A few weeks ago my husband and I went to the historic Embassy Theater to see the travelling Broadway production of Dirty Dancing. It had us reminiscing about our trip we took a few years back to The Mountain Lake Lodge, which was the setting for the classic film starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
We stopped by The Mountain Lake Lodge as a side trip on our way to Gatlinburg on a rainy Fall afternoon. I had stumbled across all these pictures on Pinterest of "The Lodge" and I knew I just had to go one day! Not only do I love anything having to do with movies, but it looked so beautiful there as well!
Nestled in the mountains of Pembroke, Virginia, The Mountain Lake Lodge sits atop a vast lawn sprinkled with rustic cabins, a gazebo, and even a disappearing lake! The property still looks much like it did in the film, Dirty Dancing (with the exception of the lake - you can see why here.) Visitors can even rent out the cabin where Baby's family stayed or eat in the same dining room where Baby first caught a glimpse of the rebel Johnny Castle.
While walking the grounds and visiting the little museum, we learned a lot of behind the scenes facts about the filming of Dirty Dancing. The movie was filmed in October of 1986 and the filmmakers actually had to spray paint the leaves of the trees in order to make it look like summertime! And did you know that Dirty Dancing was actually filmed in two separate locations? Most of the movie was filmed in Virginia, with The Mountain Lake Lodge serving as Kellerman's Resort, but many other pivotal scenes (including the dance at the end and the famous "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" line) were filmed in Lake Lure, North Carolina. After visiting The Mountain Lake Lodge we were psyched to go to Lake Lure and continue our little Dirty Dancing movie tour. We actually did go there on another trip south and I'll have to write about that adventure someday too!
We weren't able to stay at The Mountain Lake Lodge due to the timing of our trip, but I would love to go back and spend the night. The Lodge actually hosts Dirty Dancing Weekends with all sorts of themed activities! If you are in the area, even just passing through like we were, I highly recommend stopping by the Mountain Lake Lodge. Even though we were only there a few hours, it was still an amazing place to visit and walking around the beautifully manicured grounds really makes you feel like you are in Dirty Dancing yourself. Even if you're not a fan of the movie, it's still worth the stop! I can't wait to go back and "have the time of my life!"
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| The beautiful mountains of Virginia, home to The Mountain Lake Lodge. |
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| I love driving through the mountains! It's pretty flat here in northern Indiana. |
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When you first arrive at Kellerman's, I mean The Mountain Lake Lodge, you pull right up front to unload your suitcases, just like they did in Dirty Dancing!
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| It doesn't take much to imagine that you are right there in the movie! |
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| Here's Baby's cabin! |
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| And the gazebo where you can take dancing lessons from Penny. She used to be a Rockette, you know. |
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| The poor little lake. Hopefully someday it will refill itself again. This whole area was once covered in water! |
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| One of the beautiful walking paths at The Mountain Lake Lodge. I really think Fall is the best time to go anywhere! |
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| The dining room in The Lodge, now a restaurant called Harvest. |
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| Although it was a gloomy day, the view from the porch was still gorgeous. |
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| "Have the time of your life!" |
