As I read on social media about the ridiculous cold temperatures and snowy weather that everyone else is experiencing, I almost feel guilty complaining about the last two cloudy days we have experienced at our current location in Sourth Carolina as we make our way south for the winter.
We left our last family stop in Ohio and headed out a couple of weeks ago to our first southern destination of choice, Charlotte, North Carolina. We set up at the Carowinds Camp Wilderness RV park on the south west part of the metro area. Nothing spectacular but we did have an angle for the DirecTV antenna and the park had some good trails for dog walking and hiking. We spent two weeks exploring the city, visiting with some good friends in the area and staying busy with our respective work. We enjoyed a night out brewery hoping near Charlotte’s NoDa Art district.
The other thing that I got to do on four different occasions while in Charlotte is my absolute favorite hobby – golf. I haven’t gotten to play as much as would have liked in the last few years and one of my big and selfish priorities for this winter is to play as much as possible. In addition to a future travel map for us I may post a golf course map of my rounds on the road at some point.
After leaving Charlotte our first beach destination was Myrtle Beach State Park. I have vacationed in the area many times over the years with family, but this was my first experience with the State Park. The Park itself was a little tighter than the typical state park setup, but the beach access was good and our particular site was very nice once we got the trailer wedged in just right.
We cooked thanksgiving dinner in the trailer and we marveled about how many people filled that park over the holiday weekend. The weather was cool but nice and I got a chance to play a few rounds of golf with my uncle who came down from Raleigh for a few days. Rufus and Hank got to experience the ocean for the first time and they really enjoyed eating everything that smelled fishy to them. Overall our visit was enjoyable and we would return to this park. We managed to get a few good sunrise photos when we got up early a couple of mornings.
From there we headed out to the first of three consecutive island destinations. Stay tuned!
Hunting Island State Park, SC
Our previous blog focused on how great it was to use the RV to visit families even if the RV parks and locations were not always a tropical island. This is about our arrival to a park that is a tropical island. Although our previous stop at Myrtle Beach State Park gave us a taste of the weather and beach access that we have been yearning for, our arrival at Hunting Island State Park finally made the ideal the reality.
After crossing a half dozen tiny bridges including one bride where we had to pull over to avoid scraping the trailer on a passing truck. We turned left at the State Park signs and entered a beautiful, primitive jungle/beach setting that reminded us both of something out of the set of the TV series Lost. Except with rock solid 4G LTE internet access, 50 amp service, and DirecTV. There is a small path leading straight out of our private camping spot right to the beach.
We were very happy that we did not try to squeeze into the loop that is right on the beach as the weekend atmosphere was a little more crowded than our out of the way loop with secret access trail. The only possible negative is that the sites are water and electric only. The nearby bathhouse could be cleaner but then again, that is the price you pay for this type of remote and private setting.
The weather for us has been very close to ideal too. High temperatures in the mid 70’s and night time lows that are in the upper 50’s lower 60’s. Not bad for December. Considering the ice storms we are reading about on-line from seasoned snowbirding veterans, we are feeling pretty good about the timing of our current route South. Enough of me blathering on, back to some photos to take you away from your ice storms for a minute.
During high tide, the beach was almost non existent and the trees were sticking out of the water. Low tide revealed one of the coolest beach settings we have ever experienced.
Given the time of year, the beach was pretty much ours. This was a very friendly place where well behaved and trained dogs like Hank can frolic off leash. Happy dogs even on a cloudy and foggy day!
I don’t know what it is like during peak season, but for my money in mid December, this place has to be hard to beat.
Wildlife was all around including a raccoon that was a bit of a nuisance all week. He chewed a hole in our water hose and used the shower for drinking and cleaning. We were told that you have to leave water out for the raccoons to keep them from chewing your hose. Would have been nice if they told us that when we checked in. He also left his muddy foot prints up and down our truck where he seemed to enjoy exploring at nigh. I am convinced that both raccoons and squirrels would never have survived if they were not so cute. People would have exterminated them long ago if they behaved like they do but looked like possums.
A buck also made a casual appearance one afternoon.
The State Park’s claim to fame is the historic light house. The views from the top looking back at the campground beach were very cool. We did the longish hike through the jungle to the lighthouse and then took the short route back across the beach once the tide receded at little.
There were other nice hikes like the marshland boardwalk and fishing pier.
Saturday’s football games were a little disappointing for our respective Ohio State Buckeyes and Missouri Tigers, but when this is your living room it is hard to get too upset.
As I write this we are on our last day here at Hunting Island State Park. If we were headed home after a long vacation, we would be feeling that pit in our stomach right now. With our new lifestyle it feels more like we are leaving vacation to go on vacation! Until next time.
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Posted in Camp Ground Reviews, General Commentary, South Carolina, Uncategorized