WASHINGTONIANS of means tend to buy their second homes at the seashore. But increasingly they are heading to Deep Creek Lake, a mountain resort region in the Allegheny Mountains of far western Maryland for relief from traditional urban stress, humidity and Washington’s own particular brand of political ennui. - NY Times 9/14/07

What draws them is the serpentine, 13-mile-long lake, on which are some 3,100 docks and slips, to which are tethered as many as 5,300 boats. Deep Creek Lake is the largest artificial body of water in the state, created in 1925 when a Pennsylvania utility flooded the natural creek to generate electricity.

The lake, in Garrett County, quickly became a vacation spot for the affluent of Pittsburgh, who built log cabins on its shores. When the completion of Interstate 68 in 1991 cut the drive from Washington to three hours, real estate agents say, the number of Washingtonians flocking to the area surged — along with home prices...