Articles on some of the world's most romantic destinations by
professional photographer Eleanor S. Morris

Kentucky Houseboat Vacations: Romantic & Fun
by Eleanor S. Morris

Southeast Kentucky has a chain of lovely blue lakes, and on one of them you can have a most unusual holiday. At Cumberland Lake at Grider Hill Dock, there are houseboats for rent, houseboats for two, for four, even more. And if you take one on the right days of the month, three days before or three days after a full moon, you'll see a most romantic sight. It's called Moonbow.

What's a moonbow? It's an evening rainbow by the light of the moon, caused by the moon's reflection through waterfalls along the lake, such as those at one end of the lake called 76 Falls. Quite a romantic sight to see. (The Kentucky Department of Parks has a brochure giving the dates of the moonbows for this year, as well as 2005 and 2006.)

Lake Cumberland is a magnificent lake extending from Wolf Creek Dam into seven counties to the area of Cumberland Falls. The shoreline is more than 1,200 miles long, and it claims to be one of the top scenic and fishing lakes in America. What can you catch from a comfortable chair on the front deck? Five species of bass, walleye, crappie, and trout.

Rear decks have a swim platform, a fixed swim and roof ladder, and for a big splash, a water slide from the roof down into the water.

Grider Hill dock has a great launch ramp for easy loading of your houseboat. They come equipped with practically everything you need, like all safety equipment, tableware, cookware, etc., for a carefree vacation. And best of all, no boat handling experience is needed. At the dock they'll teach you how to handle your "home away from home" in minutes.

Four different sizes of houseboats are for rent. The smallest, the 50-foot, has a 14 x 28-foot cabin, with Flybridge and Party Top. The largest, new this year, is a 73-foot boat, with an 18 x 48-foot cabin, that can sleep 12.

The Cuddy Cabins have queen-sized beds, with pillows and blankets provided. (Bring your own linens.) Kitchen areas are equipped with microwave oven, electric toaster, and a coffee maker, while the largest houseboat has a clothes dryer and a dishwasher. Each entertainment area has a VCR with screen. Bathrooms have showers or bathtubs.

For lazy cruising around the lake the houseboats go from seven to ten Mph. The maximum speed of a houseboat is ten to fourteen Mph, but you're not in it for speed!

Cumberland Lake claims to be the premier Striper lake in the U.S., the "gem of the bass fisherman's world." You're liable to come up with a 20-pound striper, a lunker smallmouth, a 3-pound crappie, or a string of blue gills that will make quite a load to lug from boat to dock.

But you don't have to fish to have wonderful time. Scenic 76 Falls not only has moonbows and a stream cascading over a high cliffs into the lake. It's a park, merely four miles away by boat.

Mighty Wolf Creek Dam, 258 feet tall, impounding Lake Cumberland, is also just four miles away by boat. And a National Fish Hatchery is below the dam.

Cumberland Lake is a 50,000-acre lake which stretches for more than 100 miles. The shore is so rugged that it would take a 1,225-mile voyage by boat to go around the entire shoreline. Behind it loom the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, with forests of hemlock, cedars and pines. It has been said that more than 2,000 boats can seclude themselves in the bays and coves so well that not one boat is in the way of another.

Since you're in Kentucky, you might be hankering for the sight of a real log cabin. Visit the Old Mulkey Meetinghouse State Historic Site in nearby Tompkinsville. The 1804 log meetinghouse played a part in The Great Awakening religious revival that swept the young United States. Buried in the churchyard is the congregation member Hannah, sister to Daniel Boone.

While in Tompkinsville, try some barbecue. There are no less than eight barbecue restaurants in this small town--the is famous for its barbecue.

For another adventure, cross the Cumberland River via McMillan's Ferry, one of several historic ferries still operating in eastern Kentucky. It's free, and operates 24 hours a day, all seven days of the week.

Then its back to the houseboat for some more lazy cruising on the shimmering waters of Lake Cumberland.