Off to Charlestown

Buck Hall Campground

Buck Hall Campground

Today was a long day.  We had a great time in Virginia with the grandkids and their parents.  We returned a rental car early in the day and were on an un-crowded road by 8:30 AM.  Traffic heading south was light, and we were on cruise control for the better part of the 550 mile trip.  The Federal Government has made all the interstates look like any other place you might travel, so much of the regional differences that were in existence 40 years ago are gone.

When we finally got off the Interstate, it just looked like winter.  There eventually were live oaks, and palmetto palms and old man’s beard, or Spanish moss, or whatever they call it in South Carolina, but generally, all the regionalization has been drained out of the countryside.  There were some old shotgun flats still standing and an occasional house that looked like it belonged in South Carolina, but everything looked like it does anywhere else.  Corporate buildings were built to a master plan that originated outside Milwaukee, or wherever corporate offices were, and all the houses looked like the Joneses house, no matter where the Joneses were currently living.

There were some surprises, like the sign that advertised new and used tires and brakes.  Forty years ago I had no money and bought used tires from a thief, and the tires blew out sixty miles down the road, but I have never been in the market, nor hope to be in the market for used brakes.

One of the difficulties in driving a 10,000 pound 24’ vehicle is that although you hopefully see everything, there are limited opportunities to take a picture safely, and there are limited opportunities to turn that thing around and go back for a second try.  I saw a sign in the low country of South Carolina in the middle of nowhere (although the road was still paved) advertising frog’s legs, chicken eggs and raccoons.  We were doing about 50 MPH at the time so there really isn’t time to read the sign two or three times and be safe, but the items listed on the sign seemed to be things people consume for sustenance, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how the raccoons fit in.  Local delicacy? I’m not sure I want to find out.

WE stayed the night in Buckhall Recreation area, part of the Francis Marion National Forest. There is RV camping with electricity and water hookups for $20 a night, less if you have the discount documentation.  The site has a beautiful view of Cape Romain, over the salt marsh.  It’s on the Intercostal Waterway and we were advised by the camp host, Joan, that there should be some boat traffic, especially at high tide.  The place reminds me very much of the area around Cape Fear, NC except more desolate and far less developed.  The campground is scattered with live oaks and gum trees, and appears to be famous for the shrimp that run in the intercostal, and the loggerhead turtle that nests in the area.  All in all a very quiet, beautiful area.  It must be gorgeous in the spring.