Confessions of an RVer: SESQUICENTENNIAL STATE PARK

I am staying at Sesquicentennial State Park while visiting Daughter in Columbia, SC. When I first started researching places to stay while here, I thought Sesqui (as it is called by the locals) was out. On their website, they say that their sites will only fit up to a 35 ft. rig. Mine is 38 ft. So, the search was on but I found out rather quickly that there aren't any RV parks close to them other than this state park. Most were at least a 30 minute drive one way to visit. When you are trying to spend as much time as you can together, a 30 minute drive is not something you want to do twice a day if you can help it. I had a dilemma that I was really trying to work out.

However, when I was at the RV rally back in April, I happened to mention to someone there that I was planning on visiting Daughter but was having a problem finding some place to stay. This person had once lived in Columbia and their son still lived in Columbia. He asked me why I wasn't staying at Sesqui. I told him what the website said and he said that he stays there when visiting his son and that there were 4 sites that would accommodate my 5W. There is always someone who has been somewhere you need information about! He gave me the site numbers, I looked online to make sure one of those sites was still available for this week and booked my reservations. Yippee!

I really prefer to stay in a state park IF they have full hookups, which most do not. This one does not. It only has 30 amp. service and no sewer hook up. Actually, Mr. W and I found out in Virginia Beach that we can go 10 days without having to dump the sewer or the gray water but I don't like to have to watch that carefully on how much water I'm running in the trailer and how many bathroom trips I am making in the trailer! I also prefer having 50 amp service so I can run both a/c's and also run my microwave, coffee pot, hair dryer, etc. without having to turn off one or both a/c's so I don't blow the breaker. But, since it is only 10 minutes from Daughter and it is only for a week. I can make do with this.

The other thing that Mr. W does not like is that the camping area does not have any paved roads. You know what that means. Every time a car drives by, road dust goes everywhere. The soil everywhere in Columbia is very sandy. Mr. W thinks South Carolina must have been built on top of a big sand dune. :)

This state park has a lake and it has a really nice 2 mile loop around the lake that is like a very nice paved sidewalk. There is a little waterfall over a small dam they built. It has a bike trail but the bike trail is nothing but sand. In some places, the sand is pretty compact and would not be bad for riding on, but in other places, the sand is very loose and your bike starts going "squirrelly" on the path. That is not a good thing.

They do rent canoes and kayaks for the lake. However, the office where you rent the canoes and kayaks is open ONLY from 11:00-12:00 and 4:00-5:00, 6 days a week. I should have that job! Oh wait, I don't want ANY job. This is also the place where you can buy ice and few other things they have stocked in the office. You better be ready to shop during the whole 2 hours they are open.

There is no place to swim. But, there are 2 playground areas and several pavilions that you can use to have lunch or maybe a birthday party. They have what they call a "training center" here too. Mr. W thinks it is an amphitheater but I haven't walked to it to see what my take is on it.

So, I've posted a few pics of everything. I will be headed back this way for Thanksgiving, so I will probably be staying here again. Hopefully, I won't need to run both a/c's, so the 30 amp service won't matter. But, I guess I'll still need to watch out for the gray and black tanks. Oh well, it is worth it to see my grown girl and my 2 little precious girls!

My campsite

The road you drive through the campground on.

I thought this was odd. A payphone right in the middle of the outdoor common area in front of the office. Strange that they still have a payphone and strange that it is in a state park.