Once we moved down here, the family quickly joined the Franklin County YMCA because they have a Smith Mountain Lake branch that is pretty convenient. The Y has a lot of weight machines, a very active pickleball culture, and a full roster of classes. Plus another facility over in Rocky Mount with a pool.

One fortuitous day, as I was feeling sad because I had just dropped a child off at the airport to return to school, I ran into one of the group exercise instructors, Luisa, while we were getting the oil changed in our cars. She is not only the instructor who plays the best music in her classes (in my opinion) but she is, I learned that day, one of the kindest, friendliest people I’ve met around here. And there are a lot of friendly people here.

So I decided to pop into her Sculpt class that goes from 6:30 – 8, MWF. And guess what? Everyone in that class is super friendly, too. It’s one of the few venues I’ve seen that mixes “lake people” and “local people” and these ladies really care about each other. And Luisa plays that good music. I feel pretty lucky to have found this crew.