Hi world! Chris here. I’m finally back from my latest expedition where I spent almost all of my time without any internet source or service of any kind. That’s my explanation for my late post. I was third wheeling at the family shared house we own in a cove of the iconic Lake Lure. Don’t worry, it was actually really fun. But you’re about to hear all about that.
If I could pick four words to summarize the four days I spent with my sister and her husband at Lake Lure, they would be the following: lazy, long, loony, and Tyler Childers. The last one is just because it was the first time I had really heard any of his music and now I can’t stop listening to it. He’s been on repeat since the first day we got to our house on July 3rd.
This is weird for me because I’m not typically a country fan anymore (the stuff out nowadays has ruined it for me), but the same cannot be said of my horse-loving, boot-wearing, cowgirl to the bone, older sister (yes, she’s the reason for the word loony).
Rae is the second oldest kid in my family so she’s about six years older than I am, but she likes to act like she’s the same age. It made us really close when we were kids because she never acted like she was too old to play with me and my toys like our other siblings. To this day, she’s the one that doesn’t act like I’m the youngest even though I am.
Now, obviously she has her own set of flaws and we fight just like any other sibling, but it was still sad having her move out after she got married last year. It was this new distance that made me go with her and her husband on their mini vacation for the Fourth of July.
We got there pretty late on July 3rd. It was already dark, so we only had time to go to the grocery store (the Ingles is actually the only store at Lake Lure) and get ready for bed. We were getting up early the next morning so Tanner, my brother-in-law, could ride his mountain bike on the trails while Rae and I hiked.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love getting off the grid for some time in nature, so I was all for this. I only got on my phone to take some pictures of the sights.
The rock I was on actually jutted out over the edge of a ravine. We couldn’t quite capture it in the picture, but it was really high up. Then of course there are the other typical scenic spots by the water we stopped at. That’s where I caught Rae being her natural self in the bottom, middle photo.
We were all really hot and sweaty after we reconvened at Tanner’s truck, so we drove back to the house (listening to Tyler Childers obviously) and hopped right in the lake. Then we didn’t do anything else the whole day.
I’m being dead serious.
Rae and I mostly lay on the full body floats to tan and Tanner just floated on a noodle and pushed us around. We got out once for lunch and I took the following pictures:
The view from the porch. 
The view coming down to the dock. 
The view from the dock.
While the weather was perfect for most of the day, it did start to rain in the late afternoon, forcing us out of the water. When we went inside, we completed a necessary part to any stay at Lake Lure. We watched Dirty Dancing on Tanner’s laptop.
In case you weren’t aware, this iconic movie was actually filmed at Lake Lure. They even hold a festival every year to celebrate it. I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s possibly my favorite movie. That and the fabulous music. I’m bound and determined to have this be my first dance at my wedding.
Anyways: Because it was the Fourth of July, there was supposed to be fireworks over the lake that night. However, the rain turned into a massive thunderstorm that canceled all the fun events, so we just ended up watching more movies and going to sleep. It was a pretty lit Independence Day.
The next morning, we actually drove into Asheville to see a brewery Tanner wanted to visit (post coming soon). Because we were already out, we stopped by Chimney Rock on the way back to check out the cute gift shops.
We’ve gone to this store since I was a kid. It has candy and homemade toys. While we were there, another family was talking to the lady who owned the store about the Bat Cave. Their son looked to be around five years old and thought that Batman lived in the cave. It was so funny and so cute.
The other store we visited was cute too. It was decorated just like a house and even had free samples of jam and juice.
Because I love hiking, I really wanted to climb Chimney Rock while we were there. Unfortunately, it costs $13 per person and none of us were actually dressed for it either. We had to skip the hike and just see the mountain from the window of the truck. Even though it was clear, we still couldn’t see the flag.
For supper, we decided to skip cooking and went out to eat at one of the only restaurants by the lake.
La Strada at Lake Lure is an Italian restaurant with a view of the water. Of course, we decided to eat outside and, since it was Fourth of July weekend, we had to wait almost a whole hour before we were seated. But the view was gorgeous.
The pictures look kind of crappy, but that’s just phone quality for you. I highly suggest going to see the real mountains for yourself if you wanna experience how beautiful they are.
While you’re there, you have to go to the ice cream joint down the road. It was our next stop that night. It’s so so so so soooo cute and its name is even cuter because it’s just called Scoop. Sadly for me, I recently found out I’m lactose intolerant so I had to get a snow cone instead of an ice cream cone.
We didn’t want to get in the truck with the melty treats, so we walked along the water while we ate. Directly by the beach, there is a plank walk that takes you by the marina, to the information/welcome building.
We were there as the sun was setting and it made for some really beautiful pictures of the people and the scenery. (FYI: This is about to be a big section of pictures.)
We didn’t even stop walking at the information building. We kept going down the sidewalk until we got to the Flower Bridge. It used to be driven on, but it became unsafe for cars so the town turned it into a huge garden that people can walk through.
I would have taken more pictures, but we didn’t even get halfway through before we decided to go back to the truck.
The next day came without any early morning plans so I spent it reading on the top of our boathouse. I naturally get up before eight every day, so I was still up pretty early. It made for the most peaceful time sipping coffee and reading The End of Innocence.
The sky was overcast and dark with the promise of rain in the air, so none of us really wanted to get in the water. Normally, that would mean we’d take a boat ride, but Tanner didn’t feel comfortable taking out a boat that belongs to my grandfather and not him, so he didn’t want to drive. It would’ve been a clear mistake to let me or Rae drive, so the whole idea wasn’t even brought up.
Instead, we decided to come home early because I had assignments for my online classes and they are adults that have their own daily work to do with their own house. I wasn’t excited to leave so soon, but it did make sense. I also knew I’d be coming back with my parents in early August. Maybe then I can make another post about hiking Chimney Rock. Or at least take pictures of the mountains from the boat. That is how to get the best view.
Until then, stay safe out there!
P.S. I’m considering attaching a YouTube channel with the blog to act as a vlog of the trip. Rae and I took a lot of videos that are actually pretty funny. I’m in the process of editing them and making them into one complete video right now. Updates will be made as this project is finished. However, I’m gonna warn you that I’ve never edited a video in my whole entire life so all in all it’s probably going to be less than one minute of really crappy footage. But I’ll never learn if I don’t try.
Here, There, and Back Again 