Well, I guess it's about time I put something on this blog! We stopped at Lake Gaston, VA on the way down here. What a beautiful place! It is bordered by both Virginia and North Carolina. In fact, we left I 95 in NC and traveled on back roads back up into VA to get to the camping resort. The info on this lake is that it has over 20,000 acres of water that is of such high quality that it is almost drinkable without any treatment! The lake is 34 miles long and about 1 1/2 miles wide at the lower end; it has over 350 miles of shoreline and is about 200 feet above sea level. It's stocked with striped bass, large mouth bass, crappie (I don't really know what they are!), sunfish, and several varieties of catfish. Kathy, I guess you and Herb might like it here?!
Here's a picture of Bijou and Missy surveying the lake - wondering if this is a place they really want to be. After they smelled every single leaf on the ground, they decided that it was really an ok place.
And a picture of the lake:
We stayed here 2 nights and when we left, we passed an historical marker along the road in NC that said something about "Allen Jones". Being the nosy person that I am, I had to know who that was and what he did to merit a marker...so, I looked it up in the internet. Peter says I'm the only person he knows who would do something like that! But, I did find out the following, for those of you who are history buffs (Jay):
Jones, Allen, (brother of Willie Jones), a Delegate from North Carolina; born in Edgecombe (now Halifax) County, N.C., December 24, 1739; attended Eton College, England; was a member of the colonial assembly 1773-1775; delegate to the five Provincial Congresses 1774-1776; served throughout the Revolutionary War, attaining the rank of brigadier general: served in the State senate 1777-1779, 1783, 1784, and 1787; Member of the Continental Congress in 1779 and 1780; member of the convention that rejected the proposed Constitution of the United States at Halifax, NC, in 1788; died on his plantation, "Mount Gallant," near Roanoke Rapids, Northampton County, NC, on November 10, 1798; interment in the private burial ground on his estate.
We probably drove the same roads when we went down for the shop-sponsored striper trip. It's really beautiful country, as long as the wind doesn't blow the paper plant smell in your direction! And yes, I know what all those fish look like, and have caught them. If we're lucky this spring, maybe we can catch some crappie in the Conodoguinet and have you and Peter over for beer-battered crappie and onion rings. It doesn't get better! Especially if we make that banana toffee pie Peter likes!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, you did a great job at updating the blog!
Kathy