Lake Cumberland Houseboat Trip

Happy Monday!  Jen mentioned on Friday that I had been out of town and although we came back mid-week, it took me until now to feel like I was settled and back on track with our normal schedule. 

Some of you may remember last year I shared about our houseboat trip to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).  We had an amazing time and although it probably wasn't the kind of trip I would have planned, it was tons of fun.  So much fun that we decided to do it again this year. Same trip, same people, same location, different experience.  

If something could have gone wrong on the trip, it did.  Now, we still had SO much fun and made lots of amazing memories, but things didn't run quite as smoothly this year as it did last year or maybe the newness of the trip had worn off.  Let's just say 1 day with no running water, one potty that did work part of the time, a hot tub that had some major issues, a kid that almost broke a leg, the stomach bug that claimed 4 victims (including yours truly), a virus that claimed several others, and a crazy crew that joined our peaceful location for part of the week were just some of the mishaps that occurred during our week away.  

However, all of the mishaps and craziness aside, we still had so much fun with our friends and will have stories to laugh about for years to come.  

We woke up early and hit the road for our 5 hour drive to Lake Cumberland.  The kids were so excited and their anticipation was infectious!

We towed our boat there so we would have a ski boat for the week and easily be able to run to the marina for ice and other things we might need.  

I was laughing at all of the stuff I had in the front seat with me and one was this bag of chargers for every device we had on the trip.
#momlife in 2017  

On the way there I wore this adorable Hello, Sunshine tank.  The girls and I spotted it in Target when we were buying a few essentials for the trip and I knew I had to have it, along with a few others I'll share in a sec.  

tank//shorts (similar)//shoes//bag

After a quick grocery run we moved all of our things onto our home for the next week and set sail to find a great spot for the evening.  

We quickly fell into a routine that would last for the remainder of the week.  Lots of good food, yummy drinks, water sports and laughs!  

The girls wanted to bring matching tops for their friends and these Namaste on Vacay tanks were perfect!  They wore them as coverups some days and as cute tops on other days.  After seeing the gorgeous views and amazing weather, we were all feeling pretty sure we could stay on vacay!

On our second day we made the ride down to 76 Falls and tied up. We were the only ones there and had planned to stay for a few days.  The kids love swimming under the waterfall and it was such a gorgeous backdrop.  Well, a few days turned into five and before we knew it it was almost time to go home!  We just didn't want to leave!

We weren't alone though.  There were tons of houseboats that stayed for the long haul and lots of boats that would just come and hang out for the day.

We passed the time with all kinds of fun in the sun.  From just hanging out at the house boat, floating in the water, sliding, napping in hammocks, paddle boarding and boat rides, we definitely got our fill of Lake Life fun. The days all seemed to run together and that is a good thing when you're on vacation!

We stocked up on sunscreen for the week and the kids knew the drill. After breakfast they would all change from pajamas to swimsuits and before heading outside for the day they had to be lathered up. I used my favorite Beautycounter stick sunscreen for our faces and this new whipped sunscreen.  It goes on super smooth and is easy to rub in!

My friend and I decided that this was a trip, not a vacation and it is kind of like camping on the water.  It's full of good times and tan lines.  When I saw this tank before we left I just knew it would be the perfect description of this trip.  

tank//shorts

In fact, since the girls were bringing matching tanks for their friends, I wanted to bring a matching one for my friend, too!  

We have decided that we will not do this trip again next year, but one thing is for sure, we'll do some sort of summer vacation with our friends because we love them so much and any time spent with them is a good time! 

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Lake Cumberland {76 Falls} Houseboat Trip: Part 3

The past few days I've been sharing about our houseboat trip to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. It was an amazing experience and we had so much fun.  If you missed click below for the other posts. 

Part 1

Part 2

Mid week we decided to head down to the famous 76 falls.  This is a popular destination on Lake Cumberland and one we knew we wanted to see.  It was about a 2 hour drive in our houseboat to get there, but we took our time, enjoyed the view and slowly found our way to the south end of the lake.  

The drive was totally worth it when this was our view!  

It was really gorgeous and the falls look pretty small in these pics, but when you swim up to them it is really amazing how big they are.  

