A field guide to the towns around Lake Gaston
The resort could fill your whole weekend, but the lake towns keep a few surprises for day trips. Here is the long version of the field notes. The short, scannable list lives on Local Attractions.
The ice cream circuit
Three ice cream stops make a useful circuit around the lake. Wakeboard Willie's in Littleton runs twenty flavors and a best-seller called "C" is for Cookie. Holly Grove Honey Hole in Bracey scoops hand-dipped Hershey's on the waterfront, with thirty boat slips for water access. Lickety Split, also in Bracey, serves soft serve.
Littleton, NC: twenty minutes, one main street
Littleton's main street has antiques, lunch counters, and the Cryptozoology & Paranormal Museum on North Main, where a former journalist keeps the region's Bigfoot evidence.
Roanoke Rapids, NC: shopping and the river
Roanoke Rapids has shopping and the Roanoke Canal Museum & Trail, seven-plus miles of easy walking along a two-hundred-year-old canal, with the river alongside most of the way.
Emporia, VA: peanut country
Emporia is the Virginia-side errand stop in peanut country and home of the Virginia Peanut Festival every fall, sixty-some years running. Stock the camper, grab a tin of the local crop, and return to the resort.
Rosemont, La Crosse, VA
Rosemont of Virginia has grown wine on its 450-acre family estate since 2003, with fifteen varietals, a tasting room with three flights, and an art gallery for the designated drivers. It is about 25 minutes from the resort.
Return to the resort after your day trip and see the ways to stay, or spend a day here first.