A view of the beautiful Lake Toxaway, N.C., from the porch of a rental house.

The Wandering Tourist finally got back to business recently with a week’s vacation to the shores of Lake Toxaway, N.C. Funny that I combine business and vacation, but that is the way it is with a travel writer. Getting down to business means going on vacation. This time it was to the southwest corner of North Carolina, between Brevard and Cashiers.

Lake Toxaway, the first artificial lake in the Appalachians, was built in the early 1900s and was a vacation getaway for such luminaries as Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone and Thomas Edison. The lake is three miles long and one mile wide with a 14-mile shoreline. Perfect for tubing, water skiing, kayaking and canoeing. We made good use of a boat that came with our three-story, four-bed room rental.

There are plenty of affordable vacation rentals on the lake’s shores, especially if you share the costs with others, as we did this year and on our previous trip to the area in 2008.

A you can have a piece of the luxurious life to be found on Lake Toxaway, NC. for — are you ready for this? — mere $17.5 million.

There are also plenty of expensive homes to buy if you are in the market, including a 10,00-square foot mansion that was within a well-hit four-iron distance from our place. We found out it was for sale at a mere $17.5 million. Calling Oprah, Tom Cruise, Tiger Woods! Anyone with lots of money.

Our trip this year was with my wife’s sister Betty, her husband Gary, a son Tony and his companion Brandy. This was about the fifth or sixth trip to the same area for Betty and Gary and they are considering purchasing a lake-view lot that comes with an extremely affordable price tag in these economically challenged times.

Activities in the area are plentiful, and we took advantage of many of them. Tubing was a big hit for Gary, Tony and I. Not so much for the ladies, although my wife took a shot at it and enjoyed the experience. The boat wasn’t as fast this year as the one we had two years ago, so we couldn’t bounce the tubers around as much as we did before. Still, there were times when the water was choppy and it became difficult to remain on the tube, especially for me. I think Tony, who is only 20, could have stayed on the tube all day. Gary and I were only up for so much punishment. Gary had a knee replacement recently and I am slowly (or maybe rapidly) growing old and just not up to as much physical activity as I used to be.

Another physical activity we engaged in was white-water rafting on the Nantahala River with a company called Wild Waters Rafting. We all enthusiastically endorse them as a vendor. They were very organized, professional and customer-oriented in their approach. And our guide, Ali, was super, even though she was in her first year.

Tony quickly got the hang of tubing on Lake Toxaway, N.C.

The only bad thing about the experience was how long the trip lasted. We were on the river for more than two and a half hours, and that is just too long for older people with arthritis and other aches and pains to sit on the side of a raft. When the ride was over, my wife and I could barely get out of the raft because our backs and legs were so sore, not so much from the ride itself but from just the amount of time. I recommend shorter routes for those of you who are like us.

The good thing is that Ali twice kept my wife from flipping head first into the 48-degree river water by quickly grabbing her as she became to tumble. Needless to say, Ali got a hefty tip from us.

Dining was a mixed bag during our stay, with the highlight for me being the Brown Trout restaurant just off Highway 64 near our rental. I am not a big fan of trout, so I opted for the chicken marsala. OMG! I thought Carrabba’s had the best chicken marsala in existence, but this one tops anything I have ever tasted. Other dining experiences were not as successful, but I will leave it at that. Suffice it to say, customer-service left a little to be desired. One meal lasted as long as the rafting trip.

There was another meal worth mentioning, but it occurred on the way to the mountains. It was Maurice’s BBQ in Columbia, S.C., with a mustard sauce worth raving about. I am normally not a fan of mustard sauce, but this one was mouth-wateringly delicious. Unfortunately, Maurice’s is peppered with elements of the old Confederacy and associated racial suggestions. Be that as it may, the sauce was great; the politics, not so much.

In closing, let me say this about the trip. North Carolina is one of the top destinations for Floridians and since a great many of us have to travel through South Carolina, I have one piece of advice for the Palmetto State — learn to build six-lane highways.