After a year of planning and waiting, it finally got here, and it was amazing! We stayed at Taw Caw Campground on Lake Marion in Summerton, SC. We had searched the internet and attempted to pick what looked like the ‘best’ campground for viewing the eclipse in the area, and it turns out we did pretty well! The campground is on a small inlet off of the lake. The campsites are close together so there really isn’t any privacy, but the campground is well maintained and the staff was very friendly. We only used the bathrooms once, they were dated, but clean.

We are members of RVillage and had joined their Solar Eclipse group. Candi saw a post from another couple that was staying near Lake Marion and when she looked at their profile, found out that they also live in Maryland, and only about 10 miles from where we live! We communicated a little bit online, and then we met them in South Carolina! We had dinner together at Captain’s Quarters. Candi had shrimp and grits and Mike had salt and pepper catfish. Both dishes were really good and the service was great.

But, of course, we were there for the eclipse, and it did not disappoint. We watched it from a fishing pier right at the campground with about 15 other campers. The day was partly cloudy, and the sun was occasionally behind clouds during the beginning, but not enough to keep us from viewing it. As the moon came close to covering the sun there was a noticeable difference in the light, similar to dusk. Then, fortunately we had a great view of the moon covering the sun and the totality phase. Mike bought a 150-600 mm lens to be able to photograph the eclipse and got some great pictures. His view through the viewfinder was so incredible he wanted to share. So he let everyone on the pier take turns throughout the event to get an up close and personal view.

As the sun was becoming visible again we ate ‘Moon Pies’ in celebration.

It was an incredible experience that we will remember for the rest of our lives.