Watching the Sunrise in our sunset

For the fourth weekend in a row, it was time for another camping trip. This time, we were headed to nearby Lake Wateree State Park in South Carolina! And was it pretty...

We headed off on our usual Friday night after work and arrived at the park just as it got dark. We couldn't really see the surrounding area, but the site seemed like a good one. It had a big pad and a shallow slope down to a pretty nice beach area. 

There wasn't much to report that Friday night. It was just the usual setting up, drinking "sodas," and relaxing before heading to bed. However, Rose got sushi for dinner so it was extra delicious that night.

The next morning, however, was much more spectacular. Rose got up early, just before the sun came up. Feeling adventurous, she grabbed her camera and headed outside to watch the sun rise. Well, it was absolutely spectacular.

We're not usually sunrise people, but it's a good thing Rose got up. We wouldn't have wanted to miss this one! 

Once Rose convinced me and Luna to get out of bed (which was a task in and of itself), we grabbed some coffee and headed for a little walk on the beach to soak in the natural beauty.

Once the sun finished rising and it was a regular, old, normal, pretty day, we decided to go for a little hike and check out the rest of the park. 

Most lake-based parks don't have too many trails. Usually, the lake is enough recreation for most people. This park had only one hiking trail that was around two-miles long. While that probably seemed like a bore to Rose, chubby Luna and I thought it was perfect! 

The trail looped around inside the park, following the lake shore. The terrain wasn't anything spectacular, but it was a nice little hike. We did get to see some really cool beaver chew marks on the trees.

After the hike, we all headed back to the campsite for a little relaxation. It got a little chilly, so we did have to bundle up a bit.

After a while, Luna and I couldn't take it anymore and headed into the trailer for some extra warmth!

Once we were all toasty, Rose and I decided to hit the lake. We brought the canoe, and cold or no cold, we had to use it! Especially on such a pretty lake.

We didn't take many pictures of the canoe trip, but the lake was really nice. We did a little half-loop around our little island to check out the other campground. As it turns out, we picked right. The other side was a little open and close for our liking, but it had lots of sites for bigger trailers. 

On the return trip to our campsite, we caught a sight of something we'd never seen before on a lake. A seaplane came in for a landing! It was almost running beside us as we headed back to the trailer. The pilot must have been practicing because they landed and took off several times. We got to watch for a bit from the shore of our campsite. Of course, we also took a few family photos on the beach.

Also, of course, Luna tried to steal some "soda."

Although it was chilly, we enjoyed the rest of the day sitting around the site, taking walks around the campground, and enjoying our time away.

That night, we got to thinking about what we wanted for dinner. We brought some food from home, but we quickly discovered we were in the mood for something a bit more.... greasy. We did a quick scan of the surrounding area and found that there was a little restaurant only a mile and a half from the campground. It had awesome ratings and the pictures looked incredible, so we decided to try it out.

The restaurant was in the back of a gas station convenience store mixed with a marina. It looked odd, but we decided to try it anyway. Once you got through the standard convenience store layout, the restaurant sitting area was actually really nice. There were heavy wooden tables and a huge outdoor party area, complete with a pontoon boat stage. It was too cold for anything to be going on, so we just sat inside.

Usually we have good luck with these little places on our camping trips, but we found this restaurant rather lackluster. Their loaded fries were delicious, but the burgers left a bit to be desired. Mostly, we desired some flavor... They must have had something against seasoning...

Well, at least our bellies were full, even if we do wish we'd have stuck at the campsite and had our delicious homecooked leftovers. At least we know for next time! 

Since it was still really cold outside, we spent the rest of the night at the trailer watching the Dick van Dyke Show (I know... more camping TV), before heading to bed.

I seriously doubt this will be our last trip to Lake Wateree State Park! It turned out to be a great little campground.