Saturday, October 23, 2010

Moving toward Winter Destination- Evening Surprise

(Summerton, SC) – I got up feeling fairly recovered from the head cold I had yesterday. I slept all night, so that helped.  If you have a cold take Airborne.  Seems to have worked for me.  I’m not perfect, but sure better then yesterday.

After our pre-departure routine we got underway at 8:50am, which is early for us.  However, we had a longer trip than normal for today so it was good to get on the road a little early.  The temperature was in the low 40’s, so we're glad to be heading south.  On the way south on I-95 you can’t miss the signs for South of the Border.  It's a big, Mexican-themed recreation/shopping area on the NC/SC border.
south of the border
The trip was smooth.  The first half was on 4-lane U.S. routes, and the last half was on I-95.  We made our usual rest area stop for lunch, and pulled into Santee Lakes Campground in Summerton, SC around 3pm.  There are 200 sites, most of them pull through sites.  There are a lot of trees, and Jim had trouble finding a hole through the trees to pick up the satellite TV signal.  He finally succeeded, but he got only two of the three satellites, so some of the channels we usually watch in hi def will be in standard def.  Oh, woe is us!  :)  The park is right on Lake Marion.  We did a quick walk down to the lake and back. Tomorrow we’ll do some more scouting around.  This is a huge park and Lake Marion is also large.
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Our site
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Some of the sites around us.
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The bathhouse is right in front of us
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Going down by the lake, there’s several picnic areas
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Nice pier and sitting areas
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Looking from the pier looking toward the park manager's house
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Looking back toward the picnic areas and campground
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Great swimming area and beach
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A lot of empty sites.
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Most of the trees are pine trees, but there's also a lot of mossy oaks.
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One of the great things about being full time is, you can experience local cultures during your travels.  The nice lady in the office told us about Lone Star BBQ, a unique barbecue buffet place about five miles away.  Two of our favorite words are barbecue and buffet.  We decided to check it out.  The place consists of four inter-connected wood buildings that were originally built in the 1800's as a general store.  The buffet line and souvenir shop are in the first building.  Dining tables and chairs are spread throughout the other buildings, along with lots of old items from times gone by.  It's almost like a museum.
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The food was excellent.  Along with pulled pork barbecue, there was catfish stew, tomato pie, shrimp and grits, and various cobblers and puddings for dessert.  The shrimp and grits wasn’t half as good as Jim's mom's, but it was ok.

Here's some of the "stuff" that was on display throughout the place.
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The biggest surprise of the evening was the chance to see some local entertainment.  The Claude Lucas Bluegrass Band played from 6:30 to 9:00, and were they ever good!  They played old fashioned fiddle and banjo bluegrass music. 
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It was a small crowd, and we kind of felt like outsiders, but everyone was so friendly and made us feel very welcome, especially the owner/manager of the place.  He was really interested to hear about our full time lifestyle.  We can't remember when we've had a more enjoyable evening.  Another great day (and night) on the road. What a life!

7 comments:

Gypsy said...

I found "South of the Border" to be the biggest disappointment - just a lot of junk. I've always wanted to stop at J.R.'s in Statesville, but afraid it would be the same as "South".

Barb said...

Sounds like a great dinner, with a bonus of live music. What fun!
Barbara

Nancy and Bill said...

Yes, South of the Border is a MAJOR tourist trap!!

We been wanting to camp on Lake Marion. Looks like you found a fun place!! We will put that on our list of things to do. We need to try it out one of these weekends... just a couple hours away.

Safe Travels and Happy Trails...

Jessica Riker said...

What fun! I agree with the "what a life" comment and am SO looking forward to the day when we can say the same. :)

What are the temps like there? Better than the 40s you left, I'm assuming....

KarenInTheWoods said...

Oh what a fun thing to do, experiencing the local culture and checking out the food and the sights.. and the MUSIC!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Karen and Steve
(Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

Angela said...

Sounds like a lot of fun Dee!

Chuck-Kathy said...

South of the Border ranks right up there with Walls Drug, but the stories of how they became what they are today is interesting. Safe travel.
Hugs,
Kathy

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