Staying COOL - beaches, lakes, swimming holes, pools (Raleigh: neighborhood, tax)

[mlhm5]

Most neighborhood pools are 25 yards long and the width varies. Most have a swim team. Looking for more? http://www.raleighnc.gov/home/conten...Operation.html

There is also Raleigh raquet Club. THey have a pool only membership.

Nothing wrong with the lakes. I have water skied them all.

[Joanieskid]

The lakes here are completely different from northeastern lakes - the glaciers didn't get this far south to carve out the lovely clear watered, rocky bottomed lakes you may be used to. Here lakes are large, man made, and murky due to the high amount of clay in the soil. I find them quite unappealing for swimming, although people seem to enjoy boating on them.

There are tons of swim clubs and neighborhood pools, that seems to be the way to go around here. Backyard pools are pretty rare compared to where I grew up in PA. Last year our swim club was open in mid May, and stayed open on the weekends well after its official closing time in September. It's fun and a good way to meet people.

Spring comes early (daffodils in February!), but I wouldn't say it's blazing hot in May. There will likely be some heat waves but I don't find it horribly hot all day every day throughout the summer. There will be some days when you won't want to leave your air conditioned house, but I remember the days of not wanting to leave my house because it was -20 degrees, so same idea, just different seasons!

[mlhm5]

It can easily be 90 in May or late April.

[michgc]

Originally Posted by bbear468

Hey, michgc. Thanks for your post.

Thank you for the longer season for some pools. I did mean to ask about that, as the hot weather lasts longer than up here. Would you say it's very hot from about early May through September?

May I ask why you won't swim in the lakes?

twingles, thank you too. so when you say subdivision, are you talking about a kind of neighborhood of houses, or really a planned community with common/hoa fees?

thanks!

It's not necessarily hot from early May through late September. I know for sure it was too cold to swim the day our pool opened in early May a couple of years ago. And the last weekend or two in September were fairly cool, too. I'd say, it's generally hot from mid-May to mid-September. From late April through mid-May, it varies, some hot days, some warm days, some cool days. And I'd say the same from mid-Sept. through early-Oct. The weather patterns are very similar to the cities up the eastern coast, but it just warms up earlier here and cools down later. The sun can feel stronger in the summer, too. And winters are milder.

I don't trust the lakes - worried about bacteria and wouldn't want my kids swallowing the water by accident. I know others aren't concerned, though.

Our neighborhood has a pool but it's not part of the HOA. It's optional to join. Plus others outside the neighborhood can join, if they want. For other neighborhoods, it's part of the HOA and outsiders cannot join. And then some neighborhoods don't have a pool at all. If your neighborhood has one, it does seem to be the central focus of summertime activities - at least through July. Then it quiets down quite a bit in August when swim team is over and people go away for vacations.

[drrckmtthws]

Jordan Lake(one of the area lakes there is also falls lake but Jordan lake is better to me) is actually quite popular if you want to go the lake route, Also there are other trips you can take Like going to Greensboro's Emerald Pointe:



hopping on 40 west this is about a hour away from Raleigh, you can also stop by the Greensboro's Sciquarium afterwards





Carowinds boomerang bay which is in Charlotte which is like 2 hours or so from Raleigh



there is great wolf lodge also in charlotte


3 hours is driving slow as heck actually, it should take you about 2 hours to get to Carolina Beach, Wrightsville Beach, add maybe 10 mintues to get to Kure Beach, same thing with Topsail. 2 hours isn't bad, when I lived in Augusta, I would take random trips to Savannah and Charleston and that was like 3 hours(even though I regretted not just staying, 3 hours is indeed a trek but 2 hours isn't that bad some how). A good weekend trip would be hitting up Virginia Beach which is like 3 hours away, and Myrtle which is also 3 hours away

as others have mentioned though a lot places around here have a neighborhood pool

[MrsRhythm]

It's funny to see a post about cooling off when it's so cold outside now! I'm ready for warmer weather though for sure.

Neither of us swim, so we don't go to any pools. We cool off in the summers by going to the beach for a week or two (we prefer Topsail), camping at Kerr Lake at least twice (we go to Kimball(s) Point), and having after-work cocktails out on the screened porch with a fan, or in the garage with the door open. (Is that redneck?? lol) The dog gets long walks in the early mornings and late evenings. We also like to go walking/hiking in Umstead - it's cooler than some other parks in the summer, with all the trees and leaf canopy.

We'd love to have a hot tub. We'd turn off the heat in the summer and use it as a "cool" tub!

[Poggly Woggly]

I cool off year round at Raleigh city pools...usually Optimist or Pullen. During the summer I love swimming at Lake Johnson Pool in the early morning. It's like swimming in heaven

Some of you old Raleigh people may remember Raleigh Beach at Bridgers Mill on the Neuse. It was the best swimming hole ever!

[CHTransplant]

A bit of over-generalization going on in this thread.

Originally Posted by jaiho

You'd be hard pressed to find a sub-division without a pool.

No you wouldn't. There are numerous subdivisions that don't have a pool.

Originally Posted by jaiho

And yes, the fees are paid for by HOA.

In many, but not all, neighborhoods, this is true - that the pool or other amenities are covered by HOA fees.

Originally Posted by mlhm5

Most neighborhood pools ... have a swim team.

Some have a swim team. Most? I'd be surprised.

[SALUKI_LOVER]

I am a die-hard lake swimmer here in Raleigh. There is a large contingency of triathletes and I haven't heard one story of any contracting brain disease, flesh eating disease, mad cow disease, etc. for the entire 5 years that I've been swimming.

I pass the lake now with such yearning during the winter but before I know it it's time to jump in once again.

I wouldn't let all the media hype scare you away.

[poppydog]

In Chapel Hill/Carrboro there are very active swim clubs. Some are in neighborhoods, but not all. You pay a fee to join the club, rather than the HOA paying the fees. There's an organized summer swim league with club teams and I think most of those are not HOA-based pools, although a few are. The Farm for example is for UNC employees.