Road Trip South Carolina: Charleston Kiawah Island Johns Island


Highlights from a road trip from Charleston South Carolina to Kiawah Island and then to Johns Island in the new 2015 Mazda S6.

Road Trip Charleston Kiawah Johns Island Mazda6
Road Trip in Charleston Kiawah Johns Island in the new 2015 Mazda6. /K&S Media.

 

Highlights from a road trip from Charleston South Carolina to Kiawah Island and then to Johns Island in the new 2015 Mazda S6.

The drive from Charleston to Kiawah Island epitomizes low country terrain. Inlets and swamp slowly give way to archways of bearded oak trees and woods as if one primeval force bowed to another long ago.

I am driving the 2015 Mazda6 mid-size sedan along quiet two lane roads never far from the sea. There is ample room for my luggage and the interior is sleek and ergonomic. To navigate the narrow, often one way streets of Charleston I program the TomTom-based navigation to an Australian voice using the metric system which proves both useful and hilarious (“if those backseat drivers don’t keep it down we’ll ditch them at the next servo” and “grab your sunnies and don’t let the seagulls steal your chips”).

It is raining as I leave Charleston and I like that many of the car’s features including rain-sensing windshield wipers and automatic headlights make it easy to focus on the road. Outside of the city most roads are two lanes bordered by forest on either side, the Blind Spot Monitoring proves important when the road widens and the occasional semi-trailer truck passes.

The connections among Charleston’s various islands are not discernible and it is not long before I near Kiawah Island the rearview camera and obstruction warning system help me as the traffic volume increases.

Another day I tour Johns Island along winding roads that take me to the famed ancient Angel oak tree, Charleston Tea Plantation and family farms. The accelerator is buttery soft and on barren roads I test the 2.5 liter, four cylinder Skyactiv-G engine. Only after several days, do I refuel the car.

This car has a multitude of automatic features which make it easy to drive, taking the guesswork out of driving.

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2014/15 issue of City Style and Living Magazine.