Lake Wylie

"We had a great time during our stay here on Gold Nugget Point. It's on the West end of the lake so it's relatively quiet compared to the East end where the dam is but this lake is so large it's pretty quiet no matter where you are. It does take a while to boat to the East end, like 1 1/4-1.5 hrs to the dam. From the water, the east end has the Liberty Tap Room and some of the nicer restaurants except Spinners that's at the West end. There are plenty of less fancy restaurants accessible at the West end. The party coves, areas to beach your boat and Bomb Island where the Purple Martins roost are more at the West end too. So it depends what you're looking for. After you get past the State Park in the middle of the lake it gets windier and choppier but nothing my pontoon couldn't handle. Boat launch is 5min drive/boatride away at Riverwinds, costs $5 to launch and free to pull out. Call around for gas prices as some were twice the cost of land gas. You can tube/ski/wakeboard etc right off the dock, it's wide enough. The water clarity was dark, unlike Keowee where you can see 10ft down but unlike the Intracoastal Waterway where you can't see 1 inch down. The water temp was a perfect 84. I felt safe in the water, just saw turtles and the land was cleared before they flooded the basin so no stumps hardly and well marked if there were. As far as land fun, you don't even have to leave the grounds for the week. The sand volleyball is awesome. The beach they have is elevated at the top of the bank, not right on lake level FYI. The empty lot next door is a huge bonus to park your vehicles/boat trailers, to build a smore pit and play volleyball etc. There's a basketball hoop. The outdoor grill is nice and big. The screened in porch was nice once it cooled off. The back multilevel deck was huge and provided gorgeous views and a hammock. The dock was nice and swim ladder sturdy. You can use the empty lot dock too but no ladder on it. We blew up a floatation station and tied it off between the 2 docks and had a ball just hanging out. The downstairs floor is perfect for kids to get away from the parents and retreat to Foosball, ping pong etc. The house was very clean and kitchen provided everything you might need. Having 2 fridges and an ice maker was a huge plus! Mackey is very friendly and offers lots of nice tips on how to control the TV, grill, A/C etc. The only thing the house does lack is WiFi so bring a hot spot. We hit the Monetta Drive In which is real neat."

"We had an amazing stay in Aiken! The apartment was the perfect location within a few minutes walk to the beautiful downtown! Our needs were easily met by the apartment itself. The furnishings were comfortable and homey! Would recommend to anyone looking for a home base!"