I've Had the Time of My Life

We started out the morning with another hike!  This time, we did part of the Appalachian Trail, hiking out to Wind Rock.

I can only imagine what these views would have been like a few weeks ago when the trees were covered with colorful leaves!

After our hike, we explored the resort some more.  Here is a memorial dedicated to Patrick Swayze after his death.

And here is a good view of the layout. I am standing in the boathouse, in the middle of the (dried up) lake with the Lodge in the distant background, the gazebo to my left and the Virginia cabin (Baby's family's cabin) to the right with the green roof.

And then, since we found the cinder blocks, we decided to re-create "The Lift" scene.....

Attempt #1 with Dave and Ella

 And since Ella was the only one any of us could lift....

Riley got a very modified version of the lift... with a bonus kiss on the cheek!

Larry and Rita's Lift

And mine and Dave's attempt.

Don't worry.... we won't quit our day jobs!

Dave and I actually went on another pretty cool 1.4 "Indian Trail" hike around the lake and then came back to join our crew for lunch in the Harvest.  You can't really tell, but the views out of those floor to ceiling windows are phenomenal.  And the food is just as good as the view!

The Harvest is the dining room that was used in the movie.

 And the attached porch to the dining room for outdoor seating where the above scenes took place.

And then of course I had to purchase the "I carried a Watermelon" T-shirt and do a few poses around the resort.

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner!"

And then we ended the night by playing a family soccer game, eating s'mores by the fire pit and playing Quirkle.

And now, we're all snuggling in for the night and getting ready to pack up and head home tomorrow. But it's been a great trip with lots of good family time! 

Happy 30th Anniversary, DD.  Thanks for the memories!

Earning Our Turkey

We started out our Thanksgiving by going on a family hike up the Bald Knob Trail.

We did it!

Looking out over the New River Valley

Thanksgiving is really where this family began. Dave and I met in Marbella, Spain over the week of Thanksgiving.  We spent our first Thanksgiving together in 2004, just a few days after we met, eating a Paella in Seville. 

Then we came back "home" and warmed up by the fire.

And met back up with Grandpa and Riley.  We were awoken at 6am this morning by a (false) fire alarm, but it took forever for Riley to fall back asleep and when she finally did, she was OUT.  So, Grandpa stayed home with Riley while the rest of us hiked.

Tanner and Dave playing "life-sized chess"

Directly behind them is the Virginia Cabin, where "Baby" and her family stayed during the movie Dirty Dancing and is also the place where Jennifer Gray, who played Baby, stayed during filming.

All around the resort are signs showing what scenes of the movie were filmed there.

Here I am in front of the Virginia Cabin where Baby and family stayed.

And here is the famous lake.  What?  You don't see a lake?  That is because it all mysteriously dried up.  How crazy is that?  They said that the lake somehow created all these drainage holes and the entire lake drained itself and disappeared.  Several years ago, they spent millions of dollars plugging in all those holes and somehow re-filling the lakebed with water only to have the lake find/create new drainage holes and drain itself again.  So, alas, this is what it now looks like.

One of the reasons the lake is so famous is because this is where the famous "lift scene" was filmed.

They put cinder blocks at the bottom of the lake for Patrick Swayze to stand on to during the lift scene and they can still be seen at the bottom of the lakebed today.

The "Main Lodge", which is where our room is.

The Gazebo

Several well-known scenes were filmed here as well.

After an AWESOME Thanksgiving meal- turkey, shrimp, beef tenderloin, Virginia ham, salmon, etc plus all the sides you can imagine and a huge dessert table - yum!-  in the dining room (the same dining room that was also in several scenes in the movie - in fact they said the light fixtures and the stone columns are still the original structures that were in the movie 30 years ago), Dave took the older three and repeated the 2 mile RT Bald Knob trail because he heard it was a great place to view the sunset.  And because Riley didn't get to go the first time around.

"I'm King of the World!" 

Goodnight, Thanksgiving 2017.

We are thankful for family, friends, health, employment, freedom and all of God's magnificent creations we are blessed to enjoy.