Lake Country Visitor & Newcomer Guide 2009 - (Page 22) Clarksville’s sidewalks are lined with unique shops and a variety of dining choices that invite an afternoon stroll for a tasty treat or the perfect treasure. 22 Clarksville people come from all over the country to Clarksville’s Virginia Lake Festival, a celebration with music, hot air balloons, arts and crafts and fireworks. On the first weekend of October, arts and crafts vendors line up for a Harvest Days Festival while hydroplane races are held on the water. The lake itself is what drew water skiers Ed and Carol Brown to move to Clarksville from Vermont a few years ago. “It’s got a lot of nooks and crannies that you want to get into,” Carol says. Originally, the couple came here after taking a detour. They had been vacationing near Charlotte, NC. The Browns liked Buggs Island Lake/John H. Kerr Reservoir so much that they came back the following year for two weeks. After that, they decided to relocate and bought some property. Today, the Browns run a Clarksville-area business that offers boat and auto repairs and maintenance plus marine accessories and a UHaul outlet. They also keep busy with their two grown daughters and a teenage grandson. As president of the Clarksville Economic Development Association (CEDA), Carol Brown spends much of her free time promoting Clarksville through events such as the annual hydroplane races and encouraging high school students to build “junior hydroplanes,” she says. “Our mission is to attract people to Clarksville as a vacation destination and retirement destination,” she says. “I think it’s the kind of community that if you’re willing to get involved and help people, then they’re going to help you.” O ut on the water lies Clarksville, with its handsome downtown architecture rising above Virginia Avenue, overlooking the wide expanse of Buggs Island Lake/John H. Kerr Reservoir. All year long, you can shop in an array of specialty shops, sample the cuisine at a café, and stay in a lakefront hotel or a Victorian B&B. Quiet country lanes lead away from the main drag through town – U.S. 58 business – en route to roads overlooking the water. Here, you can discover the Clarksville Marina, a long-established business that compliments the town’s municipal boat dock, which is designed to make Clarksville’s lakefront a place where residents and visitors can sail up to dining, shopping and weekend entertainment. Every third full weekend in July, thousands of The lake and the lifestyle make Clarksville a special place for all ages to visit and an even better place to call home. Southern Virginia ⁄ Northern North Carolina’s Lake Country
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