7. George and Michelle's

Saturday and Sunday, July 13th & 14th - We spent the weekend visiting my cousin George and his wife Michelle at their new home on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia.  The timing of this visit was great as my cousin Donna from New Jersey was visiting as well so we had a thoroughly Moonan weekend.  This is really a spectacular house in a spectacular location.  This is a 2 level house with the master bedroom and a guest bedroom on the upper level, three guest bedrooms on the lower level and down at the water level is a boat house with two boats.  Following photos will give you an idea of what the house looks like.

The house sits about 75 feet below road level and about 25 feet above the lake.  Behind the house is a boat house with two boats, a pontoon boat and a Chris Craft speed boat.

Saturday we took a tour around the local area of the lake in the pontoon boat and stopped for lunch at one of the marinas.  On Sunday we took out the speed boat and ran the length of the lake down to the dam and then stopped at another marina for lunch on the way back.

After our boat ride on Sunday, the girls decided to take a dip in the lake.  I tried my hand at fishing but had no luck.

The lake is really large and was formed by the damming the Roanoke River downstream of where the Blackwater River merges with it.  I can see why George and Michelle decided to build here as it is a great place to live with spectacular scenery and great boating and fishing.

Tomorrow we resume our drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway.