Friday, May 17, 2019

From travel journal - Sapphire 2019 - Day 2


Good morning Sapphire! If ever I get rid of my waterbed (yes, Tom and I sleep on a soft-sided waterbed--they do still exist), I shall buy these mattresses that Wyndham uses because I love them. Truly. I slept like a princess, got up, made my coffee, and enjoyed it sitting on my upstairs deck overlooking the mountain. I did, however, have to break apart a spider web to get the chair--hello, North Carolina forest wildlife--but I pay the big bucks.

The view across is lovely. The picture down not so much. I'm not sure what that is below me, but it appears to be some construction of some sort. There are dirt roads, an area for more dirt, trucks, and machinery, and hoses. Directly below is a railed walkway like a wheelchair ramp that goes up the mountain, but it is closed off. I'm not sure how one would get down below since it is far. Down a steep hill. 

I will not attempt it, so I'll never know what that is unless I contact Christopher--who called us this morning, late I might add, thank you, Christopher. He wanted to make sure we had settled in and asked if we needed anything. 

I highly recommend this Wyndham! This is the kind of vacation people look for in owning these points.

We started out by stopping at the community center, where a nice lady behind the desk gave us suggestions on what to do in the area. By that, I mean in the general vicinity since we were told there were hundreds of things to do on the property--she gave us all of the shopping areas.

Her: "Because I know these girls don't like shopping. Haha."

Madison: "Yeah. What about Darcy and me says shopping? Really? I'd like to know that."

The latter was said after we left, of course. I finally had to redirect the lady from her shopping nonsense and ask about boating, which we'd decided was on tap for the day. I love paddle boating, and doing that around a lake sounded heavenly. I also asked about hiking trips.

Note to self: If ever you want to move and get a job in Sapphire, North Carolina, you'd be perfect as an information specialist at this community center. Yowser. This woman...

We left and visited the recreation center directly across from the community center. I'm not sure why they needed two buildings, but this one housed all sorts of activities. Indoor pool. Outdoor pool that was closed due to cold weather. Game room. Pool. Ping Pong. A vast fitness area. Video games. 

On and on it went. We roamed while the two ladies behind the desk seemed anxious. We didn't pull out our blue amenities card Christopher had said to carry with us at all times, and I wondered how often strangers wandered into this place looking for...what? 

I tried chatting up the one lady who seemed concerned that Darcy was going to jump right into the outdoor pool despite the huge CLOSED sign on the door, but she didn't drop her protective stance. We finally left.

Darcy: "Oh, the pool was closed? How do you know?"

Okay, well, maybe the woman was on to something there. 

We followed directions down the mountain and passed right by where we needed to turn. We found an area to turn around and headed back up, this time paying better attention. The signage in this area needs work. Especially for drivers who can't take their eyes off the winding, scary road.


The lake was impressive. As were the views. We parked and hiked down the parking area to the swimming beach and the boathouse. Ying and Yang, they did not have name tags and did not introduce themselves, so sorry guys, that's your name for this blog post, were bored in the boathouse. We livened up their day.

With our wit, our stories, and our goofiness. Ying told me not to take a paddleboat to the falls. First, I didn't know there were falls on this lake, and second, well, whatever I like paddle boating.

 But Maddy didn't want to do that, and so she and I rented a kayak. I asked how cold the water was, and Yang told me 60 degrees at the bottom. Uh, yeah, not planning on scuba diving. The water was delightful and had I worn my suit, I might have gone right in.


Darcy was the bomb on the paddleboard. I mean, a pro. Ying showed her how to use it, and she climbed right on and took off. She paddled that board for over an hour and went around the entire lake. 

Maddy and I were impressed. Especially since she and I were not compatible in the kayak. Apparently, I'm only able to work with my expert partner Jaimee when it comes to kayaking. Madison didn't know squat.

Madison: "Uh huh. I think it was the other way around. And I got soaked because you kept splashing water all over me from your paddling."

Me: "Because I'm always in the back, and you put me in the front. I'm an expert in the back."

Madison: "So, you say. I have my doubts."



We followed Darcy to the waterfalls in our two-person kayak. She was far ahead and would occasionally turn around to check on us, tired of arguing. Maddy and I had to zip it and learn to work together to catch her.



The falls were beautiful. I couldn't get close to really observe them because that kid above was in our way and then a canoe of two people arrived behind us. But it was pretty. Maybe we'll have to go back and explore it all over again.



We paddled around the entire lake. It used to be a gold mine at one time. Madison and I discussed coming back with goggles to see if we could strike gold that might've been left behind. At that time, we didn't know it was 40 to 50 feet deep. Good thing we didn't have goggles or bathing suits.




We didn't think the lake was that big, but then Darcy disappeared around a bend, and we kept on paddling. There was a bridge but no access that we could see to keep going. Well, there were holes like a sewer, but we decided Ying and Yang might kill us if we attempted to get through there and so we paddled back instead.




Darcy got brave on the paddleboard. Her feet hurt, so she went to her knees. Then she decided to plank for one minute.

As I timed her, her board got close to a boat dock, and near the blade on the motor, but still planking, Darcy twisted to one side so that the board turned and missed the blade by half an inch.

She resumed her plank position, and we all cheered. This kid is crazy buff now that she's dating a fitness facilities supervisor.

We entertained Ying and Yang some more before we left. They'll never have as much fun as they did with us. That's my goal everywhere I go. When we got back to the resort, Darcy went to workout. Yes, you heard me right. She went to work out at the fitness gym.

Madison and I felt we had just done that. What the hell?

Darcy: "That was just cardio. Now I've got to go work my back and abs."

We let her go. We showered and changed and waited for her to come back before walking to the restaurant on the property. Apparently, Ying and Yang were at the recreation center when Darcy got there. Filling out paperwork and stuff. They were impressed she felt she needed more of a workout and highly disappointed in Madison and me. I hope Darcy told them we were jogging instead.

Dinner was a dud. Not for Darcy. She'd gone on Yelp to read the reviews of the restaurant, and steak quesadillas popped up several times as a recommendation, and she ordered that.

Madison and I, feeling slack now for not working out a second time, ordered baked chicken. It was not good. Dry. The only sauce was a drizzle of what looked like BBQ, and that was for aesthetics only. She had a baked potato, and I had wild rice. We were not impressed with the food, although we agreed that Darcy's quesadillas were YUMMY.

I'd go back just to order those suckers.

Darcy crashed early. Maddy and I stayed up way too late reading. Day two in the books!

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