That crazy-fun houseboat life
- Abigail Gaston
- Jan 7, 2018
- 5 min read
Have you heard of the ever famous Lake Cumberland, located near Jamestown, Kentucky? Well, if you have not, then you must be living under a rock…I totally kid; it was not until about 3 year ago that I was introduced to this awesome idea for vacationing! In fact, it was the very first couple’s vacation that my boyfriend, Jeff, and I took and it was a huge success!
In 2015, a good friend of mine introduced Jeff and me to the idea of house boating as being a great way to get away. We had not yet started our travel journey, but we had just pinky-promised on a goal to start traveling!
My friend, and experienced Lake Cumberland vacationer, had Jeff and I intrigued from the very beginning with her first question posed, “Have you ever spent a long weekend on a houseboat?” and with our recent aspirations to start traveling, she had us sold with her next question, “Would you like to?”
Before jumping up and shouting, “We’re in!” despite pretty much knowing it was a go, we allowed my friend to pitch us on the trip. So, my dear friend, with a commission based sales background, continued her proposal as if she spent the last 48 hours cram-prepping for it.
She went on and on with how over the past three years she had attended the Lake Cumberland Memorial weekend soiree and how it continues to be her favorite place to vacation each year. She informed us that it is the best place to escape the everyday hustle and bustle of city life and explained that for four nights we would be living the lake life in style on a houseboat. A 7 bedroom, full kitchen, fully furnished living room, two full bathrooms, air conditioned houseboat, and that is just the lower deck.
She whipped out her cell phone and showed us that the upper deck would be furnished with a hot tub, bar, lounge chairs, and topped off with a water slide! She continued to explain that the lake is so large that we would be 45 minutes from the dock that we depart from and that means we would be completely submerged into nature; a beautiful 360 degree view of tall, green trees, cliffs, and water. I tell you what; midway through her sales pitch, she already had me feeling stress and worry free right then and there and we still had months before the actual vacation.
Eventually, my friend fell short of breath and was forced breath deeply in. This opportunity finally allowed me to interrupt her spiel, and gratefully accept her invitation to join the 7 couple houseboat trip. It was official; Jeff and I had our first vacation scheduled since vowing to make traveling and seeing the world a priority in our life together.
The houseboat we rented was through Lake Cumberland State Dock. Prior to the trip, I scoped out the “State Dock” website and scrolled through the many different pictures in the gallery. The online photos were nice; however, it was not until seeing the boat we rented in person, inside and out, that I was truly wowed (and so was my cousin - beautiful blonde pictured above). The boat was gorgeous! Modernly decorated, incredibly kept up and top of the line. I was very pleased with the quality and appearance of our four day floating home.
I know what you are thinking, “Okay, we get it, enough about the boat; what about the trip? Even more, what about the party?” Well, the trip was extraordinary! We had a wonderful time. The weather was fantastic and the company was even better. We arrived the Thursday before Memorial Day and stayed until the morning of Memorial Day.
We took our rented houseboat about 45 minutes from "State Dock" to a designated 'party spot' that was located in one of Lake Cumberland's coves. It is an area where most the houseboats go to tie up to the land and hangout the entire time on the lake. Thankfully, 4 of the 14 individuals on our boat had taken this trip before and knew exactly where to go.
What I discovered during my floating Memorial Day
vacation was that from Thursday until around late afternoon on Friday, the cove was a bit quiet. However, once late afternoon came around on Friday, the cove really began to fill up and by Saturday, it was loaded with rented and owned houseboats and even some yachts owned by “the lifestyles of the rich and famous” kind of people, who were actually really nice, cool, and laid-back!
Each day of our 4 day vacation was wonderful! Thursday and Friday we just hung out and had a pretty low-key but great time; it was incredibly relaxing. Friday night through Monday pretty much was one straight party including many different boats and hundreds of people, with Sunday being the big Memorial Day celebration.
We had a blast hanging out on the boat, listening to music, interacting with other houseboat renters, prepping and cooking dinners on the grill and eating them together as a group. Our adventurous kid sides had us jumping off the second story of the boat into the lake and totally owning that water slide. Jeff and I even borrowed kayaks from a couple who brought them along, and we took an hour long kayak trip. This little self-made excursion sort of added a little romance to our group vacation. At night, we soaked in the hot tub, danced on the upper deck, played cards and listened to great music. It really was the perfect group vacation.
Whether you choose to go on a group vacation to Lake Cumberland or some other location, one thing you really need to focus on is the right people! This is especially important if you are going someplace where you really cannot escape anyone; like, on a boat almost an hour from land and for 4 days straight. I am very thankful that we had 14 great and laid back individuals vacationing with us and there were zero personality clashes. Everyone got along wonderfully!
Additionally, this was a really inexpensive vacation. If you are able to fill your houseboat with the 14 people it sleeps (7 bedrooms but it can actually sleep two more if you count the wraparound couch), divided equally, your trip should be quite cheap! Our total cost ended up being only around $240 and that included the boat, gasoline, and dinners for the four nights we were there.
If you are in need of assistance or advice with getting moving on your own Lake Cumberland trip, please do not hesitate emailing me; I would be so happy to share more of my experience or elaborate more on something I lightly touched upon above!
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