Travel from Saint Marys, Georgia to Charleston, South Carolina

We drove our coach 214 miles, about five hours of driving, from Saint Marys, Georgia to Charleston, South Carolina.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:

Route map

An interactive map:

Joining I-95 North:

Joining I-95 North

Bridge:

Bridge

Buc-ees under construction:

Buc-ees under construction

Rest area:

Rest area

Paladin on the driver chair:

Paladin on the driver chair

Rainy:

Rainy

Having a snack while watching the map showing lightning nearby:

Snack and lightning nearby

US Air Force plane outside an Air Force museum:

US Air Fore plane

Heavy traffic:

Heavy traffic

Welcome to South Carolina:

Welcome to South Carolina

Rest area:

Rest area

Charleston exit:

Charleston exit

Arriving at James Island County Park:

Arriving at James Island County Park

Check in:

Check in

Arriving at our site:

Arriving at our site

Override Tecma macerating toilet controller with this one weird trick

Last year I posted about replacing the controller in our Tecma macerating toilet. I concluded the post saying that it failed again even after replacing the controller, and I suspected the pump might be the fault.

To test this, I rearranged the wires, so the power wire to the toilet and the pump wire could be reached at the back of the toilet without having to dismount it again. Conveniently, they both have the same style plug, so it is possible to connect the pump directly to the power supply, bypassing the controller, so it runs continuously — obviously only briefly, before disconnecting again. That was enough to get the pump moving again. It has been working flawlessly since then. But if it were to ever stop again, I can easily repeat that process.

Toilet

Toilet

Toilet wires

Fort Frederica National Monument

We visited Fort Frederica National Monument in Georgia. It was established in 1736 to help protect the British colonies from the Spanish in Florida.

An interactive map:

Entrance

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Model of the fort and town:

Model

Building foundations:

Building foundations

Building foundations

Ancient live oak tree:

Ancient live oak tree

Ancient live oak tree

Archaeology dig site:

Archaeology dig site

Foundations of the fanciest house in town:

Building foundations

Building foundations

Remains of the fort:

Fort

The fort info sign:

The fort info sign

Cannons:

Cannons

Cannon

Fort selfie:

Fort selfie

Fort

Fort

Fort

What happened?

What happened?

The barracks:

The barracks

The barracks

Reenactors:

Reenactor

Reenactor

Hut sweet hut

Reenactor

He and Jenn chatted for a while, explaining about the hut, his uniform, his gun, and more:

Reenactor

A fascinating visit.

Driftwood Beach

We visited Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island in Georgia. When we think driftwood, we think logs, but this beach has whole trees.

An interactive map:

Driftwood Beach:

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach

An interesting place.

Crooked River State Park trails

While staying in Crooked River State Park in Saint Marys, Georgia, we enjoyed frequent walks in the park.

Trail map:

Trail map

Info sign:

Info sign

Info sign

Alligator country:

Alligator country

River:

River

Trail:

Trail

Trail

Tortoise:

Tortoise

Another trail:

Trail

Nature center:

Nature center

Nature center

Nature center

Nature center

Boardwalk trail without a boardwalk:

Trail

The trail was somewhat flooded, but we did it anyway:

Flooded trail

Observation tower:

Observation tower

Swampy:

Swampy

The boardwalk has been removed:

Boardwalk removed

Flooded trail

Pond:

Pond

A nice park.

Crooked River State Park

We stayed at Crooked River State Park in Saint Marys, Georgia. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A pleasant stop on our way north.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-03-09
  • Check out: 2025-03-16
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny, some rain
  • High temps 62-76°F, lows 48-62°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 32 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise

Site:

  • #62, back-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Mostly level site; a little high on rear passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 20 feet wide
  • 30 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • 75 feet to road on driver side
  • Trees and shrubs between sites providing good privacy
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Lantern hooks
  • Tall trees
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 20 feet, front facing due West

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
  • 45 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 28-38 Mbps down, 9-10 Mbps up, 32 ms ping
  • AT&T: 115-127 Mbps down, 13-20 Mbps up, 50-85 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 35 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • River

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Lovely state park

Not all campsites here have full hookups, but we were lucky enough to get a reservation for one. Our back-in site was plenty long enough for our 40-foot motorhome and tow vehicle. All the connections were good, and the campground hosts were on the ball, cleaning sites as soon as they were vacated. The campground is peaceful, with lots of nice, easy trails to enjoy. Note that the boardwalk has been removed from the loop behind the nature center, and we had to hop around some very large puddles to get around. Despite signs warning of snakes and gators, we saw neither, but we did see an armadillo, which was exciting as I’d never seen one that wasn’t roadkill. We camped at Crooked River State Park in a Motorhome. 

Tip for Other Campers: Jekyll Island (Driftwood Beach) and Fort Frederica National Monument are both worth a daytrip. Locals Dockside had excellent seafood, and historic St Marys is a cute little town.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Pollen on our truck:

Pollen on our truck

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

The first time we’ve seen a live armadillo:

The first time we've seen a live armadillo

Venomous snake country:

Venomous snake country

Little library:

Little library

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Cabins and screened picnic area:

Cabins and screened picnic area

Shelter building:

Shelter building

Dangerous cliff:

Dangerous cliff

A nice park; we’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Wauchula, Florida to Saint Marys, Georgia

We drove our coach 273 miles, about five hours of driving, from Wauchula, Florida to Saint Marys, Georgia.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:

Route map

An interactive map:

A tight corner leaving the campground, made more tricky by vehicles parked close to the road, but we didn’t have any difficulties:

Tight corner leaving campground

I-4 East:

I-4 East

Rest area:

Rest area

Heavy traffic and an RV on the side of the freeway:

Heavy traffic and RV on the side of the freeway

RV on the side of the freeway

Traffic cams with our coach:

Traffic cam with our coach

Traffic cam with our coach

Passing downtown Orlando:

Downtown Orlando

I-95 North; we appreciate road markings on lanes to make it very clear where we need to be:

I-95 North

Snuggly Paladin:

Snuggly Paladin

Snuggly Paladin

Handy rest area truck parking spaces available sign:

Handy rest area truck parking space available sign

Rest area:

Rest area

I suspect they don’t want anyone parking there:

I suspect they don't want anyone parking there

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

$296.20 of diesel, before our discount:

$296.20 of diesel, before our discount

Rainy:

Rainy

The Napoleon Bonaparte Broward bridge aka Dames Point bridge in Jacksonville, lost in the clouds. Apparently some Floridians are scared of this bridge, because it’s so high (and Floridians aren’t used to high places, being such a flat state!):

Bridge lost in the clouds

Thank you for visiting Florida:

Thank you for visiting Florida

Welcome to Georgia, state of inconveniently-placed poles:

Welcome to Georgia

Sub outside Kings Bay Sub Base:

Sub outside Kings Bay Sub Base

Crooked River State Park:

Crooked River State Park

Our site:

Our site

Peeking behind the wet bay

As previously mentioned, I had my wet bay modified to integrate the water filters and water softener, plus add valves and connections so I could regenerate and backflush the softener without having to remove it. Very handy. But it wasn’t hooked up quite right, so I pulled apart the wet bay to investigate. I determined that the pipes were reversed from how I wanted them, but the good news is that I was able to flip the water softener around (so the input and output were reversed), and change the labels on the valves and connectors, and now the system works properly. Yay!

Anyway, I thought I’d share some pictures of the complex hoses back there:

Pipes

Pipes

Pipes

Pipes

Fascinating stuff.