How different than this weekend when everyone was celebrating the fourth of July on the Portage Lakes. On Saturday was the Portage Lakes annual boat parade featuring gaily decorated boats including a Viking warship and a boatload of "Baby Boomers" in oversized diapers and baby bonnets.

The weekend festivities also included a sand castle building contest at the state park beach. On the previous Saturday we sat on the deck and watched the antique boats streaming by on the way to the Antique Boat Show.

The July 4^th celebration finished with the largest privately funded fireworks display in Ohio. It is hard to imagine what an incredible experience this was with thousands of boats anchored together on the lake and with people crowded all along the lakefront at private homes and at the Portage Lakes State Park.

According to the website for the city of New Franklin in the Portage Lakes the crowd was estimated at about 100,000. The water seems to intensify the experience, with the fireworks reflected in the water and the booms reverberating off the land.

This year was even more enjoyable for my wife and me as we watched our 6 year old great nephew experience it for the first time. In his words it was "awesome."

By now you probably can tell that I believe I live in the best location in Northeast Ohio. How many other places can you own property right up to the waterline with your own private dock on a state park lake.

I invite you to share your thoughts and experiences about lakefront living either here at the Portage Lakes in Ohio or on some other body of water.