BACKROADS • MAY 2022
Page 16
WE’RE OUTTA HERE
a weekend destinationkeeping you on the backroads
INN AT MOUNTAIN LAKE
115 HOTEL CIRCLE, PEMBROKE, VA 24136 540-6267121 • WWW.MTNLAKELODGE.COM “Nobody puts Baby in a corner…” I swear if one more person said that to me during our Spring Break last year I’d hit them with a watermelon with my spaghetti arms. Yes, the Inn at Mountain Lake gained a lot of fame for being the actual location where they filmed the ‘80s hit film Dirty Dancing. What, you didn’t see it? Me neither. Still haven’t. And for those of you who have never seen it, this is in a nutshell. Between the dance moves, great ‘80s ‘soundtrack, and forbidden love story, Dirty Dancing is one of the most beloved romantic movies of all time. The film chronicles the romance between daddy’s girl, Frances “Baby” Houseman, played by Jennifer Grey (before the career-ending rhinoplasty), and bad boy dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), and the summer they spent at Kellerman’s Family Resort in the Catskills, New York. But filming in the Catskills was never going to happen, so this stunning resort atop one of just two natural lakes in Virginia would work just fine. The rest is movie and resort history. We found the Inn at Mountain Lake by chance a few years back while riding with our friends Helene and Kate. Spying the stunning sandstone Inn we made a quick u-turn and took Sunday brunch before continuing to our next overnight. We made a huge mental note to return and in May of
last year, we did just that, with about 80 friends. But there is a real history of this region and a bit of Mysterious America too. The first European to lay eyes on the lake was Christopher Gist in 1751 surveying for the Ohio Land Surveying Company and the original name for Mountain Lake was Salt Pond. Settlers used to “salt” their cattle in the basin of the lake, and the mountain is still known as Salt Pond Mountain. The original Lodge dates back to 1851; by 1857 Salt Pond was operated as a pleasure resort by the new owner, General Herman Haupt of Pennsylvania, who renamed it Mountain Lake. At that time stagecoach travelers were the primary customers of Mountain Lake and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad built nearby in the 1850’s attracted visitors to Mountain Lake. During the years following WWI and before the Great Depression, Mountain Lake was known for music, dancing, and entertainment. From 1922 to 1925, an all-female orchestra played in the ballroom. Guests rode up the mountain each season in the “Buzz Wagon”. Mountain Lake Camp for Girls, operating from 1928 to the late 1930s, offered young women swim lessons, diving, boating, horseback riding, cooking, and crafts. In 1936, the large, native sandstone Lodge that stands today was built. As we said, in 1986 Dirty Dancing was filmed at Mountain Lake, where the hotel served as the backdrop for the “Real Kellerman’s Resort.”
But here is where the mystery starts… In September 2008, as the lake level dropped to unprecedented levels, the remains of Samuel Ira Felder was discovered in the bottom of the lake by guests. The record tells that in 1921 Mr. Felder fell overboard while fishing one evening on the lake with friends. His body never resurfaced, creating an unsolved mystery for many decades. Today, the second of only two natural lakes is more
