Lake life is all anyone could ever ask for. Being on a lake, whether for just a weekend or the entire summer, is the best feeling. A lot of people I know would rather go to a beach and tan for the summer, but me? Well, you wouldn’t see me anywhere but in Lake George, NY.

I’ve spent at least one weekend there every summer of my life. And now, at 20-years-old, my parents bought a lake house up in the Lake George area.

Going up to the cabin is one of my favorite things to do. There are endless things to do. You don’t have to go up to the area to go into town and spend money. When you have a lake and warm weather, you need nothing more but your swim suit. I typically spend the beginning of May until the end of September swimming because since our lake is small, it gets warmer quicker and stays warmer longer.

I’ve picked up some fun lake activities since we first got the house. I love paddle boarding. It takes a lot more skill than it looks. You’re literally standing on a board with a one sided paddle balancing and rowing yourself around the lake. To make it even more challenging, my dogs now lay on the paddle board with me.

Being on the lake is a great workout even if you’re just doing things for fun. You end up swimming all day and working your core without even realizing it, and then the next day, you wonder why it’s so difficult to get out of bed. But for some reason, you just continue swimming, paddle boarding, or kayaking around the lake.

Being in the Lake George area brings a lot more than the lake itself. There is the best ice cream stand around there: Martha’s Dandee Crème. This ice cream stand has over 20 different flavors of soft serve at the cheapest prices you’ll ever see. You can get a large ice cream cone, which is no joke bigger than your head, for only around $3. Their kid sizes are the size of a small anywhere else, and at half the cost. Most of the time, their lines are extremely long, but you never wait more than 10 minutes to get to the front of the line and you wait almost no time at all to be served your ice cream.

Along with a giant ice cream stand being a big attraction, I look forward to going to the drive-in. The Glen Drive In is one of the best choices on “a night in” while you’re on vacation. It costs almost nothing to get in and they are always playing the top movies that are showing in theaters that week. Also, they allow dogs to come in for free so why wouldn’t you want to lay around watching a huge outdoor movie with your family and pets?

The morning after a movie at the drive in, I typically look for other things to do around. Recently, I discovered an outdoor “jungle gym.” It’s called, The Adirondack Extreme. You climb up in the trees and the longer you go, the harder it gets. You continue between each course with difficult tasks using your strength and balance. If you don’t like heights, you won’t like this activity. But if you do, it will keep you busy for 3-4 hours. The best time to go is early in the morning, especially on a hot day. While changing courses, you take a zip-line through the tree tops. This is a great workout for those who normally don’t use their upper body.

After that, I normally head back to the lake for a nice relaxing second half of the day. The great part about being on a lake is that you don’t have to be doing anything at all to enjoy it. You can grab a chair and sit on the dock looking out at the endless views, or you can grab a float and take a nap in the middle of the lake with the current taking you away.

Lake George offers so much more than spending money, but if that’s what you like to do on your getaway, there is an outlet shopping center as well. The outlets have a big variety of stores that include huge sales. They are open all year round so even when you come to Lake George in the freezing cold, you have an escape.

The lake life never ends, I know I say how much I love it during the warm months but you can’t forget about the unbelievable beauty the snow brings in the winter. Once again in the winter, there are unlimited things to do. You can go tubbing down a giant hill, skating on the ice, snow shoeing, or even sit around a camp fire. In the Adirondacks it gets extremely cold. The deeper you are, the colder it gets. But when you’re playing ice hockey and sprinting around the lake, you’re not cold. You’re sweating and wanting to take off your layers, even when the temperature in the negatives.

But needless to say, I love the lake life. The Lake George area has endless things to offer for everyone. All big lake areas have things similar things to offer but Lake George is my favorite. I wouldn’t trade the lake life for anything.