What now looks like a sunny gazibo used to be a boat house launching boats into the Mountain Lake.

Located in Pembroke, Virginia (USA), Mountain Lake Lodge is nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, encompassing a lake and miles of untouched forestry. The Lodge is one of the two filming locations* for Dirty Dancing, arguably one of the greatest romantic movies of all time. For 36 years, people have been travelling from around the world for an immersive Dirty Dancing experience, prepared to play dress up with their friends and family in the Kellerman’s Mountain House. Naturally, these all-inclusive themed weekends sell out quickly and often carry a year-long waitlist. But there is more to Mountain Lake Lodge than movie memorabilia (though you can buy plenty of it at the Kellerman’s gift shop). From the scenic location and unique history to the disappearing lake and even a few ghost stories, the Lodge is a destination in its own right.

This article might contain affiliate links. Read the disclaimer about affiliate links & PR gifting here. 
This experience was hosted by Mountain Lake Lodge, which did not review or approve this story.

Left: Boat launching path from the original boat house leading to a scenic walking trail across the dry Mountain Lake. Right: Hotel guests enjoying a sun break by the fire pit, surrounded by the mountains.

The world beyond Kellerman’s

Arriving early Friday afternoon, the  Lodge was already swarming with outfitted Dirty Dancing fans, but with a short walk to the Nature Centre, the buzz simmered to a quiet. Passed the wilderness attire racks and Saskwatch magnets, I found my gator guide, Cameron Duke, prepared for a history lesson, however it might look. For the next hour, securely strapped in a John Deere XUV (aka the Gator), we looped over the mountain and across the lake floor, pausing to take in the sights.

These historic property tours are a year-round offering and a great way to see the mountain top.

Expertly manoeuvring across the thick greenery, Cameron shared the long and fascinating history of the property, pointing out Dirty Dancing filming locations and behind-the-scenes stories. On the other side of the new-ish outdoor pool and the original Baby’s cabin (Virginia Cottage), a tilted metal sign greeted us ahead of the sandy path: “Keep out of the pond. No swimming, no fishing, no boating”. There hasn’t been water in the lake for over a decade. “Many studies have been done over the years about why the lake empties and refills on its own schedule, but we still really don’t understand this behaviour,” Cameron shared, pointing out the faded remnants of the shoreline. In the distance, you can see a carcass of a boat stranded in the bushes. “One of the property rules is to leave nature as it is, so since the water drained, we have not been able to move that boat,” he commented. As we paused at the bottom of the lake, contemplating its mysteries, I fell in love with the view and the wonder of it all.

The rocky edge is where the Mountain Lake used to meet the shore. It has been dry for over a decade. Mary Moody’s Endowment rules prevent intervention with nature, which has completely overtaken the lake floor, creating a beautiful field of wildflowers and bird-seeded trees.

“With so much history, are there any ghost stories at the resort?” I wandered out loud. “I personally haven’t had any encounters, but have heard stories about the original cottages from the housekeepers. Are you into paranormal?” he asked. “I’m a fan of the X-Files,” I admitted, and we both chuckled. “Well, we are in the Appalachians, so there are plenty of supernatural stories here,” Cameron added, mentally taking me back to the Saskwatch magnets. Later that night, I spent more time than I care to admit reading about “weird Virginia” on Reddit.

The immersive Dirty Dancing experience 

“We tried to separate ourselves from the film,” Mountain Lake Lodge President and CEO, Heidi Stone, admitted, “but quickly realised Dirty Dancing fans were the biggest visitor base for the resort. So we leaned in”.

On arrival, all guests are handed a pink badge detailing the weekend activities. Couples, family and friend groups move through the resort in excited clusters dressed as their favourite characters, re-enacting scenes and posing for photos. Fuzzy blue cardigans, striped t-shirts, capris, and hundreds of white Keds are the weekend uniform. Completed with watermelon-shaped purses and an occasional curly wig, the women are often accompanied by their own Johnnies, dressed in all black.

Navigating the halls and nature trails to the sounds of Eric Carmen’s “Hungry Eyes,” I kept overhearing guests discussing their favourite movie scenes and searching for insider knowledge from the staff. Having seen the movie at a young age (and many times since), I feel like I found my people, deeply connected with the cult-classic storyline.

Resort guests out on the scavenger hunt, enjoying the views from the gazebo (where Penny hosted dance lessons) and trying to spot the exact location of the infamous lift.

A side-by-side comparison of the Mountain Lake Lodge and the Kellerman’s Mountain House film still from Dirty Dancing.

“Is this where it happened?” I overhear a woman at breakfast. “Yes,” the host gestures at the table, referring to the scene in which Baby pours a pitcher of water on Robbie. “Well, actually, it was between these two tables,” she adds. The woman shrieks with excitement, easing into her seat, eyes locked on the plaque with the scene title. Multiple plaques are scattered throughout the property calling attention to filming locations – here is where they did the lift, and here Baby had a stern conversation with her father. The filming location spots add up to the Saturday afternoon scavenger hunt, just after trivia and before the picnic lunch in Mary’s Barn.

“The only thing I want to win this weekend is trivia,” a woman next to me at the bar shares. “I tell you, heads will roll,” she laughed. With two opportunities to see Dirty Dancing once again, trivia was perhaps the most competitive component of this weekend.

Dirty Dancing themed weekend attendees are lining up to showcase their favourite character costumes.

The official competition, however, is the Friday night Costume Contest. One group at a time, guests voted on the best Baby, best Johnnie, and best supporting cast. Each participant had an opportunity to showcase their character by performing a dance, reading a line, or sharing another relevant talent, often causing a wave of laughter across Mary’s Barn. 

Each evening, guests gathered for dinner at Harvest Restaurant, accompanied by a live band playing music from the film. The dinner buffet is a selection of hearty farm-to-table meals like fresh biscuits and gravy, juicy roasts, hearty pastas, and rich soups. And after dinner, there is always a dance party running well into the wee hours. By day two, having attended dance lessons, the dancefloor is in a synchronised routine, filling the room with unadulterated joy and laughter.

The original family resort

The history of Mountain Lake Lodge is nearly two centuries deep and explains some of the oddities of the property and its unique character. The original resort, Salt Pond, dates back to 1851, when it was a popular destination for stagecoach travellers. A decade later, the Porterfield family purchased the property from General Herman Haupt and turned it into a vibrant family destination.

Back then, summer vacations could last two to three months (much like in the movie). Wealthy families bought into the resort by building custom cottages, which they owned outright for 15 years. One of the resort regulars was William Lewis Moody, a wealthy man from Texas who spent every summer at Mountain Lake Lodge. When the time came for him to give up his cottage, “he did what any wealthy man would do, and purchased the property,” Cameron shared. 

Mr Moody was a wealthy man but notably careful with his money. To avoid construction expenses during the main lodge upgrades, he used, nearly exclusively, resources available on his land, using rock from the mountain. Unintentionally sustainable and meant to withstand weather and fires, the stone lodge he built in the 1930s is the lodge we see today.

Mr Moody’s daughter, Mary Moody, was equally fond of the property and purchased it after her father’s passing, becoming one of the first female CEOs of the time. To ensure future generations can experience what she has as a child, Mary created a set of rules: the resort can never be sold, there are no TVs in the rooms, no logging, and no hunting on the property, and generally speaking, nature’s choice always comes first. A series of narrow driving routes and hiking paths curve throughout the property, but much of the land is overtaken by nature, with wild flowers flourishing at the bottom of the dried-up lake.

Before Mary passed, she established the Mary Moody Northen Endowment, which operates Mountain Lake Lodge as a non-profit, called Mountain Lake Conservancy, protecting the 2,600-acre nature preserve surrounding the resort. “Without Mary, we would be a roadside sign,” Cameron noted. Mary’s portrait hangs in the Lodge lobby, looking over hotel guests and staff with a scrupulous eye. “One time they tried to move the portrait, but things started to go wrong just, everywhere. So they quickly put it back, and now when anything goes wrong, the staff checks on Mary’s portrait”.

Shared space in the lobby as a comfortably cozy environement with a set of rocking chairs facing the fire and various sittting areas.

The Endowment briefly considered closing the resort due to disrepair, but instead chose an extensive, seven-year renovation to renew and save the Lodge. Facilities have been upgraded and the guest experience improved with the addition of adventure and nature activities. Today, the Lodge is a thriving, award-winning** lodging destination. So no matter how many years pass, you will always be able to visit the resort where Dirty Dancing was filmed.

Left. Untouched wilderness along the upper mountain hiking trail. Left: One of the many signs along a walking path sharing exercise recommendations.

Year-round vacation destination

Mountain Lake Lodge is a full-service resort embedded into wilderness. Guests can find the ultimate comfort of a private cabin or cosy up in the main lodge suite. Some rooms have fireplaces, some have lake views, and some are located in the privacy of the forest canopy. 

