Is this Bora Bora?! Nope, think again!

Now that we're into our third year of full-time RV living, it's fascinating to see what routines we've begun following in this often routine-less life. Despite not being snowbirds, we have found ourselves heading south for the winter quite a bit. We mostly do it because travel conditions are easier than if we tried to stay north, but we'd be lying if we said we didn't enjoy seeing those first glimpses of palm trees or the first sunset past 5PM, when the alternative would be dark, cold, gloomy days up north.

In our first year of travels, we got a late start, so we didn't reach the Carolinas until March. We were moving at a fairly quick pace because we wanted to catch up to our plans down in Florida, where we'd spend a few weeks near Anthony's parents' house. We spent a few days in North Carolina at a state park, and then we scooted down to South Carolina for a quick RV park stay, plus an overnight while we made our way across the state. Then we skipped Georgia altogether so we could get ourselves to Florida. This all made sense for our first year. We weren't as worried about cold weather like we tend to be in January. We know better now because our weather in North Carolina that year was all over the place, but we loved the campground and got to see friends while we were in the area, so weather aside, it was time well spent. But, once we got to South Carolina, spring greeted us. The blooms were on the trees, the warm weather had arrived, and we felt unbelievably at ease – probably the first time we truly felt that way in our new lives as full-time travelers. The RV park we chose was convenient. We had a level pull-thru site with full hookups, and we were glad for it, given that we hadn't had the best experience maneuvering into our NC state park site as newbie travel trailer operators. After that, we chose a Harvest Host farm stay, again with plenty of room to maneuver, plus we got to visit with some very cute animals. Then that was it. Our next stop was Daytona. We had chosen Daytona because on our road trip in 2017, we enjoyed our visit there. It was nice to be able to take our past trip experiences and apply them to our new lives as RVers. That road trip still holds strong memories as we travel up and down the East Coast.

In 2017, the main South Carolina stop on our road trip was Myrtle Beach. We immersed ourselves in all the tourist attractions, wandering up and down the strip, riding in the Ferris Wheel, and getting lost in the maze of kitschy souvenirs at the Gay Dolphin. Naturally, the beach gets a bad rap because of its unnatural features. However, for vacationers, this seemed like the perfect road trip destination, and we were right. We loved it for what it was. When we set out for our second year of travels, we stayed east along the coast, and therefore could decide if we wanted to RV Myrtle Beach and return to one of our road trip destinations. We didn't need to experience the boardwalk life again – been there, done that – but, as I looked up reservations in the area, I discovered that we could experience a whole new Myrtle Beach by staying at the state park.

That booking opened my eyes to the gems that are South Carolina State Parks. Last year, we ended up staying at two of them right on the coast: Myrtle Beach and Hunting Island. After that, we were hooked. For us, South Carolina is that state. Whether we're staying at a no-frills RV park or a gorgeous oceanfront state park, we cross the border and feel like we've arrived somewhere we want to be. But, now that we've learned how we like to camp and aren't afraid of some tight state park roads and tough-to-maneuver sites, our top choices for stays are definitely the state parks.

Not unlike our first year on the road, this year we also had a strict timeline because we were due in Florida by mid-January. We were also traveling more inland. This gave us the opportunity to scout out state parks away from the coast. As much as we want to try all the SC state parks, this year we could only hit one, and I reserved us a campsite at the Lakeshore Campground at Santee State Park, on Lake Marion. I-95 runs right through there – literally – and so it was a convenient location that would still give us the vibe we've come to love about SC state parks.

Right off the bat, we noticed a common thread among all the SC state parks we've stayed thus far: The parks are big and the campgrounds are miles from the parks' entrances. We drove a good 10 minutes from the Santee State Park sign to our campground. Lakeshore Campground is the further away of the two campgrounds. The other campground, Cypress View, is closer to the Visitor's Center. We only chose Lakeshore because it had an appealing looking campsite. The SC State Parks website does a great job letting us see photos of different sites, maps, and all the details about size and site features. Even though the campground was far away from the rest of the park and the roads were not paved, we were glad we chose it because it was a lot larger, had more spacious sites, and had beautiful tall tree coverage, which in the winter, wasn't too dense, so we could still see the sky and the lake. Every clear evening, we had a gorgeous pink and orange glow on the lake. The lake is quite shallow in general, so we think the reflection on the sandy waters contributed to the colorful hues.

