Dirty Dancing
The real-life location of Kellerman’s is called Mountain Lake Lodge. Credit: Mountain Lake Lodge

12. Dirty Dancing

Frances Frances Baby Houseman traveled with her family to Kellerman's - a luxury lakeside resort in the Catskill Mountains of New York. During the Dirty Dancing movie, we see a simpler time when the summer vacation dancing under antelopes, eating watermelons, and swimming in the lake. Besides the big hotel, there are smaller cabins for both guests and staff. Fans of the movie would have wanted to take their family to summer vacation at Kellerman if it really existed.

Dirty Dancing
The famous scene where Baby and Johnny practice the lift in the lake. Credit: Visit North Carolina

In fact, filmmakers can't afford to hire a campground at Catskills, and they need to hire a campground in the autumn when fewer tourists are. Everything was filmed at Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, Virginia. Many years after the film was made, the lake was drained, but there was still a plaque commemorating the location where it once existed. Although it may not be quite the same, the guesthouse is usually open to visitors. If you want to watch an in-depth documentary about the filmmaking process, check out The Film That Made Us on Netflix.

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