We are a Smith Mountain Lake Real Estate Team who are passionate about all things Smith Mountain Lake! This blog intends to foster community, and provide information on SML events, activities, tips, and much more.
I have to admit that to me Kneeboarding, Surfboarding, Wakeboarding or any other kind of boarding are like foreign languages. But water sports such as Kneeboarding, are growing more and more popular at Smith Mountain Lake and at lakes all over the US. So I decided to pretend I wanted to give Kneeboarding a go and find out what kind of input I would get from those who have become adept at this water sport……they made it sound like anyone who wanted to could do it as long as they didn’t try to get too fancy.
The basics: You need a board (thin ones that are well padded are better for beginners), a rope, a helmet, a boat (and driver), and some deep water.
So to begin, you take the boat to deeper (low traffic) water, tie the rope securely to the back of the boat and you and your Kneeboard get in the water with the other end of the rope. Most people say the easiest way to learn Kneeboarding is to start out lying on your stomach on the board, with the strap pushed up towards the front of the board. Make sure the nose of the board is also sticking up out of the water a little. Hold the rope in one hand while using both hands to grasp either side of the board.
If you have a Mother on this earth who loves you, then you are most richly blessed. It is easy to take the dearest people in our lives for granted and not even realize it. Mothers are people who often spend incredible amounts of time caring for, praying for and trying to improve the lives of their children, whether they are grown or young and still at home. There will never be another person in the world who invests in you like your Mother does……..so don’t let a single day go by without letting her know how much she means to you.
Mother’s Day is just another opportunity to show the woman who gave you life…….how valuable she really is. If you are having a hard time coming up with something special to do for your Mom, you might find the ideas below helpful. However, if your Mom is anything like mine was, the most precious thing on earth is just for you to spend some quality time with her!
Take her to Smith Mountain Lake Park for the day (or whatever park is closest to you); take her shopping and help her pick out a new outfit; Give her coupons for free house cleaning (she is not as young as she used to be); Take her to her favorite book store to pick out a few new favorites; Give her gift certificates to her favorite stores and go with her to use them; Buy her flowers she can plant and help her plant them; If she likes to fish take her out on the lake for the day; If she enjoys fine wine take her up to Chateau Morrisette for lunch and a tour……….the possibilities are endless, when love is at the helm!
The 16th annual Tom Maynard Memorial Poker Run, presented by The Smith Mountain Lake Boating Association, will take place May 17-18, 2013. Fridays registration and social event will take place at Mango’s, at Bridgewater Plaza, and the event itself will be Saturday, May 18th with the awards banquet following at Mariner’s Landing. For further information click here.
The Smith Mountain Lake Invitational Golf Tournament - The 2013 invitational will be held Friday, May 24th at The Westlake. This tournament consistently hosts a full field of fine golfers representing a wide variety of businesses from the Smith Mountain Lake region. The 18-hole-event-format is Captain’s Choice four-person Best-ball with cash and prizes awarded. Players receive coffee, continental breakfast, driving range balls, green and cart fees, snacks, beverages, prizes and an Awards Luncheon. All players have an opportunity to win CASH prizes.
Find out ways your business can become involved as a sponsor and enjoy increased event exposure. This year we’ve added even more sponsorship benefits. Adding fun and competition to the event, we have included feature prizes on each hole. If you’re interested in one of our sponsorship packages, please contact the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce at 540.721.1203 or email your response to: lauren@visitsmithmountainlake.com.
There are times when you want to go out and do something quiet and relaxing…..and then there are times when the whole family just wants to party! On Saturday, April 27th from Noon to 6pm. on Rt. 122 in Moneta, Va. you can do just that! You don’t want to miss Smith Mountain Lake’s Regional Chamber of Commerce event this weekend, because Rockin’ Brews and BBQ’s in downtown Moneta is going to be a boat load of fun!
There will be humongous tents full of food, music and fantastic entertainment. Just imagine every kind of BBQ on the planet, cold drinks, live bands and even really cool activities for the kids. Tim Martin and the Ministers of Soul will be one of the main events and there will also be a kids Moonwalk and an Obstacle Course for adults, among other great activities.
Come on out everyone, the Admission is only $5 and your ticket gets you 2 food vouchers, a drink and kid’s activities! Children under 12 get in free! (No coolers will be allowed in.) You can even sign up to be a volunteer and receive free admission.For more information, or to volunteer, contact Lauren at 540-721-1203 or e-mail her at lauren@visitsmithmountainlake.com.
The water at Smith Mountain Lake may still be a little cold, but the warmth of spring brings anticipation of all the ways we will soon be enjoying the lake! One of the more popular water sports at any lake is water skiing, but I am told it is a bit more complicated than it looks. If you are one of those like myself, who has always thought it looked like fun to get out and sail along on water skiis, then you will benefit from these videos by Lane Bowers showing beginners how it is done.
Lori Wolak at The Lake Channel, has compiled some great information about building docks with newer technologies. Having the right dock for your boating needs is important, and makes this information of great interest to many who are considering adding or rebuilding their own dock this year.
If you are thinking about building a new dock or adding to an existing one, make sure you consider the using some of the newer technologies available. Two things worth serious consideration are the new plastic drive on docks, as well as plastic decking materials.
Drive on docks are gaining popularity very quickly. They are very easy to use, just drive on to load, and roll off to launch. No more struggling to get the vessel centered on a lift and then having to crank it up. No more worries about the water level changing so much that you can’t get the lift down to the water. Drive up dry docks are also simple to install. They can be attached to almost any kind of existing dock or bulkheading.
