Raining on Our Stop in South Carolina
Our whole stop in South Carolina included rain or the threat of rain as we tried to be tourists and adventurers
In Mission: Wanderlust, I write and podcast about our family’s travel adventures and the things that we have learned along the way.
Our summer vacation in 2021 couldn’t have come at a worse time. We had started discussing our plans in late 2020, as my sister-in-law started making her own plans for a camping sabbatical across the United States. By the time she was ready to make the itinerary in early 2021, our lives had exploded in our laps. We made the decision to move back to Indiana less than two weeks before we were supposed to leave on vacation. In short, it was a disaster, and with focus on moving when we returned, all I could really write about it was a quick summary. Now that I have time, I’m going back to write more reflectively about each of our major stops. You can find the original summary of our whole vacation here.
Rain was certainly the theme of the first half of our 2021 summer vacation.
It rained on our way to Georgia and it rained on our way to South Carolina, which certainly didn’t help our travel mood as we were already leaving much later than originally planned due to our stop at the College Football Hall of Fame.
It was so dark by the time we finally arrived in Givhans Ferry State Park that we were convinced we weren’t sure how we were going to get into our spot. We were welcomed by happy in-laws and a happy daughter, thankful that we finally made it to our destination safely.
Then it was time to make plans for our two full days in South Carolina.
After two days of too much driving, we decided to spend our first full day in the state park enjoying local recreation. We pulled out our inflatable kayaks and gave the kids a choice between kayaking with a parent each or floating down the river in tubes. In an effort to avoid extra time with their parents (a common theme during this vacation), they opted for the tubes.
As we floated/paddled down the Edisto River, we experienced sunshine, clouds, sprinkling, and downpour. Despite the unpredictable weather, the pretty river and escape on the water recentered Jeff and me, while leaving our kids tired of working harder than us to keep up. Still, it was worth blowing up the kayaks for the trip down the river and we were glad we had our kayaks along so that we could do it.
The next day I had designated for exploring Fort Sumter and Charleston. While it was only 35 miles, we discovered (again) that the drive to the city was longer and more difficult than it looked on paper. We still had to travel nearly an hour to make it to the ferry on time. Since the only way to visit the site of the first battle of the Civil War is to take the ferry boat, we were on a tight schedule.
It threatened rain while we visited Fort Sumter, but we got through the ranger talk, exhibits, and the Junior Ranger books in the hour that we had to get back on the ferry to return to the mainland. I got my history fix and the views of the shoreline were spectacular. And thankfully, the rainclouds that continued to gather didn’t touch us until we were back in the truck.
We weren’t quite ready to head back to the state park. We all wanted to see a little bit of Charleston and the kids wanted to see the ocean. Jeff looked up places to go and drove us to the city market where we could walk around town and look at the work of local artisans. It rained while we walked through the Charleston City Market, with some cover as we headed into the indoor portion of the market. Then we headed towards the beaches in hopes that we could find a place to park so we could see the ocean. By the time we found a wet beach, the mist had turned into a solid rain. The kids got into the waves (much to the chagrin of their ocean averse mother) and ignored the rain coming down on them.
We didn’t allow it to last long and forced our wet kids back into the truck long before they were ready to head back. We found a place to eat close to the beach, fed our crew, and then rode back to the state park so we could wind down for the night. Despite the rain, it had been as good of a day as we could have hoped.
But the rain matched our moods as our house officially went on the market and the reality of our house possibly being sold while we were on vacation sank in for both of our kids. So there were fights, battles-of-wills, and plenty of tears.
While the rain kept the temperatures down and made our stay in South Carolina much more pleasant, we also watched as Hurricane Elsa made its way across the Atlantic and hoped that the effects of the storm wouldn’t impact us too much.
We’re also thankful that we didn’t experience a serious accident when we realized that we had forgotten to hook up our electrical from the trailer to the truck and that we noticed it before we were on the interstate.
The stop in Charleston wasn’t everything I could have hoped for, but it was still a good stop that left us with at least a few good memories.
It was time to head to North Carolina.
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One of the few places I have been was Fort Jackson, South Carolina. I was in Basic training for the Army, we slept in pup tents in the rain and cold. It was the first time I left Massachusetts and I thought I would be warm for the winter. It snowed on my tent one night. I received a pass where we went to Columbia, the only city I visited. Thanks for the virtual tour.