Line 'em up!   Summer's here!

How many houseboats are in your line-up this summer? Just one tucked away in that special, secret, secluded, cove? Or... several houseboats with enough room for your whole extended crew lined up on the biggest beach you can find?

Whether you're up for a quiet secluded getaway or a fun, fabulous, full on vacation for the whole gang, here's to a great summer vacation!

Is It "Luxury" yet?

It's an age old question among houseboaters. Is this "Luxury yet?"
Many of us grew up houseboating "back in the day" when houseboats were smaller, with bunk beds, no inverters, no towels, no sheets, no dishwashers, no TVs, etc...

You get the picture. Our kids laugh at us now when we tell these stories of houseboating "hardship and sacrifice." They ask if we also had problems with flying dinosaurs swooping in to swipe the steaks off of our grills. To which... most of us answer... "there were no grills on the houseboats in those days..." (GASP!!!)

Ok, so here we are in 2014, the new millennium of houseboating has arrived. We all have phones in our pockets (and they even work out on the lakes). There are power outlets on the houseboats to power our "stuff," there is air conditioning to keep us cool, TVs to watch movies on at night, full kitchens with just about everything we could need to cook up a swell meal, queen size beds with sheets, blankets, and pillows to spread out on, towels in the bathrooms, wet waterslides to get us from the top deck to the water quickly, and gas bbq grills right there on the front deck. The list goes on...

The questions remain, however:
Have we achieved luxury?
Are we getting close?

Well... it depends on how you define luxury...
If you are looking for someone to fix your bed every day, it's not going to happen. If you're hoping to be waited on with a full menu and wine list at your disposal, then this is definitely not "luxury."

If, however, you consider choosing your own location and room view, this is it. If you like to eat when you are ready, not when the restaurant says you can, this is it. If you don't want to care whether your bed is fixed or not, then this IS luxury!

Most of all, if you want to be with your family and friends without distractions, without schedules, without lines, and without other people you don't know being involved in your daily activities, then houseboating always has been "luxury!"

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"That's the address, use it!"

Waterways is what it is because of you!
Your stories, tips and anecdotes are what have made Waterways for the last 6 years.

Who would have thought about aerobics on the top deck of a houseboat or having a spa day on the beach, but real, live, fun, crazy, and very experienced houseboaters?

Houseboaters! Who else would think up having a wedding cake with a jet ski circling the icing, after a marina wedding and reception, followed by a honeymoon voyage on a houseboat?

Only a houseboater would think up staging kids' activities on a houseboat top deck during the hottest part of the day... to avoid sunburn?

Take the board game survey we did a while back. The question was, "What is your favorite board game on a houseboat vacation?" The winner by a long shot was Battleship. Battleship we asked? So... we wrote to a few of you and asked why? The answer: "The kids like to play Battleship because one team goes on the top deck and the other stays below, and... they use the houseboat intercom to relay the moves back and forth." That answer could only come from... or be obvious to... experienced houseboaters!

And... remember the idea about making a tent with a couple clothespins? From a houseboater. The recent Eggos controversy, Houseboaters! Bringing squirt guns, lots of them? Houseboaters! Wet wipes for your eyes? Houseboaters!

Now it's your turn. Send in YOUR OWN stories, tips, advice, and photos:
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