“A lake is a landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
Last Days of Summer
How do we only have three days left of summer? How?!?! I know I sound like a broken record, but this summer flew by! That being said, I soaked every minute up, and that is what I am still doing until the end! Summer is not over until September 22 friends, and you can find me down at the coast soaking it all up. Heck, even after the official calendar ends you can find me at the coast. Forever a mermaid, y’all!
Lake Life
I am the first to admit, that lake life holds very little appeal to me and that not all bodies of water are created equal. I am an ocean girl through and through. The sounds of the waves, laying in the sand, the ebb and flow of tides, are much more my speed, then the lakes I was use too. Especially as a child, where the water would be murky and dirty by the end of the summer and many were to small for boating, and while I do love water in general, pools and lakes do not have the allure that the ocean does. That said, if it is all that I have, I will take it. The last couple summers with the pandemic, I was living my best pool life, and this summer, I finally began to appreciate the lake life. It has been a long time coming, and while the ocean will always have my heart, I am not opposed to that lake life.
Over the summer I spent time in Connecticut and got to go boating on Candlewood Lake, the biggest lake in a sixty mile radius of New York City with five towns bordering it. It is a man-made lake as well as a reservoir, with gorgeous homes surrounding it and big on boating, especially pontoon boats. It is named after Candlewood Mountain in New Milford, which is one of the towns that borders it.
Pontoon Boating
It had been a long while since I had gone boating on a lake and I had never been on a pontoon boat before. Admittedly, I thought they were more of a southern boat then something I would find on the East Coast, but was pleasantly surprised. While I have ridden on speed boats before, the last few years it has mostly been sail boats on the ocean which is a different kind of animal, with the sails and ocean waves predominantly steering you. While sailboats do have a motor, their magic is in the sails, which only goes really fast if the wind is fierce.
Pontoons are flat boats with wide platforms, that are incredibly buoyant due to rafts attached to the bottom. They have a canopy, which can be up or down depending on your mood or weather. They are known as a party boat and while I know tons of friends who have them, I had never been on one until now. And lord was I missing out!
A group of us went out on a friend’s boat and it was so much fun. We made a day of it and brought food and snacks. Candlewood was hopping as we boated from one end to the other looking at the beautiful scenery and even prettier houses. Because of how the Pontoon Boat is designed, with ladders in the back and a large platform in the front, it makes it great for jumping into the water to go swimming or to just float in the water. it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon as summer is winding down. The sun was out, the water was warm, and the company was the best! It doesn’t get better then that!
Do you prefer the lake or the ocean better? Have you been on a boat this summer?
