Beautiful lakes west of Raleigh

Raleigh is full of lakes that you can walk around like Shelley Lake and Lake Lynn. And there are big lakes like Lake Wheeler and Jordan Lake. But if you head west in North Carolina to the mountains, there are some even bigger lakes that would take you days to walk around and you can do all kinds of fun boating and watersports. What better than combining the lake with the mountains?!

Lake Lure is an amazing lake in the town of Chimney Rock. The mountain backdrop is something you’d think you’d have to visit a different country to see. Or at least I’ve never seen anything like this on the east coast!

Lake Lure at sunset

There’s also a public beach near where you rent the boats. Across the street from the beach, the Lake Lodge Inn and Spa had scenes shot in for the 80s movie “Dirty Dancing”. Do you remember this cabin house? The photographers there are shooting photos of the Groom’s wedding party for a wedding.

A cabin from 'Dirty Dancing' movie

Oh, and if you want a nice meal, go to Larkin’s on the Lake. You can actually take your boat there if you like. We ate there one night and here’s what my meal looked like below… Fresh mountain trout encrusted pecan (probably caught in the lake or river across the street). I chose baby snap peas for my side and loved them…it’s different than the usual sides.

Pecan encrusted trout with snap peas

Here’s a photo of Larkin’s on the Lake Restaurant in the background. The downstairs outdoor area is less fancy than the upstairs but we’re still talking casual dress code at both. You can drive up with your boat. How fun! The best kind is the pontoon boat. It’s a lot funner than going on a boat tour if you can only do one. Sure, on a guided tour of the lake you’ll get the history of Lake Lure but there’s nothing like driving your own boat!

See me all smiles…I was feeling free and happy.

Plus…you can bring a pizza (and your dog) on board. La Strada Restaurant across the street from the boat rental place has the best NY style pizza!

La Strada Pizza

When we were docking, my husband pulled a smooth move . As I was getting off, he reversed the boat so he wouldn’t hit the dock. The problem was he didn’t tell me he was going to so I flew out of the boat and hung on to the outside rails of the boat for dear life. Or at the very least I really didn’t wanna fall in the water near the dock. I’m sure it made for comedy hour for the onlookers.