We ate at Melvin’s BBQ in Charleston, South Carolina. We wanted to try Carolina-style BBQ, which is more pig- and vinegar-based than Texas BBQ. I think we prefer Texas style, but should try more Carolina style someday.
James Island County Park
We stayed at the James Island County Park campground in Charleston, South Carolina. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A nice county park.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-03-16
- Check out: 2025-03-23
- 7 nights
Weather:
- A mix of rain and partly sunny
- High temps 63-73°F, lows 45-54°F
- Some wind, gusts to 33 MPH, but sheltered by trees
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train horn noise
- Little neighbor noise
- Occasional plane noise
Site:
- #29, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
- Somewhat level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
- Gravel driveway about 110 feet long by 12 feet wide
- 50 feet to neighbor on passenger side
- 25-50 feet to road on driver side
- Tall trees between sites
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- Clean site
- Elevation 10 feet, front facing NE
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
- 75 PSI water, conveniently located
- Unthreaded sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 50 Mbps down, 6-13 Mbps up, 30-45 ms ping
- Campground Wi-Fi: 6 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 90-160 ms ping
- T-Mobile: 13-23 Mbps down, 0.25 Mbps up, 70-130 ms ping
- AT&T: 30-270 Mbps down, 0.1-0.3 Mbps up, 100-220 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 45 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters and recycling
- Water park
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Nice park close to Charleston
This campground is in the middle of a large county park and close to everything Charleston offers. Our site was unlevel side-to-side, but not too bad. The tree cover made getting Starlink reception tricky but not impossible, and it was the best coverage of any of the cellular networks. The roads to the park were a bit dicey for a big rig–very narrow and with lots of big trees close to and over the road. We camped at Campground at James Island County Park in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
Park map:
An interactive map:
Our site, a very long pull-through amongst trees:
Utilities:
Other sites; there was an Airstream rally going on, so there were a lot of them around:
Games:
Bathrooms with outside laundry:
Bike hire:
A nice park. We’d be happy to stay here again.
Video: Saint Marys, Georgia to Charleston, South Carolina motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 214 miles from Saint Marys, Georgia to Charleston, South Carolina.
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:
An interactive map:
Joining I-95 North:
Bridge:
Buc-ees under construction:
Rest area:
Paladin on the driver chair:
Rainy:
Having a snack while watching the map showing lightning nearby:
US Air Force plane outside an Air Force museum:
Heavy traffic:
Welcome to South Carolina:
Rest area:
Charleston exit:
Arriving at James Island County Park:
Check in:
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.
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:
Visitor center:
Model of the fort and town:
Building foundations:
Ancient live oak tree:
Archaeology dig site:
Foundations of the fanciest house in town:
Remains of the fort:
The fort info sign:
Cannons:
Fort selfie:
What happened?
The barracks:
Reenactors:
He and Jenn chatted for a while, explaining about the hut, his uniform, his gun, and more:
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:
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:
Info sign:
Alligator country:
River:
Trail:
Tortoise:
Another trail:
Nature center:
Boardwalk trail without a boardwalk:
The trail was somewhat flooded, but we did it anyway:
Observation tower:
Swampy:
The boardwalk has been removed:
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:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Utilities:
Pollen on our truck:
Other sites:
Bathrooms:
The first time we’ve seen a live armadillo:
Venomous snake country:
Little library:
Mini golf:
Cabins and screened picnic area:
Shelter building:
Dangerous cliff:
A nice park; we’d be happy to stay here again.
Video: Wauchula, Florida to Saint Marys, Georgia motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 273 miles from Wauchula, Florida to Saint Marys, Georgia.