Campfire

It is Saturday and Lori & Daryl are leaving tomorrow morning.  We spent a beautiful day on the beach lounging and playing bocce ball.  I have heard of bocce ball but have never played before.  It was a great game for the beach.  We enjoyed it so much that we plan to buy a set for home.  

As tradition when we go camping with my sista, we celebrate big our last night with a steak dinner.  This year was no exception.  Since we are on the coast, we also added fresh shrimp to this year's fare.  It was a wonderful meal to finish off our special time together at beautiful Hunting Island State Park.

Shopping in Beaufort

Today, we went shopping in Beaufort.  It is the town of Candace Glover from American Idol and her pictures are plastered on almost every building.  They are proud of their home town talent!  

Beaufort is a nice little coastal town to do a little shopping in.  I have always wanted to visit this city since they were featured in the Southern Living Magazine years ago.  There were not a lot of shops to go through, so our visit there was pretty brief.  I did, however, fall in love with a store called Fresh Produce.  They have an on-line store but all of their other shops are in coastal city.  Fresh Produce is known for quality knit clothing made in the USA.  I fell in love with their Tier Skirt but didn't have the color I wanted in my size.  We are heading to Charleston next so will visit the store there.  

Johnson Creek Tavern

Johnson Creek Tavern is located across the Johnson Creek Bridge from Hunting Island.  Good thing that this restaurant is so good, as there are not a lot of choices in this area unless you go to Beaufort.  It's located right on the creek and is a lively place with music in the evening.  You can eat inside or enjoy a spot under the sun umbrellas on the deck.  I loved the fun atmosphere, especially all the autographed dollar bills on the every wall!

Dave and Daryl ordered oyster clusters for their appetizer at the server's suggestion.  They ordered the Frogmore Stew, she crab soup and Dave and I split the Admiral Platter.  All of our meals were great, except for the guys' oyster clusters.  As I am writing this, I realize that this option isn't even on their menu.  What's up with that?  Later we discovered oyster clusters across the creek from the restaurant pictured above.  Hmmmm....could these be the same oysters?  Next time, the guys will stick to oysters on a half shell.  It is a much better choice than having to shuck  and try to salvage a piece of oyster out of each shell.  It was definitely not worth the shuck!  :-)

Sista Arrives!

We were so looking forward to my sister Lori and her husband Daryl's arrival.  They live in the Charlotte, NC area and recommended this park for us to meet.  Lori and I are only a couple of years apart and the only siblings in our family.  We have a great time when we get together and just call each other "Sista".  Daryl and Dave get along great, too!  It is very important to spend time camping only with people that you can get along with.  Even more important is to only travel with your spouse if you can get along with each other at home.  :-)

After helping them settle into their beautiful site next to us, we spent the afternoon at the beach.  Dave did a little shore fishing.  He didn't do as well as the man next to us.  That guy landed a couple of huge stingrays.  They weren't all that easy to get off the hook either.  You would think that he may try smaller bait after catching his first one.  But, he was after a shark.  Really?  I didn't know that people fished for shark?  YIKES!

Hunting Island State Park, SC

After spending the night in the Macon, GA area, it was a little tedious getting to this state park.  We took I-16 to state highways and county roads up and around Hilton head and finally found our way to Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina.  

This is a very large park located right on the Atlantic Ocean.  We needed a 50 amp site so were located towards the back of the park.  I am so glad that we had reservations.  It would be very hard to get into this park, otherwise.  

We loved our site in the back, as it was more private in the woods.  On the downside though, the insects were hungry.  But, they were also very hungry at the front of the park, too.  It's camping.  We are in the woods.  What do we expect?  Oh well.  

This is our first state park camping experience since purchasing our 40' fifth wheel.  It was very tricky maneuvering through the gravel roads to our site but also worth it.  Thankfully, we have a pull-through site so that made it easier.  We spent the rest of the day setting up and took a little bike ride to the beach.  

GORGEOUS!  

Lake Tobesofkee - Claystone

We are heading to Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina and found a great place to spend the night on our way there.  Lake Tobesofkee is right outside Macon, GA off the I-475, exit 5.  It's only a couple of miles off the exit if you don't drive past it like we did.  It seems to be something that Dave and I are getting good at doing.

Actually, it was my fault as I thought we were staying at their Arrowhead park instead of the Claystone where we were really booked.  After wasting about an hour in the area and turning around in a church parking lot in the country (thank you Lord), we finally landed in their Claystone park.  

What a gorgeous park!  The lady checking us in told us that the Arrowhead park is even nicer.  Both parks are both Bibb County parks located on Lake Tobesofkee.  We had an awesome site overlooking this very peaceful lake with great views of million dollar homes.  Our view was great but wonder how they like looking across the lake at us?

It was very quiet for our stay, including several Canadian Geese and a few folks playing Frisbee golf.  We will definitely stay at this park again in the future!

Overnight Stay

I thought that it would be so easy to plan trips in our RV.  Boy, was I wrong! Still....it is worth the time to plan.  I have always been a planner and have this need to know where I will lay my head  at night.  But, if push comes to shove and we have no place to stay, there is always Walmart.  Thank you Walmart for loving us RVers like you do!  You are always there for us for our needs.

We are heading to Hunting Island State Park, SC.  Looking for a half way point to stop is a bit challenging.  How to begin?  First, I recommend that you have a map in front of you.  It's not all that easy to navigate on line.  Yes, there are maps available but usually not as detailed as a physical state map.  Look at your route and decide how far you want to drive the first day.  Since our goal is to enjoy the ride and visit different areas, we are happy to only travel 4-6 hours each day.  It's not as important to us to have the dream RV park for one night.  

However, I do believe that it is best to do your research...even for an overnight stay.  I like to look at the state park websites for each state, Corp of Engineer website http://www.recreation.gov , Good Sam's Club Directory and RV Park Reviews.  These are all wonderful resources to help you find the perfect park for your overnight stay.

It is very important to read reviews on the RV Park Review website, as well as Trip Advisor.  We depend on the reviews of other RVers to determine if a certain park will meet all of our specific needs.  Lastly, we pull it up on Google Maps to get an aerial overview.  Believe me, this has saved us from staying at parks that are old and run down and cater to transients.

So far...knock on wood....so good!  We have stayed in wonderful parks.