From Georgia we continued our tour of the South by moving down to Yamassee, South Carolina.
We actually stayed at The Oaks at South Point right off of Interstate 95
about half way between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA and within 20 minutes of
Beaufort, SC. The park is a
Mid-Atlantic Park (recently purchased by ELS and added to Thousand Trails) and
close to the Interstate. The
proximity to the Interstate and distance to the beaches of South Carolina and
Hilton Head make it a favorite overnight stop for travelers. In addition, the park still honors
Passport America and other clubs so traffic in and out of the park is
constant. The park staff work very
hard and are very friendly and helpful.
There is free popcorn in the activity center and while we were there they provided a lovely ham and some fixins’ for a wonderful Easter dinner. In addition, each Friday night a nice
BBQ dinner is available for $7.00 a person in the Activity Center. The Oaks has all pull through sites with trees and picnic tables and offers free 50 amp., free cable TV, and free wifi in the Activity Center. We were able to get Direct TV satellite most of the time, but as the trees green in spring and summer the coverage will be sufficient to obscure reception. The roads have a few potholes, but
otherwise it is easy in and easy out.
The pool was not yet opened and the Yamassee Post Office is closed … Yamassee customers must go to Early Branch, SC to pick up mail.
We would rate this park a 7+ or 8- on the Moore 10 point scale. We used its central location to visit
Savannah, Charleston, Beaufort, and Parris Island.
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| Bottle Tree at Visitors' Center Next to Park |
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| Tree at Visitors' Center |
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| Visitors' Center |
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| Live Oak at Visitors' Center |
Savannah is still a very small city with a nice southern
personality built around many town squares, each with a personality of its
own. We went to the visitor’s
center and took an “On & Off” Trolley Tour of the town. Whenever we can, this is our tour of
choice. You get a driver that is
knowledgeable about the town and can hop on and hop off whenever something
catches your fancy or you need a snack.
The city boasts numerous historic homes, churches, and governmental
offices as well as a very active river district (we got off and walked around
here). While there were lines at
Paula Dean’s place: Lady and Sons,
and Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House we
opted for The Pirates House. The Pirates
was a nice little place. We had a
burger and ate in the bar (as an aside … why do parents these days think a bar
is an appropriate place for children?).
The burger was ok, but overpriced … Next time we will try Mrs.
Wilkes. At the Visitor’s
Center is a very nice historic museum.
In addition to the regular historic exhibits, the museum had a nice
display honoring Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Guides
(later Girl Scouts) in America as well as some wonderful quilt displays. Here are a few pictures.
Charleston is quite different than Savannah. It is quite a bit larger, with more suburbs and it is much harder to get to the visitor’s center. We finally arrived at the Visitor Center after parking in the garage (fee) and we made our way over to the center. In almost every visitor’s
center we have ever been in, the staff are friendly, knowledgeable, and eager
to share all of the wonderful things that their city has to offer… not so in Charleston. You wait in a line to get to a counter,
to be met by a surly attendant who only wants to sell you something and is
annoyed when you ask what “shouldn’t be missed” (apparently we were supposed to
make our selections from the rack of brochures before getting to the princess
at the counter!). Charleston
offers no “Hop on – Hop off” tours (the streets are too narrow and crowded … so
they say), but we can take a horse-drawn carriage tour … if we are willing to
walk a half-mile (or wait an hour for the free trolley that supposedly runs
every 15 minutes). We opted for
the walk and took off for the market district (It seemed more like a mile and a
½ than a mile). Lynda’s knees were done by the time we arrived and my back was screaming. We pre-purchased our tickets at the
Visitor’s Center, but that made no difference. When we finally arrived at the stables, we were placed in a
line behind others who had just purchased their tickets. After 45 minutes we finally boarded the
carriage … crammed in four adults to a bench that was clearly meant for two
skinny people … we are not skinny!
The tour itself was very nice and the driver was very informative. When we were done we ate at Bubba Gumps. It took 30 minutes to take
our order and another 45 to bring the food (after a complaint) we were given a
nice complimentary piece of Key Lime Pie.
The food at Bubbas was lousy … the pie was delicious! Luckily we were able to find a nice
bicycle taxi to take us back to the Visitor’s Center (a bargain at
$11.00). We are sorry if you
are from Charleston … but we would take Savannah any day! It was much friendlier to visitors.
Finished with the two cities we had planned to see, we still
had a few days left before we were off once again. A number of people in the park had mentioned going over to
the little town of Beaufort, SC, so we thought we would give it a try. The Visitor’s Center is in the old Armory/Fort and the attendant was friendly and helpful. We parked the car in the place she
recommended and took off for the beach and a couple of restaurants she
recommended. We opted for lunch at
Panini’s (no relation to the chain) … wonderful! Lynda had a wonderful calzone and Kim had the crab and
shrimp BLT. We were so impressed
with the nice sea breeze coming in off of the bay that we returned the next day
and had lunch down the way at Q on the
Bay. Q is a great little place
with terrific hamburgers and some of the best French fries we have had
anywhere! We were really
disappointed that we didn’t have a bit more time to spend at this location.
On one of the days down to Beaufort, we took a little detour
to Parris Island Marine Base and took in the Marine Corps museum located
here. This is a great experience
for every American. It is a very
comprehensive museum … allow at least two hours. Here are a few pictures.
That’s all for this stop.
Until next time … Keep doing what you love!
