So I failed miserably at posting daily updates! However, most of them would have read "swam, boated, tubed, boarded, fished all day"...
We ate out only thrice - Mitchell's Point marina, Edo Sushi (sashimi was not bad but not great, maki was only so so, portions are smaller than we are used to), and Benny Adelina's Pizza (giant 28" thin crust pizza, very good hot, ok cold). Bought groceries at Food lion in Moneta, the VA ABC store is right next door. Also ordered a birthday cake with whipped frosting from the Food Lion bakery - 9 y/o said it was one of his favorite birthday cakes. Also, if you, like us, don't have a Bojangles in your state, there's one a few minutes drive from Bridgewater Plaza for all your cajun fried chicken and biscuit needs.
Rented a jet ski from Bernard's landing on one day. Ski was in good shape for a rental. From Bernard's landing Parkway is the closest marina with gas. Gas was 60c per gallon cheaper at Parkway compared to Virginia Dare marina.
We needed to refuel once during the week. We forgot to take extra gas cans so pulled the boat at the State Park ramp and trailered it to be refueled at the White House store gas station. It was pretty painless.
Boaters are courteous and watchful of people in the water. We only had one, slightly nervous moment on a very windy day with a lot of chop when it looked like a boater may not see a smaller 7 y/o in the water. He swerved away when he saw the riderless tube behind us. We stayed out of the main channel when tubing etc. There are plenty of coves and often we were the only boat in a cove making it ideal for board sports.
We did not come across any debris in the water. The water was very, very clean, even near the docks and ramps. We also did not need to anchor - there was plenty of space to bob about with little to no risk of running aground. After the first night's trip back from Mitchell's point marina, we used manual routing on Navionics when out after sunset. Again, majority of the boaters were courteous and cautious at night with few boats going over 5-8 mph (of course, there's always that one idiot...).
If you have a property with a dock, would recommend washing any accumulated mud/dirt off the dock to minimize red soil stains. We have a no shoes on board policy but even then we soon had a red soil stained swim platform. Used mean green, light scrubbing and then a pressure wash once we got home and now its as good as new.
Landed a few large mouth, and crappie, and lost two dipsy divers, one of them to a monster striper. That's my story and I am sticking to it.
The State Park has good, shaded, trails for hiking/biking and a nice play ground. We spent a couple of blazing hot/rainy afternoons exploring those. The trails are not paved so a bike with off road tires may be a better choice than one with hybrid tires.
We were hoping to get some lessons at Blackwater Junction Wake Park but did not receive a response from them - they are by appointment only.
Overall, the week at Smith Mountain Lake ranks as an all time top vacation for our family - we have already reserved a week next year!
