Dock Tales Part 16 •  View Series Now that we could park and walk to our dock, it was time to invest in landscaping.

Dock Tales Part 15 • View SeriesAfter two years of building the driveway, erecting the shed, planting trees, cleaning debris and positioning a used dock, I looked forward to inviting friends over.

Dock Tales Part 14 • View Series When I first walked the 800 feet of Lake James shoreline I was about to buy in the one-day sale, I kept kicking up all kinds of broken bottles, empty gas containers and other trash left by previous visitors.

Dock Tales Part 13 • View seriesI was at first enchanted by English Ivy that covered my forest.

Dock Tales Part 12 • View seriesWith the dock and access to it completed, it was time to share it with family.

Dock Tales, Part 11 When Bennick Grading finished the small gravel car path to a flat spot above my dock, I knew what I needed to do next: buy a bunch of stuff – primarily tents, floats and landscaping tools.

When our dock was ready, my next challenge was developing access.

When Tommy’s crew said the dock was ready, my son Thomas and his buddies beat me to it, camping there before heading into Linville Gorge.

Dock Tales Part 8 Buying a used dock means you don’t control your timetable.

I’ve got a well-deserved reputation for being thrifty.

Until I was lured into buying lake property at the one-day sale, my wife and I had agreed we’d never own a second home.

Dock Tales, Part 5Leaving the Realtors’ tent in which I’d contracted to a two-week cash close, I thought it’d be prudent to take a second more deliberate look.