Still Here is a monthly column highlighting the wild and rural places in South Carolina I wanted something new. The holidays and the New Year were over, Valentine’s Day was around the corner and we’d reached a point in the marriage where another evening of the flowers and chocolate or even a nice dinner out seemed bland. I wanted something sweeter.
And that’s when I started doing some research and learned about Santee State Park. Although not as well-known as the most frequently visited Hunting Island State Park on the coast or the spectacular mountain pinnacle setting of Table Rock State Park, Santee sits along the edge of Lake Marion, the largest lake in South Carolina. Santee features over 150 campsites and RV hookups, as well as 30 cabins — 10 located on a pier over the lake and 20 along the lakeshore.
It was the idea of staying in a cabin — which also allowed us to bring our dog, Lenny Bruce, along — that beckoned to me. It was a surprise. She was expecting an outing since I’d asked her to take the day off work, but she wasn’t expecting to be out in the woods, close to the water, surrounded by tall cypress trees, Spanish moss and dwarf palmettos — and great Wi-Fi so she could still work remotely for the rest of the week.
One of the best parts of traveling in South Carolina is driving the back roads. Whether approaching Santee from Columbia or Charleston, each a little more than an hour from the park, the route necessitates leaving the highways and meand.