What A Bummer

I suppose it's just more evidence that Lake Anna has hit the map for many people living well beyond the Louisa County and Fredericksburg area. I'm not sure how else to explain such huge crowds over the weekend at the Lake Anna State Park beach. So many, in fact that the beach was closed! WVIR in Charlottesvilles described it this way:

"Unexpectedly large crowds forced park rangers to turn people away by the carload. For the second time in two days, they had to ask people to leave. Getting turned away on Memorial Day can make for some seriously unhappy campers."

Talk about an understatement. Given the state's budget picture and the General Assembly's unwillingness to pay for even desperately needed programs like highway construction, I can't help but wonder what, if any relief , would even be considered for something like state park overcrowding.

It's especially disconcerting in the case of Lake Anna State Park since the construction of the cabins and other improvements have been such a terrific addition to Lake Anna. That impact is certainly diminished if the crowds you're trying to draw can't even enter the park once they arrive.

Finally Some Rules for the Road...oops..Water

I've never understood why any knucklehead is allowed to get behind the steering wheel of a boat and hit the water with literally no boating safety or driving courses. It makes no sense. And it only takes one near-miss with a careless boater to realize just how dangerous this lack of safety regulations is for all of us on the water.

Even so, there were plenty of people opposed to even the basic boating safety regs passed by the VA assembly this year. Here's a good summary of the new law from the Roanoke Times.

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries also has a Boat Virginia safety course highlighted on its website.

The good news is eventually Virginia boaters will have to meet some basic safety guidelines and actually learn to drive before hitting the water. The bad news is none of this takes affect any time soon.

Summer's Almost Here!

But it can't come soon enough. There are alot of wonderful lake events coming up to help us all get back on the water and into the summer swing of things. Here are just a few highlights:

The Virginia Renaissance Festival begins this weekend at the Lake Anna Winery and runs until June 17th. 10am-6pm.

On Memorial Day weekend (Saturday May 26) the Lake Anna Coast Guard Auxiliary will hold an Open House from 10 am to 2 pm. This is a great chance to get a tour of the Lake Anna Station and ask any questions you might have about boating safety on the lake. The best thing is they're also offering free boat safety checks so that you can begin the season fully prepared for a safe summer on the water.

Later that day the Lake Anna Beach Marina will provide live music courtesy of the The Key West Band. The fun kicks off at 4pm. Whether by boat or car these events provide a nice opportunity for the community to come together for a picnic and tunes too.

I know there is alot more going on out there and will follow up soon with more events happening this month.

More Nuke News

OK...I refuse to become the blogging version of Paul Revere..."the nukes are coming, the nukes are coming" but this article in the Freelance Star was pretty interesting.

I still don't understand why they're being so coy about construction plans though...

"Dominion has notified the NRC that, if the early site permit is
approved, it will apply for a combined license to construct and operate Unit 3. The company says it has made no decision on whether to actually build a new,third unit, and that will depend upon electricity demand and market forces."

You buy supplies, get approval, apply for a license but you haven't decided to build? Yea, right. Why not say what everybody already knows. All that uneccesary evasiveness does make even a non-cynic say "Hummm..."