Harvest Restaurant is the main dining stop offering flavours of Southwest Virginia prepared with fresh, local ingredients. The casual Stony Creek Tavern and Salt Pond Pub terrace are also popular spots among locals who find rest by the fire after a hike or a bike ride up the mountain. After dark, the hillside is minimally illuminated by the fire with string lights framing the terrace. And if you look up on a clear night, you just might see the Milky Way cutting through the navy sky. 

At the centre of the resort is an outdoor pool, one of the newer additions to the heritage property. In addition to the self-guided trails and activities at the Nature Center, the lodge offers hosted excursions, guided history tours and hikes to the Cascade Falls, archery tag games, bubble ball, and other hosted family-friendly activities. As of 2024, Mountain Lake Lodge is also home to the new Giles County Trail Center, connecting visitors, hikers, and the community to 20 miles of Virginia’s trails. 

The Adventure Center is open between mid-April and mid-October, weather permitting.

The family suit in the Main Lodge has a seperate sitting room with a fireplace and full bathtub.

* Other scenes were filmed in Lake Lure, North Carolina at Camp Occoneechee.

** Awards include first place in Virginia Living’s Best Resort and Best Special Event Venue, The Knot’s Best of Weddings and three TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards.

The post Mountain Lake Lodge: Come for the movie trivia, stay for a unique mountain escape appeared first on Paths to Travel.

Tadoussac, located in the Québec Côte-Nord region, has been a prime spot for whale spotting since 1979. The climate creates a perfect environment for a dozen marine spaces to visit the Lower Estuary seasonally and for some to even live in the area full-time. So naturally, as many as 200,000 people visit the region annually to catch a glimpse of these mystical and majestic creatures.

Clinging to my raincoat sleeves I followed the boat attendant onto the deck, exposing the wristband with that infamous acronym “VIP,” not giving a second thought to what that might entail. The interior stewardess, a pleasant French lady dressed in a navy skirt suit, gracefully gave us a tour of the room. Here you get the best view of the water, she gestured to the floor-to-ceiling glass window wrapping the front of the boat. Here are our beverage options. Above is the private observation deck. On the way back they will serve locally sourced snacks. Once the initial surprise of this cozy comfort and glamour had passed we settled on a soft leather bench looking out at the St. Lawrence River.

This article might contain affiliate links. Read the disclaimer about affiliate links & PR gifting here.
This excursion was booked with the assistance of the Québec Maritimes Tourism Board which did not review or approve this article.

Whale watching in Québec Maritimes is an exercise of patience. Once the boat left the dock and all of our travel companions got their beverages of choice (sparkling rose for me) we were all glued to the window, scanning the water inch by inch while listening to the room, just in case someone spots one. Is that it? No that’s just a rock, everyone sits back down. A voice over the speaker directs us to turn to our 12 o’clock were a mom and a baby are gently blowing water into the cool air. People begin to move in that viewing direction with excitement, held back by that uncomfortable safety hesitation, after all, we are still in the global pandemic, masked and slightly afraid of human contact. 

As we navigate further and further away from the shore we see more and more fountains and breaches in the distance. Sperm whales are matriarchal species and travel in pairs: a mature female and a younger whale. The pairs come together into a pod of up to 20 whales with male whales traveling in and out of different pods solo. From the lower deck to the top people moved in waves around the nose of the boat, chasing the whale pairs popping up on different sides of the vessel. 

Land acknowledgement:
Côte-Nord region is the native land of the Innu (formally known as Naskapi-Montagnais). 

* * *

Suddenly, we were right in the middle of a whale training camp with pairs of adults and youngsters popping up around, breaching, diving for a prolonged period, and coming up for air a distance away. The younger whales did not break the surface fully but followed the grown-ups closely in harmony, exposing their dorsal fins and imitating their adult flipper movements, as if waving to their whale friends. If you watch long enough it almost seems like they are cruising on their backs, splashing around, smiling at the sun, but every movement has a purpose. Breaching helps them get rid of various small pests, blowing releases gas, and these fin waves, called “pec-slaps,” are for flirting. 

Every time an adult caught air close by, shared sing of “ohs” and “wow’s” would travel through the deck to be only followed by “Look! There is another one!” Despite the freezing wind, a small group of us were huddling on the top deck, trying to get an unobstructed photo of a perfect whale breach while porpoises were cruising along with the boat. An occasional seal would surface between waves, looking up at us with its sweet beady eyes.  But time passes fast when you are having a good time so soon enough we had to turn back. The return journey was eased with a snack box sizeable enough to make me consider skipping dinner – a wealth of local sea products and baked goods, including some of the freshest smoked salmon I’ve ever had. 

