Bear Lake Reserve – Half I • Kath Eats

We spent final week at Bear Lake Reserve in western North Carolina. Right here is the primary of three recaps of our journey together with the place we stayed, the lodge, and lake life. 

Wait a second, this isn’t Bald Head Island?! We pivoted our household trip from the seashore to the mountains on the final minute when Hurricane Debby threatened arduous rain and wind throughout our time scheduled on Bald Head. We went as far south and west as we may that made driving cheap and to get out of the trail of the storm. Kudos to dad and my sister for pulling it collectively the day earlier than we left! 

We made the fitting alternative although as a result of we had PERFECT climate for our week at Bear Lake Reserve! My sister’s buddies beneficial it, and what a gem this place is. Right here’s the recap of our household journey. 

Bear Lake Reserve

Bear Lake Reserve is a mountain resort about an hour west of Asheville, North Carolina. It’s fairly actually in the midst of nowhere surrounding Bear Lake, which is a man-made reservoir. So far as lakes go, this one is on the small facet, however there was loads of house for boating, swimming, and fishing. 

Bear Lake Reserve is a sprawling resort with houses, condos, and villas for each full-time owners and friends who lease them out like us.

The Bears

There are apparently numerous bears who dwell among the many reserve. We heard there was a household of them on our villa’s porch simply the week earlier than! I used to be slightly scared to go working alone or out after darkish, however I sadly didn’t see any bears whereas we have been there! Thomas and Mazen noticed a household on the way in which dwelling from golf. 

Getting There

The drive from Charlottesville was about 7 hours with just a few stops, however all of us agreed the mountain views made the drive extra nice than the drive to the seashore. 

There’s a greeter’s cottage if you enter the resort that will provide you with a pleasant property map proper if you start to lose cell service! We discovered the employees to all be so pleasant and useful throughout the entire resort. 

It was a few 20 minute curvy drive from the greeter’s cottage to our villa, however the views on the high have been price it!!

Our Villa

We rented Saddle Notch Villa #7 which had beautiful views of the mountains and the even the lake. We LOVED the porches!! The villa had 4 bedrooms and a sofa/TV/household room that Mazen slept in, so it was the right dimension for us. It was superbly adorned, stocked, and so good for our fam. 

We had a fireplace pit that was nice for s’mores at night time. It’s shared with different villa friends/house owners however we made buddies with some good households on the market! 

Groceries

Notice you’ll need to pack your whole groceries as a result of there isn’t actually a retailer close by. We introduced nearly all the things we would have liked for staples, and ended up doing an Instacart order from the Ingles within the subsequent city for dinner substances one night time. We didn’t have a terrific expertise with our driver who left them on the cottage as a substitute of delivering them, however the good employees introduced them as much as us. The cottage and low store do have just a few issues like milk and snacks should you want some fast issues. 

First Night time Dinner

Breakfast + Lunch with a view

Ready For The Cousins

My sister and her household didn’t arrive till Monday night time, so there was a lot anticipation for his or her arrival! 

Taco Night time

We introduced taco substances from dwelling and made them for dinner on night time 2. 

Getting Round

We have been slightly bummed to seek out that the hike to the pool and seashore was in actual fact a hike, nevertheless, many people did this 0.8 mile hike/stroll every day. There have been two wooded trails you would take or you would stroll on the highway. Taking place wasn’t dangerous, however developing wasn’t for the faint of coronary heart. It wasn’t dangerous with a small backpack, however you’re not going to need to carry pool gear or coolers up and down, so we normally had 1-2 vehicles drive down with the gear and the people selected whether or not to go on foot or within the automobile. 

The doorway to the decrease path

Or you would stroll on the highway. We didn’t let the children go alone. 

It was a hike again up!

The Lodge

A couple of mile down the mountain is the gorgeous lodge! The pool was superb, and the children liked it! There was a waterslide and sizzling tubs, and so they heated the pool on our one chilly day. There was additionally a poolside bar the place we loved tropical drinks and some lunches. 

There was additionally a health middle I used just a few instances, a sauna and steam room, locker rooms and naturally a pleasant restaurant the place we ate twice. That they had numerous little actions for teenagers, however most of them value further so we didn’t find yourself doing any. 

The Lake

The lake was completely beautiful! Mazen and Thomas rented some kayaks on the primary day and spent many of the day fishing. Sadly, they didn’t catch something. We didn’t see many fish swimming both (a lot to my delight!) so this should not be an enormous fishing lake. It was pretty for swimming and tubing although. 

Dinner on the Lodge

On Tuesday we did a giant night time out on the lodge. The meals was fairly good!

Coming subsequent: Hive To Desk Dinner and Our Hike + Lake Day