'Dirty Dancing' premiered 30 years ago today - I visited the hotel where it was filmed and found a depressing tourist trap
As much as Mountain Lake Lodge attempts to keep the Hollywood magic of "Dirty Dancing" alive, it is a depressing reminder that a lot has changed in 30 years.
Even less exciting was the hotel gift shop, which was filled with t-shirts, mugs, and posters with Baby and Johnny silhouettes and famous quotes.
Now it's nothing more than an underpass in the back of a hotel.
The last stop was another forgettable moment from the movie.
Today, the lawn has a few games, like volleyball, chess, and tetherball, plus a small pool. It's not much compared to all the people seen flooding the Kellerman's lawn in the movie.
The lawn where Baby first meets Penny is the ninth stop.
The cottage still stands but has been refurbished for current guests. Mountain Lake Lodge advertises it as "Baby's Cottage." It is a three-bedroom cottage with one king and two queen bedrooms, plus three private bathrooms.
It also boasts a large living room with vaulted ceilings, a wood-burning fireplace, and a sleeper sofa. According to the hotel, the cabin can accommodate up to 10 guests.
The next stop was the Virginia Cottage where Baby and her family stayed while vacationing at Kellerman's.
The gazebo was used for filming several scenes, like when Baby tells Billy and Johnny that she saw Penny crying in the kitchen, and when Baby confronts her father after she told him she stayed in Johnny's cabin overnight.
At stop number seven, the gazebo was another sad sight. The structure used to overlook the lake at its fullest. Now, it overlooks the dried-up space that is more reminiscent of a field than a lake.
Next to the lake is a stone memorial for Patrick Swayze, who played Johnny Castle in the movie. Swayze died of pancreatic cancer in 2009. After his role in "Dirty Dancing," Swayze starred in "Ghost," "Point Break," and "Donnie Darko."
The bone-dry lake is practically post-apocalyptic. The body of water that once served as the spot where Baby and Johnny practiced for their lift leaks, seals itself up, and then eventually replenishes itself.
The last time the lake was full was in 2003, after water levels had dropped in 1999 and then replenished. According to the scientists who study the lake, it's an important cleansing process that is unique and healthy for the area. But for movie buffs, it just shows that the magic of Mountain Lake Lodge isn't what it was 30 years ago.
Here is a video that explains why the lake drains.
Stop number six was easily the most depressing part of the entire tour.
Here is what the fence looks like now. The sign is now gone.
Stop number five is another fence, this time behind the hotel. The stop is right before where Baby encounters Johnny's cousin Billy and helps him carry the watermelons to the party.
The rest of the scene that led to the famous line "I carried a watermelon" and that shows the bridge Baby later dances on, was filmed in Lake Lure, North Carolina. Again, the part where Baby passes the fence is easily forgettable.
The dining room, stop number four, still serves as the primary spot for food at the lodge. The farm-to-table restaurant serves brunch, lunch, and dinner.
The food is a bit different from what the Housemans ate in the movie. The movie was meant to take place in the Catskills of New York, so the farm-to-table fare the current restaurant, Harvest, serves would be too local to Virginia to feature in the movie.
Stop number three looked exactly the same as it had in the movie. The porch that overlooks the lake is now closed in with a screen, and it still serves as a seating area the way it did for the movie.
The stop was so underwhelming, we forgot to take a picture. We did, however, enjoy a snack there at the end of the tour.
The chains the movie production company had installed for the movie still stand today. You can see them in the part of the movie when Baby, Johnny, and Billy go to find Penny.
The chain fence is a seemingly minute detail in the movie — so small that my mom and I were at first confused about when the detail had even taken place in the film.
The first stop was the front of the hotel, which we saw as we drove in — the same view the Houseman family sees from their car in the movie. By the second stop, it already felt like Mountain Lake Lodge was scrounging for memories.
Next to the visitor parking lot, a small cabin is filled with newspaper clippings, memorabilia, and a guided map for "Dirty Dancing" fans to take a walking tour of the grounds.
At first glance on the drive in, Mountain Lake Lodge makes you feel like you're back in 1987, pulling up to the Kellerman's of "Dirty Dancing."
Aside from having fewer people and the addition of a screen around the porch, Mountain Lake Lodge looks almost exactly the same as it did for filming.
Popular Right Now
Popular Keywords
Advertisement