The next morning, we took it easy.  Instead of checking out of the Sandcastle right away, we spent a relaxing morning on the beach, playing in the surf.  Mary got the chance to use the beach toys that Lotte had given her and built sandcastles and mountains.  We also buried her in the sand, up to her hips, and made her look like a mermaid. 

After she was done playing in the sand, John took her out into the surf to play in the waves.  She had always been a little skittish about swimming out in the ocean, but with John's help and guidance, she was soon bouncing through the waves with no fear at all. 

We spent most of the morning - right up until check-out time - playing on the beach.  Then, at the last possible moment, we packed up our bag and left the Sandcastle to return to Columbia.

We made it back to the Lake House around 2:00 p.m. - about three hours before we were due to be at Omi and Opa's house for dinner.  That gave us time to take the boat out for a spin on the lake. 

Now, during our last visit to South Carolina, we took the boat out on Lake Murray several times; the first trip, though, was the most memorable.  We had stopped at Dreher Island State Park to put gas in the boat...only to learn after we had already pumped the gas that the store was closed for the season.  On top of that, we got rained out, by cold, November rain.  It was miserable.

This time, however, things were going our way.  The wind and the spray of the water from the lake was refreshing instead of cold; and when we stopped to fill up the boat with gas, the store was actually open!  We went inside and bought snacks and bait for our fishing poles (which we had brought with us from Phoenix) - and yes, we paid for our gas, too!

We spent about two hours out on the lake, swimming and fishing and enjoying the quiet sunny day.  Then, we maneuvered the boat through the shallow waters in the bay to return to the dock.  Per Lotte's instructions, we had to pull the rotors out of the water prior to docking, to keep them from getting damaged on the rocks at the bottom of the lake; John got pretty good at doing this at just the right moment.

Once back at the Lake House, we cleaned up and got ready for dinner with Omi and Opa.  It was Omi's 82nd birthday that day, and to celebrate, we were all going out to dinner.  Omi had selected Applebee's for dinner - which Opa called "Apple-poops" because he could never remember the name of that restaurant.  That amused Mary; she giggled about it for days!

Dinner with Omi and Opa was lovely, and Applebee's turned out to be a great choice.  At the end of our meal, John and Opa fought over the check; Opa eventually won.  He also insisted that we take some money from him to help us pay for the gas for our road trip.  Although we clearly didn't need the money, John took it anyway, because he knew better than to refuse a gift from his grandparents!

After dinner, we took Omi and Opa home then returned to the Lake House to retire for the night...

Return to South Carolina or Bust.

Return to Naked in the Woods.