We were actually driving around trying to find a post office with a package drop box when we realized we were close to Fort Moultrie and decided to stop and check it out.
The fort we saw was actually the 3rd one on the site. The first was constructed of palmetto trees and sand and was used during the Revolutionary War.
This is not how I pictured Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man)!
The fort was later rebuilt and was ultimately destroyed by a hurricane. The third fort was constructed and end up being used during the Civil War. This fort seemed to have a lot of it built into the ground. The Union forces stationed at Moultrie left to go to Sumter, as it had better defenses. Moultrie was defended against sea attacks, but not very well defended for a land attack. Of course, then the Confederates used Moultrie to attack Sumter and force the Union troops out. There was a battery to the left of the fort that was added later, but it was closed while we were there. There were a couple of the interior hall paths that went underground, although a couple were closed or very muddy when we were there.
There was some interesting information and we also got to drive by Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse, but I would not recommend this one unless you are nearby or really into Civil War history and/or forts. It was a little boring compared to the others.
The Junior Ranger Program booklets were available at the entrance, as well as a park map. Nick was excited he got to complete another badge.
DETAILS:*
TICKETS: $10/ages 16+, free ages 0-15, or included in America The Beautiful Pass. COVID Restrictions: masks required. Due to COVID, no cash is accepted at the Fort and the Visitor Center is closed. Tickets must be purchased online.
HOURS: Fort is open Friday to Sunday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Grounds and parking open 9:00 am to 5:00 daily.
PARKING: Yes, has its own parking
BATHROOM: Yes
TIME RECOMMENDED: 1hour
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
Although Fort Sumter is part of the National Park Service, there was not an admission fee. However, the only way to get to the fort is by boat, and the ferry ride does cost money.
The boat ride was similar to other boat tours we had taken. They pointed out other sites and talked about the history of Fort Sumter. There was a Park volunteer on the ride to and from that handed out maps and the Junior Ranger programs and badges.
We had a windy, cold, drizzly kind of day, so the water was a little rougher. Once we were docked, there was a ranger led talk that lasted about 15 minutes and went over the history of why Fort Sumter was built and its role in the Civil War. Even after the Civil War, they upgraded the Battery to keep it as a coastal defense. After the talk, we were free to read all the signs and explore around the fort. However, we only had an hour once we docked before the ship left again. It definitely felt rushed. We definitely could have spent a little more time reading and learning, at least another 1/2 hour to an hour would have been nice.
DETAILS:*
TICKETS: Fort Sumter, $0. Boat rides were $30/adults, $18 ages 4-11. (Our total for 4 adults was $127.20, as there was an additional $7.20 fee on the online booking receipt.) COVID Restrictions: masks required
HOURS: Visitor Center 9:00am-5:00pm (in Charleston). Boat rides vary per season and per location When we went boats departed Liberty Square (Charleston, SC) at 9:30am, 12:15pm, 3:00pm, and Patriots Point (Mount Pleasant, SC) at 10:45 am and 1:45 pm.
PARKING: Pay parking on street or nearby lots. It was $5 for the day at Patriot’s Point, which was where we departed from.
BATHROOM: Yes
TIME RECOMMENDED: 1-2 hours
*Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
We are slowly moving up the eastern coast, trying to stay under the freeze line. Our next stop on our journey was Charleston, South Carolina.
We got to our campground, set up, and drove into Charleston. We found a parking spot on the street. It seems like most parking is paid lots, garages, or on-street parking. Several streets were residential only parking.
We walked over to the Historic City Market. The front entrance was limiting visitors and masks were required. However, the city market does span several blocks and different buildings (all down a straight row), and the other entrances were not really limiting the people entering. We did a little bit of shopping and found a few gifts.
Next we walked around Charleston and just enjoyed the sites. However, we only had a two hour parking meter, so we didn’t get too far until we needed to head back to the truck.
We drove past Rainbow Row and admired the houses along the river. We also drove across the Ravenel Bridge.
Signs and sights around Charleston, bottom right: Rainbow Row and a rainbow we saw on our drive back
Of course, our next stop was the grocery store and Costco. This Costco didn’t have too many new items, but they did have a 6 pack of mini-carrot cakes!
When we booked this campground (The Oaks At Point South) several months ago, it had good/okay reviews. When we looked at it again on our way in, it now had horrible reviews due to mud and ruts. We tried to find another campground, but they were all booked. We were told it was the busy season, as Georgia’s summer brings bugs and flies.
When we checked in, there was a packet with our parking tag and the site map in the red box at the driveway. They were doing a no-contact check in. The reviews were right, it was very muddy and our site had deep ruts from where someone must have gotten stuck. We had gravel in the middle of the site, but the hook-ups and where our truck would have to park were very muddy and did not have gravel. TIP: If you do stay here, go slowly once you are off of the highway. You turn right by the Waffle House!
The site was a little small for us. The truck fit, but we had to park very close to the RV. We couldn’t really put out the master bedroom stairs and use that door. We put our rain boots on before we set anything up, which helped a lot.
After a couple of days, the mud began drying up. Ben and the boys once again put on their rain boots and stomped down the ruts to fill them in. We bought several bags of gravel from Walmart to cover the spot with. It wasn’t perfect, but at least we left it better than when we got there.
Some of the roads were tight. The roads were definitely single lanes, but were not dedicated as a certain direction. Garbage was to be placed in the dumpsters. The campground did have a laundry room with 4 dryers and 3 washers. Washers and dryers were $1.75/load. There was not a change machine in laundry room. It seemed like they really wanted you to use the app. A third party was in charge of the washers and dryers, so when one of them ate my quarters, I had to call the company, as the office said they couldn’t help.
The campground was close to a McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Waffle House, and a couple of gas stations. It was about an hour to Savannah, GA, Hilton Head, SC, or Charleston, SC.
