Little Red Returns to Myrtle Beach State Park

We traveled back to Myrtle Beach State Park last week and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip!  This time we stayed on site #19.  It was right across the street from the bathhouse and a short distance from the campground store.  This time of year the park is very busy and bustling with campers.  I loved that, and from our little dinette we could watch campers heading out and see all the different sorts of rigs - one of my favorite things.  You can check out our last visit here.

 The weather was good for the most part with a few evening storms but that didn't slow us down. We were able to enjoy sitting on the beach two days and it was so relaxing.  Greg was able to swim a good bit while I relaxed and enjoyed the view.  Dogs can visit the beach after 5:00 PM so we took Lucy down and let her watch the waves and sit with us.  She was a little nervous but she enjoyed it too.

We set the screened room up on this trip and it was so nice to sit out there and eat and enjoy the breeze.  We always take a big outdoor fan and it made it just perfect.  We had very few bugs and no need to bring out the deet.  That's always a good thing.

We made a real effort to eat all of our meals at the campsite this trip except for fast food on the way down and on the way home.  It worked out great.  With the grill we were able to cook some delicious steaks one night and we brought along our rice cooker and made Zataran's Jambalaya one night with kielbasa.  Our oldest son and his wife gave us the cooker and it is just perfect for camping.  It's lightweight and makes an entire meal. Here is the one we have.  I would definitely recommend it!! You can saute meats and veggies right in the pot and it gives you options for different kinds of rice.  The handle makes it easily portable.

If you decide to visit this campground be sure to make reservations well ahead of time.  During in season it is really full and hard to find a spot.  We only saw a handful of empty sites.  We also visited Huntington Beach State Park which is not far and it was completely full.  These beaches are very popular.

If  you like the busy side of Myrtle Beach, this is a very inexpensive way to visit.  There are excellent restaurants, water slides, great shopping and so much more in this area.  We also love Murrell's Inlet which is close by and a must see when you come to the beach.  We have to put this campground at the top of our list for summer camping and we also loved it last year when we were there in December.  That was an awesome way to do our Christmas shopping.  This area really does Christmas big!

Again we loved camping in Little Red and have no complaints so far.  He is a trooper with a little over 3,000 miles traveled and still working like a champ.  Our only desire would possibly a walk around bed just because we are getting old and making up this one is a little bit of a challenge.  Even so we still love it!!  In September of this year we will have been on this journey for one year and it has flown by.  What a wonderful difference this sweet little red camper has made in our lives!

For our August trip we have reservations at Hunting Island State Park.  This will be our first visit since it reopened in June of this year.  We were there just before Hurricane Matthew hit so we are anxious to see how it's coming along.  Stay tuned for an update on this beautiful campground. 

Simplified Camping Trip...James Island

We just took a three day trip to James Island County Park and we really loved it!! It was our first time visiting a county park. This time we made an effort to take as little as possible and since it was a short trip it was much easier. We have a bad habit of bring way too much food and then buying more along the way.  There is just not enough room for this ridiculousness!  Also we were having too much waste and just plain clutter.

We also were bringing too many clothes and we just don't wear them.  We are definitely old tent campers when it comes to changing clothes.  As long as they are clean, we will wear shorts several times and just change shirts.  We dress simple and comfortable and bring some nice things which we leave in the car on a hanger.  A while back we found one of those big suction sturdy hooks (see it here) and we keep it in the bathroom and hang things there that we don't want to wrinkle.  So far that is working well.

Okay - now back to the actual trip. 😊 We really loved this campground.  It is one of the only campgrounds in the vicinity of Charleston and it's beautiful.  There were swings like this scattered all around the campground, lots of trails and things to do.  They have a splash zone water park, dog park, challenge course and so much more.  There are full hook-ups and wireless which worked fairly good outside and in scattered areas.

One of my favorite things are always clean restrooms and these were awesome with ample shower areas which were private.  The lighting was also really good.  So many times we find campgrounds to be very dark at night and that is great unless you have to make late night bathroom trips.  This one very easy to manipulate at night.

We loved the onsite store and the staff was very friendly and helpful.  We spent one day in downtown Charleston and loved walking all around one of our favorite places.  We also ate at a local restaurant and had the freshest seafood which was absolutely delicious.  If you are ever in the area it's a must try.  The name is Roadside Seafood.  Its a tiny little dinner style restaurant, family owned, and everything is fresh and hot.

An also must see for us every time we visit Charleston/Mt. Pleasant area is the Kitchen & Company!  We found this place a couple of years ago and they have everything you could dream of for your kitchen including beers and wines.  We also get more forks or spoons since we are always loosing some - tell me we are not the only ones.  This is a must see and their prices are excellent!

As always, Lucy did not enjoy the ride but loved camping.  She walked, walked and walked some more and truly enjoyed it.  We did add the seatbelt clip to her car seat this time and it made a huge difference.  Since she couldn't climb all over the car trying to hide she would sit quietly in her seat and look out the window a bit.  She didn't pant furiously or seem sick so this was a win win for us!! She can still move and lay or sit anytime she wants.  She always has a stuffed animal and her blanket close by. 

We are working on a slide show of the pictures Greg took in Charleston around the Battery and I will get them linked up as soon as I can. 

As always we are loving our Little Red Retro and get away as much as we can with Greg still working.  Our next trip is a return visit to Myrtle Beach State Park - one of our favorites!!