If you have ever lived in the Piedmont or Coastal Plains sections of our great state of North Carolina, you have most likely paid a visit to the 1,200-acre lake known as White Lake sometime in your life.
With its clear water, sandy bottoms and gradual drops in water levels, it’s known as one of the safest big bodies of water in the U.S. and it’s a big boast for tourism in Bladen County.
No one actually knows where the many lakes in that area came from. Some say meteorites hit these areas many years ago and formed these great holes which are fed by subterranean springs. No matter how they were formed, they have provided fresh drinking water and all types of water recreation for many years.
The Indians also used all these lakes along the Cape Fear River for their livelihood as several old dugout canoes have been discovered in the sand and among the cypress trees that grow around the lake. Also, let us not forget the beautiful Spanish moss that grows in the cypress trees — it’s like icing on a cake and adds a little creepy look to the area.
The lake started getting commercialized in the early 1900s. People started selling lots around the lake, until the Great Depression hit in the ’20s, when things slowed down everywhere. After World War II, things really started taking off at the lake. People still had to work at public jobs, but with White Lake just down the road, they could drive over after work or spend a long weekend at the lake and really enjoy themselves with their families.
I remember in the early ’50s, being a part-time surveyor, my granddaddy did some work in the area and had a chance to buy up a few lakefront lots at a good price, but my grandmother somehow talked him out of it. That was as close as our family ever got to owning any property on White Lake.
Well, not owning any land on the lake didn’t stop us from taking day trips to the lake in our ‘50-model Ford, no-sirree. Why, we’d leave bright and early and drive down old 74 right through the middle of Laurinburg, hit 211 in Lumberton and then take Highway 41 right into Elizabethtown. Then we would drive down the hill and cross the Cape Fear River at Tory Hole and in just nine more miles we’d be a sittin’ at White Lake.
Goldston Beach was and still is the place to go if you don’t want to rent a motel or cottage for a night or two. They have large bathhouses you can change your clothes in, a long pier over the water, a place to eat, souvenir shop and game room and, last but not least, carnival rides like bumper cars, tea cups, tilt-a-whirl, and of course, hobby horses.
The roads have changed a little since my mom and dad and I would go to the lake. The other weekend, my wife and I thought taking our two youngest grandkids to the lake would be a treat for them and us as well as we hadn’t been in a spell. Away we went down Highway 74, bypassing Laurinburg, hitting Interstate 95 and a right turn on 211 brought us to Highway 41 headed toward Elizabethtown.
But you know me, If’n I see a flea market or a large yard sale, I’ve got to stop and check it out. This time it happened to be a place called the Peddlers Mall right beside Highway 41, going out of Lumberton. Man, you talk about some old antiques, I thought I had died and gone to antiques heaven inside that large store. Old farm equipment, furniture, clothes, carpenter tools, glassware, toe sacks and just about anything you haven’t seen in a long while, they’ve got it for sale in that store. Check it out when you go down to Fullers in Lumberton to eat.
As we made our way to Elizabethtown on Friday evening, we saw a big sign saying that a car show would be held the next day under the shade of a big grove of pecans trees right there in town. The sign said, “You don’t won’t to miss this show” so we thought we would come back Saturday for the show. I’ll tell you about the nice old cars and the old rat rod truck we saw in another story.
We arrived at White Lake, unpacked and the grandchildren took a dip in the lake. The lake wasn’t as clear as I remembered it to be because there had been five inches of rainfall the day before we arrived.
The next morning, it was back in the lake for all of us although in all the rush to pack, I forgot my bathing suit. You know a country boy can survive and can make do with almost anything, so I put on a pair of Bermuda shorts and jumped right in.
We hadn’t been in the water long when a small man and a rather large and robust lady walked out on the pier. Both had on their bathing suits and the lady was carrying one of the biggest plastic floats I reckon I ever seen. Now I’m not telling no joke, folks, that float was bigger than any big-man recliner I’ve ever seen. After rubbing on about a quart of suntan lotion, the lady told the little man to jump in the lake and hold the float so she could get on it.
Well, folks, what happened next was a sight to behold. The little man held the float right under the steps coming down the pier into the water as the robust lady made her way backwards down the steps. She told the man to hold the float steady as she fell back into it.
Well ‘bout time she landed, that float turned over and flipped her right out. Now I want you to know, before she came up, that little man had jumped on the pier and was headed to the house.
Well, that large lady wasn’t gonna be outdone, so she pulled the float to the edge of the water and flopped down right in the center of it. She floated around for a while and then a boat came by and the waves washed her under the pier. Folks, you ain’t gonna believe what happened next.
She was trying to maneuver that float from under the pier when a nail punched a hole in it. Have any of you ever let the air out of a large balloon and released it? Well, you know what happens next. Having a least 400 psi of air in the float; that float spuddered right loud and flew out from under that pier like a rocket with that lady hanging on for dear life.
Both the float and the large lady zipped through the no-wake zone in nothing flat and headed toward the middle of the lake. I ain’t never seen nothing like that in all my born days. Finally the float ran out of air; and the woman and her float sank like the Titanic.
The people around the lake that were watching stared in disbelief, their eyes as big as saucers. But mind you, that lady just floated to the surface and backstroked all the way back to shore as if nothing had happened.
Folks, I have seen a lot of strange things in my lifetime, but I’d put that lady’s ride on her monster float in the top 100 of my list!
I hope you have enjoyed this story of our trip to White Lake and remember, there are stories everywhere if’n you are willing to look for them.
J.A. Bolton is a member of the N.C. Storytelling Guild, Anson County Writers Club, Richmond County Historical Society and the Story Spinners in Laurinburg.