Arriving back to the middle estuary we were greeted by a pod of beluga whales, splashing around close to shore. These almost cartoon-like whales are the only species that live in the St. Lawrence year-round. Docking back in town atmosphere on the boat changed, there was a different kind of excitement in the air, a type of satisfaction from finally having checked something off your wish list, we saw whales, many whales! “I cannot wait to show the pictures to… well anyone who asks,” I thought to myself while finishing up a chewy browny with a Baileys and coffee. This is, by far, the best possible way to see whales in this climate.

Croisières AML Cruises have been operating in the region from the start as an eco-responsible family business running tours, charters, and Zodiac boats across the province. Book directly by visiting croisieresaml.com. The VIP excursion description can be found here. 

The whale-watching tour was just one of our many adventures on the road trip through the Québec Maritimes, see the full Destination Guide.

The post Whale watching in Québec Maritimes appeared first on Paths to Travel.

This article might contain affiliate links. Read the disclaimer about affiliate links & PR gifting here. 
The experience was gifted to me by Tinggly.

Tinggly is a company built specifically for experience gifting and their range of offers spans across the world. The process is very simple:

• Choose and purchase a gift box
• The box gets delivered to the recipient
• They pick one of over 2000 experiences around the world and actually do it, IRL and all

So what could you do or give as an experience you might wonder? Anything! For example, a Bucketlist box ($239) includes 700+ experiences across 100 countries.

Money spent on experiential purchases tends to provide more happiness than having material stuff.

~ Cornell University Study (2021)

For my experience, I chose Aerial Tour of Toronto with iflyTOTO. After many pandemic-related rebookings, we were finally able to make our way to Buttonville airport this week. The original tour was meant to be with a small group of people on a bigger plane. But during one of the many calls iflyTOTO team kindly upgraded us to a private tour. I think they felt bad for me because of all the local cancellations.

Note: You can, of course, book this tour with iflyTOTO. In addition to the cost of the experience for this specific activity, there was also a fuel charge of $90. Upgrade that experience to the Toronto Aerial Tour with Niagara Winery Tasting Tour with iflyTOTO for that very special day.

As we approached the tiny aeroplane, a small wave of doubt passed through my partner’s face, wondering if he would fit inside. Being a tall man he worries, but he fits in comfortably. I take the seat at the front next to the pilot for a better view and to give B more room in the back. In a timely fashion, we taxied along runway 33, behind another small plane. As our tern approached we promptly took off into the blue sky.

For the next 30 minutes or so our pilot took us toward the waterfront, sharing minor commentary and answering questions. We did a few laps around downtown before going back to Buttonville a different way. The new direction showcased more of the city’s east-end waterfront.

It was pretty amazing to be soaring over Toronto, looking down at the city from a birds-eye, spotting our homes, and notable buildings, and seeing the city’s architecture from a new angle. “Well this is certainly a new angle on the CN Tower,” I hear B in my headphones, commenting on seeing the tower from above, “don’t know if I’ll ever see it like that again” he murmured. 

As my ears began popping on takeoff a small wave of fear began to fill my floating body, but a short internal dialogue convinced me that everything is totally fine, I’d flown before, and the man behind this “wheel” had flown commercial aeroplanes, I am in safe hands, free to enjoy the view. 

In retrospect, as we laughed a few hours later over dinner, it was a little scary to be basically sitting in a chair, coasting with the wind over the city on the tiniest plane I’ve ever been on. It is a unique experience and one that was much needed after this very long lockdown.

I stand by my earliest statement: experiences make fantastic gifts; I am looking forward to continuing giving them and hopefully receiving many myself .

If you go: The GPS may get confusing close to the airport if following the provided address, instead, key in “Million-Air” and that should take you to the right place. 

A few notes on the sustainability of experience gifting 

On an environmental note, Tinggly works hard on being a fully sustainable experience company, and among their many commitments is offsetting the footprint the experiences can make, for example: for every Tinggly experience gift box purchased Tinggly promises to remove 11lbs (5kg) of plastics from the environment – which is pretty awesome. And yes, all of the boxes are made from 100% recycled and recyclable packaging using planet-friendly inks.

The post The Experience: Seeing Toronto from new angles with Tinggly and iFlyTOTO appeared first on Paths to Travel.