Calfee’s

We left T & A’s with sad hearts as we had a lot of fun with them over the past few days. We drove a few hours south until we crossed the border into North Carolina. Our destination was John and Laurie Calfee’s house on Lake Hyco. They purchased the house a couple of years ago and they are currently remodeling it. As part of the remodel they added a circular driveway that we could park in and 50 amp electrical so we could plug in.

Outstanding for us mooch-dockers! Bear remembered the place:

When we arrived they were still on a Mississippi River cruise so we made ourselves at home.

The following day we got caught up on laundry, grocery shopping, etc. until after lunch and then we took their pontoon boat out on the lake.

There have been a lot of lake homes built over the three years since we were last there.

Such a great lake!

The next day Laurie came home and we had a wonderful dinner at the house. Steak off the barbie, corn on the cob, caprese salad, mushrooms and onions. To top off the evening Laurie poured some very yummy Port. Unfortunately, John won’t be joining us for the duration of our visit.

The following day we made a large charcuterie board for lunch and played Rummikub. Afterwards we took the pontoon out and trolled around the lake. Laurie showed us other houses that they almost purchased along with explaining the various spots and some plans for the lake. We ordered a hamburger pizza from Aunt Millie’s and then finished our game. Katrina won! Laurie then taught us to play Qwarkle. What a fun game! We will need to pick it up!

I drove to the gas station the next morning to grab a breakfast sandwich because Laurie stated that they were great. It was! Katrina and I shared it back at the Busse Bus. Laurie’s friend, Julia Rice, came to stay. Julia has a house on the other side of the lake. After grabbing a quick lunch at the house we headed over to the Tunnel Creek Vineyards to try their wines.

On the way over we stopped at an old barn that had a painted quilt on it. Apparently this is a thing around here and you can actually follow the Painted Quilt Trail.

Once we arrived at Tunnel Creek we took in the views:

What a pretty place!

Katrina and I settled on a Petit Verdot and Meritage after tasting all of their reds. We got to meet Sharon who with her husband Larry own the vineyard. We walked around the grapes and took some pictures. Then we drove down to see the Tunnel Creek bridge:

Afterwards we stopped to see the donkeys:

On the drive back to Laurie’s place we stopped at the Old Country Club Steak House on Chub Lake for a drink. We hurried back to the house for dinner as Laurie had a chef, Lori Chapman, come over to prepare our meal. Laurie and Julia had been using Lori for better eating for the past year or so. The meal was very good!

After the fine dinner the girls played some card games while I retired for the evening.

The next day Laurie heard from Sharon that they were harvesting Chardonnay grapes and asked if we wanted to help. The five of us went back over to the vineyard to help in the harvest:

It was so much fun and hard work in the sun. We headed back to the lake for a leftover lunch before Lori departed. Then we headed out on the pontoon boat. We took a nice ride until dinnertime.

We drove into Roxboro to have dinner at Brookland Eats.

Very nice meal with wonderful appetizers!

Once we returned to the house Laurie taught us how to play Hand & Foot. Interesting card game with five decks of cards.

For our last full day with Laurie on Hyco Lake we lounged around and started to pack up the Busse Bus until lunch. We had lunch in and then tried out Laurie’s sauna before heading over to Buoy’s for dinner and drinks while we listened to a DJ spin some albums. Buoy’s is the only marina on the lake and they have the market cornered. We got to meet some other lake friends of Lauries and caught a great sunset!

Great sunset at the Buoy:

When we returned to the house we played Hand & Foot. Boy, I couldn’t get a decent hand (pun intended) all night. Laurie won the game!

We finished packing up the next morning and headed out about 9am. We had a little trouble with some branches as we had to turn the coach around in a cul-de-sac. After a eight point turn we were on our way to Charleston, SC.

Thank you Laurie for being such a wonderful host and putting up with us and Bear! All three of us had a fantastic time! Hopefully we will get to see you in Florida!