Savannah, GA to Charleston, SC

Odometer 30090
Trip meter-  104 miles


The trip from Savannah to Charleston took only a couple of hours, and carried us over another state line into South Carolina.  Joan and I remarked on the slow changes that go unnoticed until you look up and say -wow! how did the trees get so tall all of a sudden?

 We rolled up US route 17 which roughly parallels Interstate 95.  The Saint Mary's River is the state line between Georgia and South Carolina.  We reached the South Carolina state line, in less than 30 minutes.
The topography alternated between trees and marsh lands.  This part of SC is called the low country, and as early as 1680 was used very successfully for rice production.

This photo is fairly typical of the coastal areas we have been traveling through, and preclude a highway that follows the coast.  As it is, this highway is about 30 miles inland and still has many long bridges over the marshy areas.  North of Charleston Highway 17 returns to the coast, except for one area south of  Georgetown.  Rice has not been grown commercially in Georgia for over 100 years- having lost out to better growing conditions in states like Louisiana, Texas and California, Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas.

The weather was cloudy and cool early in the morning and we experienced some slight showers on our way up the coast.

We noticed that spring has arrived here, and the tall grass alongside the highway was intespersed with a beautiful carpet of red blooms

Once we turned off I-95 and back onto US 17 to head east toward Charleston we also hit road construction.

The traffic was light and we had minimal delays, but one side of the freeway was closed and the other lanes were made into a two-way road.  This construction continued for about 10 miles.

 When we rolled into the Lake Aire RV Park in Hollywood, SC we were about 12 miles from Charleston.  The park was nearly full and we were lucky to get into an overflow area with water and electrical for the night, with the promise of an upgrade on Saturday.  .

The park was a little soggy, the overnight rain still sitting in puddles and making our site just a little muddy.  The park is very interestingly laid out around a stream and a series of ponds

The ponds are home to several species of duck and at least two geese, some turtles- no gators that we were able to find.

The park features a series of trails that circle the park and give great views of the ponds

Joan waits patiently for the old man to catch up- wouldn't want a gator to get me.

Tomorrow we go into Charleston for some sight seeing.

Your traveling friends,

Jeff and Joan