Eight Great Houseboat Vacations

Branson, Missouri, offers dam-made lakes, ramblingshorelines, and exciting nightlife (800-982-2628; www.tri-lakeshouseboat.com). For moreinformation on Branson, call 417-334-4136 or visitwww.explorebranson.com.

British Columbia is a natural wonderland ofemerald lakes and snow-crowned mountains (800-435-5622; www.hello-bc.com).

Chesapeake Bay has endless bays, rivers, and historichamlets. Crown Blue Line, known for its selfskipperedboats in Europe, offers rentals for visitors(888-355-9491; www.crownblueline.com).

Everglades National Park in Florida covers morethan 1.5 million acres. Check out worlds of wildlifefrom your boat on the water (941-695-3101).

Florida's Southwest offers visitors a chance toexplore mangrove creeks and find seashells on sandpits(800-237-6444; www.LeeIslandCoast.com).

Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, south of Lexington,has 1200 miles of wooded shoreline. Dine and wine,explore historic sites ashore, or visit a secluded cove(877-868-7735; www.tourseky.com).

The St. Johns River in Florida has wildlife, ghosttowns, and little-known tourist gems. See everythingthe river has to offer by renting a houseboatin DeLand, 45 minutes north of Orlando (800-248-2774; www.hontoon.com).

The Sacramento Delta offers miles of cruising.Book a houseboat from Forever Resorts and checkout spectacular cityscapes, remote farms, and vineyards(800-255-5561; www.foreverresorts.com).

Shasta Lake, north of Redding, California, is anamethyst pool cradled by Mount Shasta and LassenPeak. Relax in the hot tub on the upper deckadmiring the view while ribs sizzle on the barbie(800-874-7562; www.visitredding.org).