I had no idea what to get Donny for his birthday. I mentioned this to my friend Lisa and she suggested to give him an experience. I thought that was a fabulous idea so I started searching on airbnb for a place in Jefferson, one of our favorite towns. Everything there was way over my budget for a one night stay, but for some reason a place in Lone Star caught my eye. The price was perfect, it had great reviews and it was right on Lone Star lake so Donny could fish. Since everything for us always seems to work out best when it spur of the moment, I ended up booking it two days before we were leaving. Donny’s “weekend” is Thursday and Friday so we decided to leave after Jack got home from school on Friday. It would only give us one day there but we would make the most of it.

Friday we packed our bags and headed about 35 minutes away to Lone Star.

One thing we love about living in East Texas is that there are so many small towns around us to explore. When we drove up to Scenic View it was picture perfect.

The small motel was built in the mid 1940’s. The nicest couple bought it in 1998 and have taken such good care of it. There are 8 motel rooms, a cabin and a full hook up small RV park. If you have seen the show Ozark it reminds me of the Blue Cat.

We dropped our things off in our room and decided to go find a bite to eat. I had read good reviews about a place called Arnold’s family restaurant. It did not disappoint. Our server was attentive, we met some locals having coffee and had one of the best chicken fried steaks I’d ever eaten.

I ate every bite. After we got back to the motel and were feeling almost too full to move we decided to try to work some of it off by playing corn hole.

I lost both games, but it was so much fun. Even though the temperatures weren’t in the 100’s we still got sweaty and decided to just sit, have a beverage and enjoy the lake view.

Donny wanted to wait until sunset before he got his fishing pole out. We decided to move onto the deck because there were fans and it was starting to get a little hot out.

There were grills guests could use and so many places to enjoy a meal outdoors.

The sun was setting so we headed out to the pier to do some fishing.

It was so beautiful out on the water.

We only had one snafu. The worms the container of worms that Donny bought before we left were, well, wormless. There was nothing but dirt. He ended up trying to use pork rinds and kettle corn with no luck. He said he didn’t care because he was having so much fun just relaxing.

We started seeing some lightning so we gathered up our things and went up to the top deck to watch the weather roll in. Nothing but a few raindrops and I ended up falling asleep in the lounge chair.

I loved the way the owner had everything lit up. It looked so pretty at night.

Next thing we knew it was morning and we had to pack up our stuff and head back home. We absolutely love this little motel. The rooms were older but pristine. The beds were so comfortable and Donny loved the pillows. The little kitchenette was perfect for what we needed.

And you get a real, honest to goodness, key.

The cabin is so cute.

Donny had a relaxing fun filled birthday and we will definitely be back to this little gem.