Smith Mountain Lake
This is a summary of my visit to Smith Mountain Lake, as a vacation in May 2017 with my brother and sister at a rented house on a lake in south central Virginia.
Friday: After her exam, Jenny headed over to DCA. Everything went fine and ahead of schedule until her plane couldn’t get to a gate after it landed. Then we got lost looking for the rental car company and she stood in line for 45 minutes. Then we had “car issues” driving late at night – including the dumb fact that the neighborhood doesn’t make it easy to get a parking permit, is quick to tow away cars, and so are the businesses that are nearby and have empty lots. So we ended up getting a hotel room, mostly so we could park the car.
Saturday: We scrambled back to my place to get a few last minute things, including my bread maker (in case I could con my sister into making some bread). We then went to Dulles to pick up Sean. DCA, the Reagan National Airport, is smaller than you might expect and is built for commuter use. Dulles, on the other hand, is a huge international airport. Luckily, everything went fine there and we were on the road in no time. We got to Moneta, Virginia, the town where the north shore of Smith Mountain Lake is located, with relative ease. We took easy after that, with my siblings going out to get supplies and some Chicago-style pizza. Oh, and Jenny beat Sean at foosball, but we later discovered she may have had a slight advantage due to a slight slant in the table.
Sunday: Full breakfast cooked by my brother. Barbecue for an early dinner. S’mores and ice cream for desserts. The s’mores were aided by the fire pit on the property, and the near-expert fire my brother put together. Sunday was really his day to shine. Somewhere between dinner and s’mores, we called our stepmother for Mother’s Day and chatted with her and our dad over Skype. They got a glimpse of the lake house before I posted the first pictures on Facebook.
Monday through Wednesday: Lazy days with nothing planned. More barbecue and another fire pit. Sean got me hooked on his Nintendo Switch and its Zelda game. My laptop went berserk; one of its cooling fans must have died. While Sean was here we watched a few movies: The Muppets, The Great Outdoors, What About Bob? and Secret Window.
Thursday: Sean had to leave, so we took up to a regional airport nearby. Every flight went to Charlotte, where he got a connecting flight. His typical charms on strangers must have worked, because he got to go an earlier flight. He also tried committing Jenny and me to a weight-loss challenge, but I knew I was going to fail it. On our way back, Jenny and I found the state park for Smith Mountain Lake and I was able to buy a touristy pin to commemorate the week.
Friday: The day was dominated by drama over the clogged pipes. The place’s owner was really nice and quick about it, though.
Saturday: We left as early as we could. I ended up leaving the bread maker behind. I hadn’t used it since Jenny moved out, and we didn’t used the whole week she was here, so I decided it wasn’t worth dragging back. There was some minor drama over getting a parking permit back in the apartment.