We all took turns swimming under the falls and I just kept thinking what an amazing experience that was for the kids. Heck, it was an amazing experience for me!  It was a first for me and I'm sure the kids will be one of the few who can say they swam under a waterfall over summer break.  

It doesn't look like there is a lot of space between the waterfall and the rock wall behind it, but after swimming through we discovered that it was actually about 15 feet from the waterfall to the back wall so that gave us the grand idea to drive our boat behind the falls, but not before telling the kids they were about to get wet!  It was a crazy fun experience and something we will all remember forever! 

For several days we had this cove completely to ourselves.  It was so peaceful, the stars were gorgeous at night and the sound of the waterfall was amazing.  We also got to see our own private fireworks show over the lake!  It was the perfect way to end the evening. 

We enjoyed this special spot for a few days and then as the weekend approached it turned into quite a party spot.  It was great people watching and just as the party was getting going it was time for our party to roll out and head home.  It was certainly a memorable vacation and one that we will be talking about for years to come.  

As promised, I wanted to share some random tips, tricks or advice that we learned along the way in case anyone else is interested in doing this type of vacation.  

*We bought food when we arrived in KY, but in the future I think I would go to Costco and get a lot of things before hand. 

*We bought what we though would be enough food for the week, but ended up needing to restock mid-week.  This actually worked out great because we wouldn't have had much more fridge/freezer space. The marinas had some things, but we had friends coming mid-week, so we sent our list to them and they picked what we needed. 

*If we did this trip again I would pack much lighter.  I brought way too many regular clothes.  We could have gotten by with swimsuits and coverups for the entire week with maybe 1 or two regular outfits.  We lived in our swimsuits from sun up to sun down. 

*There was a TV with DVD player so we brought a lot of DVD's to entertain the kids early in the morning or on a rainy afternoon.  

*Bring lots of bugspray or a bug replant like Thermacell.  The bugs were bad. 

*There were very limited kitchen supplies on the boat.  There were a few pots and pans, but no cookie sheet, no hot pads, and no kitchen towels.  There were plenty of dishes and silverware.  In the future I know to bring things like that. 

*The pillows provided were very thin, so I'm glad we brought ours from home. 

*There is no dishwasher so we used paper plates a lot to cut down on using up our water supply.  

*There is a dryer, but no washing machine.  We used dryer sheets to freshen towels as we dried them.  

*You must bring everything.  Toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, dish soap/sponge, trash bags, etc.  Only the bare minimum is there. 

*We had our kids wear life jackets at all times if the houseboat was moving and they were outside.  If we were parked and they were up top we let them go without if they were just sitting in the hot tub or eating lunch/dinner at the outdoor table.  If they were jumping, sliding, swimming, etc. they had to have their life jackets on.  

*Bring lots of extra stuff to entertain the kids.  Games, puzzles, coloring, etc. 

*Bring outdoor stuff for the kids.  Fishing poles, floats, noodles, water games/toys, etc. 

*Bring stuff to entertain adults at night like games, cards, etc. 

*There were two large coolers on the houseboat already that we used for drinks and ice, but we also brought two large Yeti Coolers that helped to store extra ice.  No ice maker in the freezer. 

*There are no lights on the top deck so after dark it was really dark.  Thankfully, our friend thought to bring Christmas lights and an extension cord, which was the perfect lighting for nighttime.  

*We also brought a few hammocks to hang on the top deck which were used a lot.  

*Extra folding camping/tailgate chairs were nice to have for extra seating. 

*We spent a lot more time hanging out at the houseboat than we though we would.  Originally we had planned to spend all day on the ski boat, but we just did shorter excursions.

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Lake Cumberland Houseboat Trip: Part 2

If you missed part 1 of our houseboat adventure click HERE.  I love, love, love the beach, but as I mentioned yesterday our family also loves the lake life.  When I saw this sign at one of the marinas I nodded my head in agreement.  

The next few days we fell into what would be our daily schedule for the week.  Wake up and see the amazing views of the lake.

Eat breakfast, put on swimsuits, and either swim, enjoy the sunshine or float in the water.  While the adults relaxed the kids jumped off the top of the house boat.  Over and over and over.  

Next up would involve a little wake-boarding or tubing and everyone would take turns. 

