Believe it or not, it’s been 30 years since Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze had the time of their lives and performed the lift that would inspire hundreds of wedding dances and more than a few injuries. Dirty Dancing transported viewers back to a simpler time, when summers were spent at rural family resorts complete with dance lessons and bingo nights. While the fictional Kellerman’s Resort—and its real-life inspiration—was located in the Catskills, the 1987 movie wasn’t filmed in upstate New York. The crew, including director Emile Ardolino and production designer David Chapman, traded one mountain range for another, heading south to the Blue Ridge.
The Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, Virginia, provided the exterior of Kellerman’s, and the dining room and kitchen were reportedly used for a few interior scenes. The resort now hosts Dirty Dancing–themed weekends, and visitors can stay in the Virginia Cottage, where Baby and her family bunked in the film, and take a twirl around the gazebo.
The production also shot at Lake Lure, North Carolina. A boys' camp was used for the staff cabins, and a local gymnasium was transformed into the banquet room where Baby and Johnny performed their epic routine. While neither site exists anymore, you can still visit the steps where Baby practiced her dance moves.
Both Lake Lure and Mountain Lake claim to be the spot where the famous lake lift was shot, but if you want to try it out for yourself, you’ll have to head to North Carolina, as the Virginia body of water is now mostly a meadow. The town of Lake Lure also hosts a yearly Dirty Dancing Festival complete with shag and lake lift competitions. Just be prepared to carry your own watermelon.
