Lake Norman Vacation

We just got back from an awesome week-long vacation at Lake Norman, near Charlotte, NC, with my mom, dad, sister and Lee.

Earlier this year we were trying to decide on a family vacation to take this summer. We were tired of the beach thing, but wanted to go somewhere nice and relaxing. My sister suggested Lake Norman, and we thought it was a great idea since we could enjoy the water and quiet atmosphere, but also be close to good shopping and restaurants. 

I searched online and found a house for us to rent in Troutman, NC. Before I get onto the details of the trip later in the week, I wanted to start by sharing some pics of the house with you. 

The house was big and spacious and had awesome lake views from almost every room. But it definitely had some quirks. It was probably top-of-the-line when it was built back in the 80s, and the owners had done some renovations, but some of the fabulously 80s details remained.

For example, the first master bath:

You probably can't see it, but back in the right corner is the shower. Yep, no doors or curtain or even raised floor, just a shower head in the wall and a drain in the floor. Weird, huh? And you gotta love the fabulous matching toilet and bidet: 

The sauna, however, was awesome and definitely not from the 80s :-)

This was the second master bedroom that Lee and I stayed in. There were three things in abundance in this house: mirrors, vertical blinds and track lighting. They were EVERYWHERE!

And here's our shower/tub. Yet again, no curtain/door to be found. Weird.

We definitely enjoyed the top-floor deck overlooking the lake:

The kitchen had been updated:

And we got a sweet welcome basket, with Ghirardelli chocolates, wine, crackers, and yummy cheeses:

Downstairs rec room with pool and foosball.

This is where Lee and Dad stayed the whole week: out on the boat and pier.

The house was situated on a huge wooded lot with awesome landscaping and two nice decks for laying out:

Another quirky feature of the house: the sounds it made. The doorbell rang the tune of "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad." And the house was equipped with an alarm system, so that anytime anyone opened an outside door, it made a dinging sound. And there was a door to the outside from EVERY room in the house. So, you'd be sitting in the living room and there'd be dings from people coming in from all different doors: downstairs, front door, side patio. My sister took to saying "Welcome to Wal-Mart!" anytime a door dinged. She'd switch it up and say K-mart every once in a while. It was pretty hilarious.

Ok, that's all for now. I'll be back later with details from what we did on our trip, pictures of some of the fabulous houses on Lake Norman, and a post about the most bizarre part of our trip.