Possible South Carolina county-collecting trip

[hbelkins]

(Crossposted to the Southeast board...)

I may have the opportunity to take a trip, and the closest and most feasible state in which to finish visiting all the counties is South Carolina.

The counties I need to complete the state are all in the southeastern part and can be seen at

I've developed a plan of attack but want to get some input on my routing and other options.

I intend to start out from Wytheville and finish up all of I-77 in the Carolinas. Unfortunately that puts me going through Charlotte and Columbia, but from there I've tried to minimize Interstate mileage and also to avoid as many congested areas as possible.

My intent is to take I-26 south (yeah, I know it's technically east) to pick up Calhoun and Orangeburg, then US 601 north to US 378 east to US 521. That gets me Sumter, Clarendon, Williamsburg and Georgetown. Then Alt. US 17 south to get Berkeley, and US 52 south to get Charleston County. From there US 78 west to pick up a sliver of Dorchester, then I-26 south (east) to the outer counterclockwise loop of I-526 around to US 17. Then US 17 south netting Colleton, Beaufort and Jasper, then hop on I-95 north to grab Hampton, then west on SC 68 to US 278 west to pick up Allendale. From there US 321 north to visit Bamberg, then U-turn to US 301 south to SC 300 north to finish up with Bamwell, then U-turn back to US 301.

From there, I will probably head south to Georgia, use GA 21 and I-95 to fill in some holes and go to the Brunswick area, and start north on US 1 via GA 32 and get as much as I can on the return trip -- filling in a four-county hole north of Atlanta consisting of Forsyth, Pickens, Dawson and Lumpkin.

Any suggested tweaks on the route to avoid congestion? Sumter, where I will leave US 378 for US 521, may be a pain. The only other good alternative I see to pick up Sumter County is to stay on I-26 to I-95 north, then go north on 521 into Sumter County and then U-turn, but that's more Interstate mileage and I like traveling the surface routes because there's more interesting sights and signage. (But that would get me Dorchester if I went south to the US 15 exit and then U-turned before heading back to I-95 north and keep me from having to go up to Summerville to pick up Dorchester.

Also, any recommended places for lodging? I tend to favor Super 8, Days Inn, Econo Lodge, Quality Inn-type establishments and will be especially looking for Wyndham brands since I have some gift cards I can use to take $25 off each stay. I'm guessing Wytheville to Columbia will take about four hours, so I will have about seven hours of travel time left if I'm on I-26 by noon. (I like to get my room around 7 p.m. so I can get settled in). I'm not sure where my zig-zag route will have me ending up about that time.

Any regional burger chains I should try out? Something on the order of Culver's or Cook Out?

I'd probably do this trip in late July.