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!!

Little Red's Fifth State Park

This past weekend we traveled to Cheraw State Park and Campground and it was awesome!  We found out that this state park is one of the largest in the country with a little over 7 thousand acres!  This wooded campground sits on Lake Juniper which provides a beautiful view and great fishing as well as space for canoeing and kayaking.   We would definitely recommend putting it on your list of must see SC State Parks!

This was also another dog friendly park.  They are welcome everywhere with the exception of the cabins.  Lucy loved it and enjoyed walks and scoping out other four legged friends and there were lots.

The picture above was taken up by the park office which is very

nice.  During peak months there are canoes and kayaks for rent.  They also have a loaner program for fishing - something we had not come across before.  If you don't have rods and such they will loan them to you for use on the lake.  There is a beautiful walk between the office and campground which takes you across the spillway and we estimated it to be a couple of miles total there and back.

This was our set up and we had a nice level space on site 4.  We could access the lake through a short walk through the woods to put the canoe in and Greg really enjoyed a paddle across the lake and back.  The campground is in a circle shape with only about 17 sites - very cozy.  It was fairly full for January and we loved that.  We walked through and checked out the sites and most were level and a good size with fire rings and picnic tables with gravel.  No Wifi here but we were fine and got fairly good reception with air TV during this stay.   There is a hot spot up at the camp office if you need to do any quick checks.  There are picnic sheds and tables scattered around.


One thing we would caution is to be careful when following your GPS to find this campground.  There is a Cheraw State Park Road which is the back side of the park and a very locked gate.  We were told this was the old entrance but since we arrived after dark we thought the park was locked up for the night and we wouldn't be able to get in. Lucy and I got adventurous and stepped over the gate and started walking while Greg was making phone calls.  We got a good ways down the road when we saw a sign facing away from us and when we got to it, it read "For Park Staff Only".  Okay that freaked us a bit and it was getting darker by the minute so we hoofed it back to the car quickly!  After making calls to the park ranger and local sheriff's office we found out that the real entrance was a few miles down the road and was not locked at night.  Some state parks have locked gates and require a code to get in which they will give you if you are arriving after dark.  We have found that a phone call to request the code in advance usually takes care of that problem and saves an argument upon arrival.  😀  .

As I mentioned in my previous post about Cheraw, there is a beautiful golf course within this state park.  When Greg went up and talked to the golf pro he actually offered a free golf cart to tour the course.  We ran into quite a few groups golfing during our stay.  The guys are planning a trip back to check out the course.

Another lesson learned - don't use your expensive cell phone as a flashlight!  I really can't see well in the dark and I was trying to make my way to the bath house before we set up. I had Lucy on her leash and when she bolted to catch up with Greg I ran smack into the picnic table which I absolutely could not see.  Not sure what actually transpired but I looked down to find my five month old phone on the ground face up with a hole right through the screen and a spider crack all across the face.  Bummer!!  Luckily I have insurance but getting a refurbished replacement was not cheap.

We had a short but very enjoyable visit to this state park and we definitely give it a big ole 5 out of five campers.  It hit all of our important points and we would absolutely recommend it and we will return.

We are still definitely enjoying our Little Red Retro and the more we use it the more we love it.  It is just the perfect size for us and Lucy of course and she feels very at home in it.  If anyone out there has any questions about it or wants to see anything specific, just let us know.

I apologize for the spacing in this post - I just could not get it to work right.  Hopefully next time. 😉