Eight years ago, four Californians found Diamond Lake Resort for sale on eBay for the second time. They were interested in the campground and RV park when it appeared on the website six years before that, but they didn’t buy it. They grew to regret that decision, so they jumped at the second chance – Brian and Janice Smith and Laurie and Joe Meythaler, all of Burbank, Calif., flew out to see the 157-acre resort, fell in love with its potential and purchased the park within a year.
The Smiths and Meythalers had camped for years with 10 families in California. ”Our goal the entire time was to make this a family friendly park, because that’s what we had done,” Laurie says. Every year, the owners bring something new to the facility – pedal boats, a pizza parlor, miniature golf.
In the fall, Diamond Lake Resort hosts Boo Fest, a Halloween celebration encompassing the final three weekends of October. This year, the 270-site RV park was sold out each weekend of the month.
Campers have come to Diamond Lake since it opened in 1968. Children have grown up among the golf carts and barbecue contests. Couples have fallen in love and been married among the trees and fishing ponds.
But Diamond Lake’s main attraction, many say, is the people. As the summer season ends in early November, campers prepare say goodbye for the winter.
“It’s like leaving a neighborhood, leaving your friends,” says Elizabeth Staples of Fordsville, Ky.
Laurie embraces that sense of community. She says she never wants to move away from Kentucky.
“I love it here. Love it,” she says. “They are real, genuine people.”
