Lake-filled mountains of western Maryland are not too far away for a vacation home. - Washingtonian, February 2007

The lake-filled mountains of western Maryland were once too far away for a vcation home. Not anymore....

For Mike and Grace Shirey, Deep Creek Lake was irresistible. The Silver Spring couple had tired of beach traffic and ocean vacations but not the water. They decided ot try a mountain-lake resort.

At first they rented houses; they they bought. After owning several places on the lake, they built a large waterfront home on more than an acre in Deep Creek's Blakeslee subdivison.

"The small house on the block," Grace says. "A lot of our neighbors have indoor pools." The Shireys' second home features a lighthouselike tower to guide them home when returning by boat from lakesside restaurants.

For now, the Shireys, in their mid-fifties, are weeknders. But they feel at home.  "I'm sure there are bigger and better lakes," Mike says, "But, I tell you, I love this one."

For vacation homes and retirement spots, more Washingtonans are finding their way west. Years ago, the mountains of western Maryland and nearby Wester Virginia were a long haul from Washington. But in the early 1990s, Intrerstate 68 was finaished, running from I-70 at Hancock, west of Hagerstown, to Morgantown, roughly parallel to the Maryland/Pennsylvania border. The highway opened new vacation possiblities...

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