Joe is pretty easy to satisfy when it comes to food, just as long as he can pick up his snacks at a Walmart before heading back to school.  We made sure that we scoped out the pizza joints as this is one of his favorites.   Our birthday card contained enough $1.00 bills (his favorite $ for his wallet per Jill, his Mom), so that when he gets back to school, he can purchase snacks at the commissary.  Candles and a  chocolate cake with the traditional Happy Birthday chorus topped off a special birthday that we’ll hope he remembers for a long time.

Getting Joe back to school was a quick trip of about 7 miles from the campground.  We were able to see firsthand in our grandson and the other cadets on campus the polite manners that they are all expected to show in voice and presentation.  Either you make it work or you’re out.

A special treat for us was to be able to enjoy one of their, full dress, parades.   It was definitely a perfect day to sit under a large magnolia tree in the bleachers and beam with pride for the entire assembly for all of their work.  And, the band was better than expected for a high school.  Good job all around!  Parent Week also gave us the opportunity to tour the campus, watch some of the football game and to enjoy more family time as Jill and Joe's little sister, Julia flew in to spend a few days in Camden with Joe and us.  As with any student, they are very busy during the week, so it was only weekend time when we could really spend time with him, which gave all of us the chance to do other things.  

With family all dispersed to where they needed to be, we made a visit to Gorget Distilling Company.  We were able to get a tour of the small distillery by one of the owners as well as taste test some of their various rums and moonshine before making a purchase of a couple of our favorites.

Columbia ~

The road trip into Columbia to visit Riverbanks Zoo & Garden was right up our alley.  What a lovely place for us to walk around and experience the food, wild encounters and the botanical garden.  The best part of it was that there were no huge lines or flocks of people to work our way around.  Before we knew it, it was time for Jill to drive back to Charlotte, NC for the flight back to Minneapolis.  Unfortunately, we won’t see them until we return to Minnesota in the Spring so this little visit was really nice.

With family back into their normal routines, we still had a few stops to check before we were to leave this campground.

Charleston ~

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to experience this “jewel of the Lowcountry” – a seaport that would later be synonymous with Southern charm, and the clip-clop of carriage tours.  The city that is almost 350+ years old.   Founded in 1680 when Charles Town relocated to the peninsula which had a population at that time of 1,000.  It has survived Blackbeard the Pirate, wars, fires, earthquakes and hurricanes; being renamed in 1783 as “Charleston”. 

The diversity of the foods, architecture and people some things about Charleston that we believe will always be part of the draw:  a stroll through an old graveyard that has been around for centuries, a walk around the Battery, a meander down moss-lined cobblestone lanes, the of course, the awe of standing under a majestic old oak tree.  Lots of walking is expected so that you can really take in what Charleston is all about.  But, just in case you need some travel assistance, you can ride the shuttle free which operates three routes on the Charleston peninsula.

With our South Carolina visit coming to an end, it was time to pack up the coach and continue our journey to another LowCountry area.  This would be the charming state of Georgia. 

  
We are very proud of our grandson, Joseph.🥰🥰🥰🥰