7-23-17 boat ride on Lake Lure:

Our girls' weekend is about to come to an end.  But not before we do one more touristy thing.  Since we stayed at Lake Lure, it seemed only fitting that we got out on the lake.  So we packed up and checked out of our Wyndham unit. 

 and headed into the little town of Lake Lure.  Got to the tour boat office right about 10am, bought our tickets for an 11am cruise, then headed into town for a quick breakfast.  Thought we'd go to Medina's again, but there was a 30 minute wait for a seat.  So we went back across the street to the coffee shop and got a quick breakfast there.  As we were leaving, I noticed this guy.  That's the pup we need!

We also couldn't leave without Angie and Faith getting their Yetti on!

 We still had a little time before we needed to be back at the marina, so we took Faith to the Bridge Garden---for about a 10 minute run through.  But it was long enough for Faith to find another souvenir stone.  Somehow, I forgot to get a picture of it, though.  But I did get a few more pictures in the garden.

 entrance to the garden.

 view of the bridge from by where we parked.

 A swallowtail butterfly joined us.

 Missed this guy the other day.

 Love hibiscuses

 interesting little flower

 spray roses

 another type of hibiscus

 another type of rose

 donation box

 strange little pod things

 cute wind chime---looks like the style of painting on the rock Angie found.

 fancy bird house.

 a cute door garden piece.

 We got back to the marina about 10 minutes before it was to shove off and got the last seats on the pontoon.  Turned out to be pretty good seats---the very back row.  So we could turn and get unobstructed photos of where we came from.

 like this photo of the marina.

 a zoomed in photo of the marina.

 here's the park Angie and I walked around before Faith got there.

 more views of the park.

 Now for some of the lake houses.

 Not too shabby!

 getting better!

 what a setting!

 Love the mountain views

 We were told this was someones vacation home! 

 Zoomed in view of above house

 We were also told that this was the only trailer on the lake and that it's grandfathered in, but no more are allowed.  The guide also said the guy was offered $700,000 for his property.  Not sure I believe that, but I'm sure it's worth a pretty penny.

 Several houses had little beaches.  Supposedly they had the sand shipped in.

 Wonder how much this modest little house would go for?

 Almost back to the marina.  I liked how she rigged up an umbrella for her kayak.

 Looking towards the Lake Lure public beach.  I understand there's a charge to use it.  At least the one by the Wyndham is free for us to use.

 After the boat ride, we left for home.  It was another nice day to be in an air conditioned car for about 3 1/2 hours.  Didn't take a lot of pictures on the ride back, but did get a few.
It was a heavenly ride.

 Now and then we passed areas where the median was covered with flowers.

 We also had some awesome views of the mountains

It was a nice little get-away!  The only problem is---the more we get away, the more I want to get away some more!!!