How do you expand your life experiences without having to leave the Houston area? Some Memorial area residents have answered that question by joining Lakewood Yacht Club located off NASA Road 1 on nearby Clear Lake. Long time Memorial area residents, Steve and Ellen Robinson, owners of a Carver motor yacht, love the boating life. Ellen states: Lakewood is the best getaway. It takes less than an hour to drive from our home to our boat and as we enter the tree-shaded Lakewood Yacht Club grounds we are in a whole different world. There are so many things that attract us to the boating lifestyle. Mostly it's the pure feeling of relaxation that comes over us when out on the water. The clouds and even the sunsets are more beautiful than in town.
We also have made so many lifelong friends and have found a lifestyle we were not aware that existed so near our home. We have been empty nesters for a couple of years now and can't imagine life without our boating lifestyle and Lakewood friends.
Locke and Camille Bryan, who live in the Memorial area and moor their Grand Banks motor yacht at Lakewood Yacht Club, feel the same way. Locke explained: We have loved being around and on the water all of our married life. Not only is it the sun and water but there is always a sense of freedom and adventure. The beauty of Lakewood Yacht Club is that you are around a large and diverse group of fellow boaters where there are activities all centered on friendship and a shared “love of the sea.”
Now that we are retired, we try to get out on the water a couple of times a month. We really have enjoyed the “Cruiser Group” at Lakewood. This group sets up short trips in the bay as well as all over the Texas Coast. Last year we cruised down to Port Aransas to help with the Harvest Moon Regatta, an annual race from Galveston to Port A involving as many as 200 boats. It was a magical ride down the coast and then an action-packed couple of days helping the sailboats finish the race and dock at the marina. The leisurely ride back to Houston down the Intracoastal Waterway was even more spectacular!
Locke said that he and Camille were surprised to learn that some members of Lakewood have boats, while others don’t. Some of our friends are interested in sailboat racing; some just want laid back family time out on the water. There are motor and sailing boats of all sizes, runabouts, fishing boats, dinghies and kayaks, Locke described. Others simply take advantage of the wide variety of interest groups at the Club such as tennis, fishing, scuba diving, book club, and on and on. Couple that with the wonderful clubhouse restaurant and swimming pool on 37 acres only a short drive from our Memorial area home, Locke explained, and you’re living in the best of both worlds.
Memorial area residents, Mike Downs (a club officer of LYC) and his wife Jane, love their post-retirement life with boating. We pack up the car, take a short drive, and are on the water within an hour, explained Mike. We both grew up loving water activities and LYC provides a wonderful way to balance city living. In recent years, we have joined our fellow boaters and cruised our Catalina 44.5’ sailboat, “Downtown,” along Texas and Louisiana coastal waters. The Club gives us the opportunity to enjoy sailing, fishing, and kayaking as well as an active social life. We love living in the Memorial area and hope to live here for years to come, but it is great to balance that with a boating life at Lakewood Yacht Club.
By: Jane Downs
