TTS Hop 7
216 miles via US 17, I-85, GA 196, US 84, GA 203 and GA 32. Cumulative tow miles: 1,653.
Charleston market
This was a 4-hour trip with a midpoint lunch stop – no fuel, just lunch – mostly on roads that we had not taken before, except for I-95. I was expecting the roads to be narrow, but except for portions of the final stretch on GA 32, all were 4-lane roads in good repair. The traffic was fairly light and the weather was fine (partly cloudy, low 70s), to it was a pretty pleasant jaunt. Jett, who is still not feeling great, slept for an hour.
Because she was not feeling well, the 4 days in Charleston were less adventurous than we had planned. We made it into town just twice – on Saturday to walk around a bit, do some gift shopping and dine at the Charleston Crab House – and on Monday to dine at Tommy Condon’s, the Irish Pub that was one of the highlights of our first visit. We remember their fried green tomatoes – hand battered and served with a corn chutney. It was then – and is still now – the best fried green tomato dish that we have encountered anywhere. We also had some friend green tomatoes at the Crab House but there is simply no comparison. If you want fried green tomatoes in Charleston, go to Tommy Condon’s.
My entrée at the Crab House was a “shrimp steampot”, a nice steamed concoction featuring peel-and-eat shrimp complemented with a few red potatoes and chorizo sausage. Very good. My entrée at Tommy Condon’s was fish and chips, accompanied by a local ale. Excellent! Again, decision to Tommy Condon.
Shrimp steampot
Entrance to Tommy Condon’s
Our home in Charleston this time was the Oak Plantation Campground, a very highly-rated RV park about 10 miles west of Charleston. It was our second choice. We had wanted to return to the Campground at James Island Park, but they had no availability on the weekend. As a second choice, Oak Plantation was pretty good. Our site was huge, there was a dog park nearby and the other amenities looked very nice. However, the water was harsh and made for very bitter coffee and the check-in process was strange and quite annoying. They had lost my reservation, which delayed the checkin for about 10 minutes, then I had to sign a pledge promising I would clean up after my pets. That is a first. Almost every park has that as one of their rules, no surprise, but a separate signed form on which I had to list the names of my pets? Not their breeds or their sizes, mind you, but their names. Were they going to file complaints against the individual dogs if they fouled the property? Makes no sense. Just bizarre.
Oak Plantation
Our site at Oak Plantation