We had one small walking path leading from the campground to the boat launch. We would have preferred longer trails leaving directly from our campsite, but the campground was large enough that I easily got my daily mile in.

A couple downsides to this campground were, first, that it was not easy to navigate. The campground loops are set up strangely, so you really need to follow the signage to find which road leads to your site. The dump station is all the way in the back, and the road is narrow and bumpy in places. We needed to drive the whole circumference of the campground before coming to our site because the loop is one-way. When we left, if we wanted to use the dump station, we would have needed to drive that entire road again, which was not worth it for us, so we opted out of dumping. All the campsites are water and electric only; Lakeshore has 30amp sites and Cypress View has 50amp sites.

On one of the warmer, sunnier days, we ventured over to the other side of the park to see what we were missing. We stopped along the way to take a hike at the Sinkhole Pond Nature Trail, a short trail that is exactly as described, having a pond and sinkholes, including one insanely massive and scary sinkhole right at the parking area. Don't worry, it's fenced off...sort of. We had gotten a lot of rain earlier in the week, so our hike included hopping along some precariously planted wooden boards to keep from getting our feet wet, and the scenery was reminiscent of the floodplains of Congaree, which makes sense, as Congaree is only a short distance away. In fact, Lake Marion serves as the terminus of the Congaree River.

The main side of the park has a lot of perks beyond the Cypress View Campground. There is a day-use area and playground, along with more hiking trails. We walked the Oak Pinolly trail, which leaves right from the day-use area. Another short trail but leads through the woods for great bird watching, and armadillo watching too, apparently. The campground comparison was clear. If you're looking for more convenience to facilities and easy maneuvering, Cypress is the better choice. If you're looking for a rustic, woodsy feel, we'd recommend Lakeshore. Both campgrounds have views of the lake, so it all depends on how you want to camp. We enjoy the "get away from it all" feeling and don't need nearby amenities, but Cypress is definitely where the activities take place. Right near the campground is the park store, where you can buy gifts, snacks, and fishing equipment. The store has a back recreation/sitting room that's absolutely adorable, and it feels like you're floating on the pier. There are actually two piers right by the store, one for fishing and one for boaters. You can rent kayaks.

The park store is different from the Visitor's Center, which is a short ways up the road. We didn't stop in, but it looked like it housed more educational information on the park. We were more intrigued by the 30 cabins that serve as accommodations for the non-campers. The cabins are rustic but have all the amenities you could need, including heating/AC, linens, kitchenettes and cookware, and WIFI. Two-thirds of the cabins are lined between roadside and woods, but the remaining third are situated on their very own pier.

This definitely made us temporarily question why we were staying in our RV and not one of these incredible cabins. We can only imagine waking up to views of the lake in the morning, walking outdoors with a cup of coffee, and then grabbing our fishing poles for a peaceful day trying to catch a South Carolina catfish...okay, so we don't fish and I don't even drink coffee, but we're trying to capture the energy of these cabins. They're like a South Carolina version of those gorgeous thatch-roof bungalows in places like Bora Bora or The Maldives. Sure, the water isn't as blue and there aren't as many palm trees (unless you count my doctored blog post photo), but what a cool little getaway in the most unlikely of locations! We think more places need to consider pier-built accommodations. If there is one thing travel life has taught me, it's that floating is very, very good for mental health.

Near the cabins is another playground, and at the end of the road is a cul-de-sac where the dumpsters are located. Another common thread of SC state parks seems to be the dumpster locations. They are few and far between, typically at the ends of roads, or entrances/exits to campgrounds. More times than not, we've had to drive our trash to the dumpsters because they're too far away to walk our bags of garbage. At Lakeshore Campground, we were barely within walking distance, and we were one of the closest campsites to the exit! Granted, they did have some recycling receptacles, so that's a plus, and people do seem to respect the land and throw their trash away, so I'd say if their dumpsters are being used, then they're convenient enough.

Now that we've completed our first stay at an inland SC state park, we stand by our opinion that this state does their parks right. We see many more SC state park stays in our future, and given how much we've grown to love this state in general, we hope that in future years as RVers, we can spend a lot more time here.

Campground:

Lakeshore Campground, Santee State Park, Santee, SC
Site 150, back-in, water & 30amp electric, firepit, picnic table
Lake views
Campground recommended? Yes
Site recommended? Yes