Lake Lure

This is the Lake Lure Inn & Spa. It was built during WWII as a rest and recovery center for Army Air Force pilots. It was designed to allow them to "decompress" before rejoining civilian life.

The movie Dirty Dancing was filmed, in part, here.

Here is a long shot to give you a better idea of the setting.

While the pilots were in a restful environment. I can't help thinking that most of them would have preferred a location with more females and less rural calm.

While I was photographing the inn I noticed this pair of golden eagles were watching me. Sorry that I couldn't get a better picture, but the sky was too bright even with the overcast.

This is a long shot down the lake. When it is hot, especially on the weekends this whole area is crawling with people.

This is the sad part of the story. This nice gazebo is sitting on a bit of land that kind of sticks out into the lake. A few years ago some developers wanted to build an exact duplicate of the old Globe Theater, where Shakespeare's plays were originally performed, on this spot.

It was a perfect location. The inn across the road, the proximity of Asheville and Hendersonville the gated communities with the summer homes of the rich all would have provided an audience for the plays which would have been put on by professional touring companies.

It all fell through because the developers could not, or would not, pay the bribes and kickbacks that the city government demanded. At least that is the "word on the street".

I'll have more pictures this weekend.