The typical drive on dock design includes adjustable polyurethane rollers for easy drive on and roll off, as well as drainage holes so your boat stays dry when docked. The cupped form safely cradles the hull of the craft.
Drive on docks also provide easy accessibility. They allow you to walk around the boat or PWC, unlike the standard lifts. This makes it easy to put on and take off the the cover, or service a boat or a personal watercraft.
No more placing harnesses and cranking. No more scrubbing hulls or fouled engines. Easy drive-on lifts can be used to replace traditional lifts, davits or trailers for outboard boats, stern drives, jet boats and inboard ski boats of all shapes and sizes.
To put it simply, a landscape shot refers to scenery captured from one point of view. There are usually no children or animals or other objects in it, just scenery, like a sunset or mountain range. Once in a while, an animal or object may be used for composition or as a means of displaying scale and perspective. However, more often than not, it is just a view of the outside.
Purists argue that pictures of the sea coast or the ocean, or pictures of man-made structures are not landscapes. A picture of the coast is a seascape while that of a city would rightfully be called a cityscape. Any picture dominated by terrain or natural land is therefore a landscape.
There are three kinds of landscapes, representation, impressionistic and abstract.
Representational - This style is the most realistic of the three. There is no artificial manipulation or artifice added to the landscape. It is basically, a ‘what you see is what you get picture’. It is a true snap shot of what you see.
Impressionistic - In this style the photographer uses techniques that play up the vague or elusive qualities of the scene. This kind of landscape retains the quality of what makes a landscape while at the same time giving an impression rather than a clear tone or representation.
Abstract - The photographer uses the elements of the landscape as components to be manipulated to produce greater effect. Components are juxtaposed and moved to create a design rather than a real picture of what is actually represented.
Here are some landscape photography tips for making better pictures.
1. Foreground - Focusing on an object in the foreground for framing purposes increases the drama of the shot. Also frame the shot with a center of interest to capture the eye of the viewer.
2. Move the Center - Moving the center of interest off to one side also heightens the interest of the shot.
3. Scale - Drawing attention to the size of the subject is sometimes important to the understanding of the scene. This can be done by adding people or a small object that would normally be in the scene to frame around gives the added dimension of scale. [Read more →]
Producer Sara Elizabeth Timmins of Life Out Loud Films, and a native of Virginia, says more SW Virginia filming is in the works. Life Out Loud is rapidly gaining a reputation as a production company for quality inspirational films. It is their effort to keep costs down and quality up as they try to better each community that becomes the background for their films. And with each film they make a portion of the proceeds is given to some good cause, such as community clean-up or the Scott Winter’s Scholarship Fund.
“Lake Effects”, their first movie in Va. featured well known actress Jane Seymour and was filmed on location at Smith Mountain Lake and released in 2012. This film portrays the secrets, struggles and personal growth of 2 estranged sisters who come home when their father dies.Their next film, made in Giles County, Va. was “Wish You Well” based on the David Baldacci (New York Times bestselling author) novel. You can watch for it’s release in 2013.
While Ms. Timmins is not telling much yet about the next 2 films to be released, she does say that they will be as intriguing and inspiring as the others! Keep your eyes open for Life Out Loud’s latest production, “Wish You Well”. For more information you can visit http://www.lifeoutloudfilms.com/.
SOMETHING SAD: Everything living dies; there is much sorrow in this hurting world.
SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL: Everything that dies will be re-born!
* Winter comes and everything turns brown and dies, but is reborn vibrantly in Spring!
* A seed falls to the ground and rots
and is reborn a life-giving green plant!
* A worm falls to sleep in a dark tunnel
and is born again a butterfly!
* Fire kills and destroys and out of the ashes life comes flourishing like never before!
* A fragile living being dies and with God is raised to a new life in a glorious, perfect, imperishable body!
* Human hopes & dreams die, but in God’s hands bigger dreams and hopes of are brought to life in our lives!
All of this is a message from the Creator of it all!! Hope!! He is giving us, in living color, the knowledge that there can be life born out of death and suffering? Real Hope! That Jesus can give meaning to every loss and pain that is put into His hands! Isn’t “this” really what Easter is supposed to be about?
Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States, had one of his two homes near Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia. While his home in Monticello was perhaps better known, Poplar Forest was his home away from home, and one of his favorite places to go to relax and escape the stress of politics. Jefferson had Poplar Forest designed and built after his presidency as a private retreat and one of his most valued possessions. It is a most interesting home for several reasons, one of which is that it is octagonal or 8 sided, very architecturally unique and ahead of it’s time.
President Jefferson, one of our founding fathers, was born in 1743 and at the age of 33 drafted the Declaration of Independence. He also wrote the bill which established our religious freedom, enacted in 1786. And in 1807, Jefferson signed into law a bill that stopped the importing of slaves into the United States. At the Poplar Forest you will also learn many other fascinating details about Thomas Jefferson and his life and family.
As the weather begins to warm, maybe you would enjoy a drive out to see Thomas Jefferson’s restored Poplar Forest Home. It is located on 50 beautiful acres (a remnant of the original 4,000) on Rt. 661 off Rt. 460 in Bedford County. It is open from March 15th through December 15th each year. You can call 434-525-1806 for more information, or visit http://www.poplarforest.org/.
I have to admit that to me Kneeboarding, Surfboarding, Wakeboarding or any other kind of boarding are like foreign languages. But water sports such as Kneeboarding, are growing more and more popular at Smith Mountain Lake and at lakes all over the US. So I decided to pretend I wanted to give Kneeboarding a go and find out what kind of input I would get from those who have become adept at this water sport……they made it sound like anyone who wanted to could do it as long as they didn’t try to get too fancy.
