Santee, South Carolina sits along Lake Marion, a hydroelectric reservoir that is one of the fifty largest lakes in the country. Before we left our home we did investigate the town, and due to that, we also decided to split up our trip and spend another few days elsewhere. There is not much in Santee, SC if you aren't a golfer or a fisherman.
Me: "What do you think the population is here?"
SueG: "A thousand."
Sydney: "3,000"
Alex: "Pfft. I'd say 100"
Me: "It's 740, but that consensus was done in 2000. I'm sure there are another 20 people by now."
This town reminds me of Marion, IN where my niece went to school for a semester. Marion....Lake Marion. Whoa! Wonder what that relationship means? No one cared to venture further with that one, having never been to Marion, IN.
Santee has several golf courses, although we have only seen one. So far the weather has been in the fifties, but I've survived quite well with just my thin, black sweater. I have yet to find a place that sells sweatshirts. Obviously, everyone in South Carolina is hopeful that spring has arrived.
The town has become a resort town and is directly off I-95. We can see the I-95 rest area as we drive to our Wyndham and from that advantage point, it looks like a park. Until you see the eighteen wheelers parked there. There are a few shuttered hotels and other businesses, but the hotels and restaurants that are up and running seem to be thriving. There isn't much in the town in the way of entertainment. No movie theater. No bowling alley. No museums. I think the people here must be readers.
The Wyndham resort is located off of the main road into and out of town on Lake Marion. Wyndham owns 33 units in the townhouse buildings. The rest of the units are homeowners who apparently put up with visitors. Our unit was a three bedroom/three bathroom unit and it was beautiful and quite spacious. All units have back porches facing the lake and I'm sure the area is quite beautiful when spring really hits. For us, the trees were bare or just beginning to bud and the sun rarely shown. It was still a different scenery for us and very quaint and quiet. Nice and relaxing.
Wyndham owns a clubhouse with a nice pool and the women at the front desk were awesome. Kendra and Francesca checked us in without bombarding me on the "learning more about Wyndham" sales pitch sign-up. That is HUGE. A vacation without any pressure, the complete opposite of my experience in New York City. Kendra showed us around the clubhouse which had a fitness center, a recreation room complete with a large selection of free movies we could borrow, games, and an area for video gaming with a big screen TV. There were also tables for playing games or cards and complimentary coffee, water, and popcorn popped daily.
Later, Francesca brought me a gift bag and a bottle of wine as a thank you for being a Presidential owner. They both were helpful in giving us information on the town and recommendations for restaurants in the area. They also put up with our shenanigans and agreed we were fun. We signed up for smores night by the pool for that evening.
All of the Wyndham units were full, but we only saw one other family. They came for smores night too and we all sat around the fire pit in the 40 degree weather roasting marshmallows and building our smores. This family was from Savannah, GA and wanted to know what we had done while in their city. We had a lovely evening sitting by the firepit talking while Alex entertained their two young daughters with a lively ping pong game poolside.
We cooked dinner our first night in the unit. It was Alex's turn to cook and he made grilled chicken, a Caesar salad, and rice. Sydney set the table. SueG assisted in the kitchen and I cleaned up. A nice working relationship. It was a delicious meal with conversation and planning of our next day. We ended the night watching movies we had rented from the only Redbox in town. Our next day was one spent hanging around the Wyndham. The kids and I went downstairs to the Lake and explored the area. Wyndham has a nice covered gazebo for sitting with covered couches and chairs. There are also hammocks and we got a lot of laughs trying to get in and out of those suckers. If the weather had been warmer, Sydney and I would have spent the day in those things reading.
The only offputting thing around the lake are the millions of signs reminding us that this is South Carolina and lake swimming is not recommended.
Me: "Can we swim in the lake?"
Kendra: "Well, we don't recommend that. There are alligators."
Me: "Please. We're from Florida. We know how to dodge those things."
Kendra: "The lake is cold right now."
Me: "Yeah, that's true. We probably won't swim then."
Our goal today in the 47-degree temperatures is to head to the Santee State Park where we are going to hike some of the trails. I'm voting for the one that leads us to a giant sinkhole.
*I am a Wyndham Resort Club owner and review my experiences of the resorts I visit. This is only my opinion as an owner.
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