The map (both online and the one we were given at check-in) stated there was a vehicle washing station; however ,when I check with the office, they said there is not one but you could wash at your site. It was not recommended, as it gets muddy easily. The campground has a lot of trees, which would make for nice shade in the summer, but also has your car covered in bird droppings and pollen. We found a few car washes nearby, but they were pretty expensive. We finally found a do-it-yourself one near Tybee, which cost us about $5.
The horseshoe pits and putt-putt looked run down and like they hadn’t been used in a long time. I was told they were closed by the office. The walking trail to the ponds was really nice and we got to see several small alligators and turtles, as well as lots of frogs at night. The footbridge located on the map is still there, but not in great shape, so I would be careful using it. It was a dead-end path, so we preferred walking the loop around the ponds. The walking trail was the highlight of our stay here!
Walking trail images. Bottom right corner: foot bridge
The walking trail also leads to the next-door KOA, which has a coffee and wine bar called The Swimming Mermaid, which is open to the public.
We would not stay here again. It was very quiet and the walking trail was neat, but there was nothing else to do! The pool was closed while we were there. Mask wearing was not prevalent. We were 45-60 minutes away from the larger cities. There are several campgrounds closer to Savannah, including some state parks, that had great reviews. We were trying to make the most of our Thousand Trails membership and I think we missed out on finding a great campground.
Sorry, the boys forgot to do their video at this campground.
SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:
Our rating: 2 out of 5 hitches
Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile
Laundry: Yes, $1.75/load
Bathrooms/Showers: Yes
RV Sites: Pull Through (grass/gravel/mud), a few looked like back-ins
Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: Nothing stated in rules at check-in, but we saw a few around.
Amenities: picnic table, cable (our hook up was wrong), dog park, pool (closed while we were there), walking trail to ponds, firewood for sale $7/bundle, community fire pit. There were only a few sites that had a fire pit of their own.
Cabins: No
Tent Camping: Yes
Full Hook-ups: Yes
Amps: 30/50/20
Pool: Yes
Food On-Site: No
Camp Store: No
WiFi: Yes, in Clubhouse/Office
Accepts Mail: Yes, packages. No 1st class mail. Will not accept or sign, it just gets put outside the office door.
While looking for things to do around our campground, I found Kazoobie Kazoos in Beaufort, South Carolina. They offer, as you may guess by the name, kazoo factory tours. We had so much fun on this adventure (even Ben and he was skeptical when I told him about it).
Our kazoos, Nick’s pressed penny (double sided!)
The tour consisted of two videos, an impressive kazoo demonstration, and a peek at how the kazoos are put together and embossed. Did you know that there are only 3 kazoo factories in the world! Or that the kazoo was originally called the Down South Submarine (probably for its shape)? There are two in the US (South Carolina and New York) and one in the UK. At the end of the tour, we got to pick out our kazoo body and resonator cap colors and then put together our own! There was a small museum, which had some really neat information. The gift shop was also fun with different kazoos and kazoo type items for sale.
Making our kazoosMuseum items
We bought a couple of things from the shop. Nick also made a pressed penny, which was double sided! We had so much fun, I would definitely recommend going there and taking the tour!
Our campground is out in the middle of nowhere. It is close to the highway, but about an hour drive from Savannah, Hilton Head, or Charleston. I was looking for quick things to do in the evening after work/school that were close by and saw the Old Sheldon Church Ruins on several lists.
It is off of a two lane road, but cars go speeding by. There is a dirt parking lot directly across the street from the ruins, but it is not very well marked, so slow down when you get close or you might miss it.
The church must have been gorgeous back in the day, because the ruins are still spectacular. There are a few graves around the grounds, so we needed to be careful where we stepped. The plaque on the wall stated that the church was burned in 1779 by British forces, rebuilt, and burned again in1865 by “Federal” forces. However, there was some written evidence later found that the inside of the church had simply been gutted by local people having to rebuild their homes after Sherman came through.
It was interesting to visit, but I would not drive specifically to see it if you are not already in the area.
We are likely posting this a day late as Pi Day was yesterday on 3/14. But, really Pi day is everyday if you are living life well.
We first saw the Carolina Cider Company store while exploring the area around us. It was closed for the day, but that did not deter us. We came back the next day. It was super cute inside with several different types of cider, pies, and jellies.
It was close to closing time, so there were only 3 pies left. We got a pecan apple pie, a small blueberry cider, small Black Bing Cherry cider, and a Muscadine jelly (a type of grape). ($38.80 total)
There was also a coffee shop attached to it, Clockwise Coffee. Ben got a plain coffee and I got a mocha. Mine came with a nice design in it!
Everything was delicious and I am glad we stopped, it was definitely worth the trip.
Hope you had a great Pi day! If you did anything special to celebrate, post it in the comments. I can’t wait to read all about it.
After Florida, we continued moving up the coast. Ben and I had been to Savannah many years ago for our honeymoon and loved it; the gorgeous architecture, the Spanish Moss, watching the ships go by. We wanted the boys to experience this awesome city.
Moving day was pretty uneventful. It was a rainy, grey type of day. We got to our campsite and it was pretty muddy along the hook-up side of the RV. I am glad we had our rain boots!
We got set up and decided to drive through Savannah. The River Street area has certainly grown in seventeen years!
Parking looked pretty full, plus we still had to pick up groceries, so we just drove through the River Street area to get a new mental layout of the city. We also drove down Jones Street, which was labeled the prettiest street in Savannah. The houses were very pretty with iron railings and fences, with really neat staircases, and Spanish Moss draping over the street.
We drove over the Talmadge Memorial Bridge. It is a very pretty bridge that spans the Savannah River. It has quite the incline to get to the peak, as cargo ships travel underneath.
