Smith Mountain Lake Family Vacation.

Hello everyone! I’m finally back with more adventures to tell you about. The newest one? This one, of course. You’re wondering where and what Smith Mountain Lake is? Well, in this short article that I wrote, you’ll find out.

Smith Mountain Lake (near Roanoke and Rocky Mount, VA.).

So, this past Friday I went to a place called Smith Mountain Lake. My mom had a training there and originally my dad, my brother and I weren’t going to go. I’m incredibly glad that we went because while my mom was at her training, my dad, my brother and I went to the Smith Mountain Lake State Park. Plus, it was 70 degrees outside and it made for a really good VAventure. We did some sketches and played on the rocks and found peculiarly shaped sticks at the park. I found out a couple of things about the place, too. The thing that I found most interesting was that the “lake” is man-made … it isn’t a natural one! It took 2 years to fill it up! People talked about damming the Roanoke and the Blackwater Rivers in the late 1920’s. However, construction did not begin until the early 1960’s. Another thing I found out about Smith Mountain Lake was that it’s the largest “lake” in Virginia that doesn’t touch any other states. Lake Gaskin is bigger, but it goes through another state. At the Smith Mountain Lake State Park we went to an island called Turtle Island. It was a nice little island to sit on and eat a picnic. It was too bad we didn’t have anything for a picnic, but we did have our trusty sketch books with us, so we sketched some things like a house boat out on the water, the lake and a house far across the lake with gray walls and a cute red roof. We drove around the park a little and saw some beautiful trees and flowers. The best sight was a little house made out of wood and red clay. It reminded me and my dad of George Washington’s time, Mount Vernon and Historical Williamsburg. I truly loved my visit to Smith Mountain Lake this winter! I highly recommend taking a family vacation there yourselves. Here are some pictures we took along the way: