This weekend, I spent my Fourth of July holiday camping with my parents along Crab Orchard Lake.

Crab Orchard Lake Campground, located less than 7 miles east of Carbondale off Highway 13, is open from April 1 to October 31 with a range of primitive to full hook up campsites.

I expected the campground to be filled with others celebrating the holiday, and my assumptions were correct.

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My sister arrived at the site at 10 a.m. Friday to ensure we had a spot, preferably along the water. However, when she showed up, they had only one spot left.

My parents came later that afternoon to set up the trailer and spend the first night of the weekend relaxing and exploring the area.

Jay Holland and I arrived the next day with our cars loaded with kayaks, ready for a day away from the usual hustle and bustle of our average weekdays.

We fortunately had a spot right next to a boat ramp and quickly got to unloading the kayaks and setting off on the lake. The entire lake covers nearly 7,000 acres and has a shoreline of 125 miles, according to Illinois Department of Natural Resource’s website.

This body of water was quite different from Devil’s Kitchen, the last lake we floated through.

While Devil’s Kitchen was more relaxed and a bit narrower, Crab Orchard Lake had no horsepower limit for boats, so keeping an eye out for close boats was a much higher priority than before.

The lake had buoys marking the slow areas safest for smaller boats like kayaks and canoes. We took some time to enjoy the weather and the view of people flying around the lake on inner tubes, Jet Skis and water skis.

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Trevor Myers, of Herrin, was taking a break from Jet Skiing and waiting for his parents on their pontoon boat when we talked to him about his experience at Crab Orchard.

Myers said he usually comes to the camp roughly five times each summer and stays for a few nights.

“We go to Rend Lake a lot too,” Myers said. “I feel like the water is a lot cleaner, but this is so convenient and close so why not.”

He said they also visited the beach on the campground, but it was shallow and they preferred boating on this particular lake.

We paddled along under the highway bridge and found it was a lot calmer, with just a slow fishing boat, on the other side of the road.

After pulling our kayaks back to the campsite, we met other people who also spent their holiday along Crab Orchard.

William Chamaess, also known as “One-Armed Willy,” of Harrisburg, said he comes to the campground two to three times each year to camp and fish.

Chamaess said he arrived July 1 to make sure he had a prime spot along the lake for the weekend.

We sat around the picnic table for a quick dinner before piling into our family van and taking off to the Carterville fireworks.

The roads were packed, and it took us longer to find a parking spot than to get there, but it was well worth it.

The show was like most I have seen, lasting about 30 minutes, but still an exciting and beautiful.

We returned to our little site in the middle of the wooded campground, started a fire and circled around it with our folding chairs. Toasting marshmallows was the perfect end to our holiday.