My little two are still learning to wake-board so they like to ride with the Mr. 

This girl is an old pro by now though and loves to ride every chance she gets! 

By this time everyone is usually hungry so it's back to the houseboat for lunch.  As you can see, most of the week it felt like we were the only ones there. 

We'd spend the rest of the afternoon doing pretty much more of the same.  Lost of swimming, fishing, jumping, paddle boarding and relaxing.  

We also did some turtle spotting.  The kids were convinced we saw this same turtle everywhere we went.  

That was until we went to the marina one day to get more ice and saw this: 

The most turtles in one place that I have ever seen in my life!  They were eating whatever people would throw down for them including crackers or the "fish food" that you could buy for $0.25. 

We  usually stayed in one place for two nights, but if we did decide to move locations on the lake this is how we traveled.  

We had planned to go out to eat a lot more than we did, but with a grill on the houseboat we just ended up cooking most nights which was nice after a long day on the water.  Everyone was just fine with that because it meant we could just be casual and the girls loved it because they wanted to wear their Simply Southern t-shirts every chance they got.  My sweet friend, K, got them for each of the girls!

We did decide to get all dolled up and go to dinner one night.  It was fun to change things up a bit! 

We ate at the Jamestown Marina and the food was really delicious.  

The views of the sunset on the way back to the houseboat were breathtaking!  

I'll share about the rest of our trip tomorrow so be sure to check back then!  I'll also be sharing tips, tricks and things we learned along the way for anyone else interested in a trip like this! 

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Lake Cumberland Houseboat Trip: Part 1

If you happen to follow us on Instagram you may have seen a few pictures about my houseboat trip last week.  Yes, you read that right.  Instead of taking a beach vacation like most other people in the summer, we spent a week on a houseboat. With another family. And lived to tell about it. HA!

A little history...until last year we had a lake house that we spent a ton of time at.  Some of our closest friends live in Florida and love the lake just as much as we do so every year they would come spend about a week with us at the lake house for a vacation. Their kids are the same age as ours and have grown up together so it has always been a really fun and special week.  We sold our lake house at the end of last summer so this year we decided instead of renting a house for a week we would rent a houseboat instead.

It took a little convincing for me, but I was excited for the adventure and what an adventure it was.  Our friends came to Atlanta and spent the night with us and then we all drove up to Lake Cumberland Kentucky together.  About lunch time we realized we were in the middle of nowhere and all getting very hungry, very quickly.  The kids were requesting Chick-fil-a, but there was no way we were going to find one of those.  Instead we stopped at one of the few restaurants we could find in Sparta, Tennessee and it actually ended up being delicious!  We love a good local BBQ spot and that is exactly what this was.

While we waited on food the kids even got to play checkers out on the front porch area of the restaurant. 

It was only a short drive later and we were almost there.  We stopped by the grocery store to load up on all that we would need for the next week (turn out to be enough for the next few days...we had to get a second round of groceries mid-week).  Then we were at Lake Cumberland and ready to move in to the houseboat for the week. Our experienced little travelers knew just what to do. 

We turned the corner of the Jamestown Marina's dock there she was!

The living space was actually a lot more spacious than I was imagining, but the bedrooms were smaller than what I was expecting.  I guess they have to be to squeeze in 6 rooms though.  The front patio space was large enough to have a 6 person table and a full size grill.  Also up top was another table, a slide off the back and a hot tub!  After checking everything out and claiming our rooms we got the quick once over by one of the guys at the dock and we were off!

It didn't drive very fast, but it made for a peaceful ride.  This lake has no homes on it, so the landscape is really beautiful with rock ledges and mountainous terrain. The kids immediately changed to swimsuits so they would be ready as soon as we got parked somewhere.  

We also brought our boat so that we would have an easy way to run back to the marina for ice, food we might run out of, and so we could wakeboard/tube during the day.  

We finally got the houseboat parked and tied up for the evening back in a cove and the kids couldn't wait to start sliding down the slide!

They absolutely loved this and had the best time sliding down into the water all week long.  We had to force them out of the water when it got dark, but promised them 6 more days of fun!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for more fun from our houseboat adventure and at the end of the week I will share some tips and things we learned along the way if anyone else ever plans a vacation like this one!

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