For The Love of Deep Creek // Garrett County, MD

There’s a certain aspect of my family’s history that’s a bit challenging to explain. Whenever any of us are talking to anyone – friend, coworker, acquaintance – and we mention that we have a “Lake House”, eyes get wide, jaws drop (just a little), and everyone suddenly makes some pretty big assumptions. I’ll be honest, even Derrick still struggles to wrap his mind around exactly what the Lake House is & means.

So, this would be my attempt to explain:
In straight up, non-fiction facts, my Great-Grandfather purchased a piece of lake-front property back in the 1950’s. It was a beautiful piece of land, situated on a quiet inlet called Penn Point. When he bought this slice of heaven, there was just a simple, one-room “shack” on the property.

As time passed, my Grandma got married, and my Grandfather fell head-over-heels in love with the Lake. He is responsible for most of the add-ons, improvements, and expansions that the little “shack” has gone thru. I have hundreds of happy memories centered around the Lake House & my Grandparents being there. Unfortunately, as they’ve gotten older, it’s been harder for them to make the 2-hour trek up into the mountains of Maryland, and it’s now been years since both of my Grandparents have been at the Lake House together.

My Dad has that same “head-over-heels” love for the Lake. So, growing up, from mid-April thru mid-October, my weekends all looked pretty much the same. Unless there was a “major” event going on to keep us home (like a wedding), we were packing up on Friday night, driving down to the Lake, and spending the weekend in Maryland.

And that’s the tricky part to explain to people – it’s not a “vacation” we go on every weekend. It’s literally our second home. Going to the Lake House on Friday nights & staying until Sunday evening is as normal for my family as it is for your family to go to church on Sunday morning. It’s just what we do. It’s “normal life” to us – my Dad has been going to the Lake every weekend in the spring/summer/fall for 53 years – literally since he was just a few months old.

Deep Creek Lake isn’t just another tourist attraction to us. We have a church we attend (and adore), we have friends, we have our favorite restaurants, and we have our favorite “hidden” hiking trails. We have a dock & boats and we spend as much time as humanly possible out in the sunshine, down at the Lake shore. And when the sun goes down, we build a fire & roast marshmallows, catch fireflies, & watch the stars.

When we go to the Lake, we leave everything at home behind: our businesses & jobs, our problems, our stresses – we pull up our driveway, take a big deep breath of that glorious mountain air, and it’s all gone. Completely forgotten until we get back in the car to head home Sunday night.

I like to think that as a small business owner himself, my Great-Grandfather knew that he needed a getaway. He needed a physical place that he could go to, that would allow him to relax – because (and if you own your own business, you 100% know this next statement to be true) it’s insanely tempting to just work all the time. My Grandfather owned his own business, my Dad owns his own business, and now I own my own business. Words cannot describe how wonderful it is to leave the business behind & go somewhere to relax & recharge. Because, I’ll be honest, if I’m home, my computer is sitting there staring at me – constantly reminding me that there are emails to write, photos to edit, blog posts to write, bookkeeping to do, files to organize, social media posts to schedule – the list just goes on and on.

So, why do I love Deep Creek? It’s a place to rest – and not alone, but with my family (who I love more than anything in the world). It’s a chance to reconnect with them, a chance to soak in some Vitamin D, and the freedom to “forget” about life back home. It’s permission to play card games for hours on end, to eat too much junk food, and to go for a swim. It’s an invitation to relax, to sip your morning coffee while watching the fog lift off the water, to breathe a little deeper than the break-neck pace of “home” allows. It’s the privilege to go on long walks (or don’t!), to tell jokes around the fire, and to feed the ducks.

Deep Creek Lake is so much more for me, so when my friend Jessica (a fellow wedding photographer – and an amazing one at that) told me about a passion project she wanted to put out into the world called, “For The Love Of Deep Creek” – I was 100% all on board. It’s been a long process, but the day has come for her to finally, officially release this incredible project into the wild!

For The Love is an insider’s guide to the Lake, life, and love centered around Deep Creek Lake, Maryland! Jessica has put a ton of work into sharing all the good stuff about the Lake – where to eat, where to stay, what to do, and what not to miss! It’s like having a best friend give you the low-down on her last vacation! And it’s all SO good.

One of the aspects of For The Love, is that Jessica wanted to create & sell t-shirts. Of course, she would like to make some profit off of all of this hard work she’s been doing, but she also wants to spread awareness & create these moments of “Omigosh, you know Deep Creek Lake too?” in order to bring people together.

This week is the official launch of For The Love & I’d love it if you’d pop over to the website, browse around, and then follow along on social media! Jessica is giving away all sorts of goodies this week, plus she is constantly sharing insider tips about what is going on around the Lake. And, for those of us who love the Lake, but can’t get there right now (our Lake House is officially closed up for the winter), we love following along & feeling connected to the Lake. That way, when spring rolls around & we’re back to spending our weekends there, we can jump right back into Lake Life!

Remember my family? I volunteered them as models a few weeks ago & we had a ton of fun shooting a bunch of photos for For The Love! Go get yourself a t-shirt – they’re seriously SO good (amazing quality, super soft, and they say “Deep Creek” on them – what’s not to love?)

Okay, these pumpkins aren’t related to the t-shirts & For The Love – but they are created by the sweet Kennedy of Kennedy’s Kreations! Her family is super good friends with my family, so I simply had to add her pumpkins into a few photos! Aren’t they the BEST?