Shannon's Story

Shannon and her family enjoying Greer's Ferry Lake

Photo:
Seated in Front: Taylor
Back from L to R: Luke, Shannon, and Matt

Background:  July 30th, 2011.  We were working our store in Canton during the (August) First Monday Trade Days.  It was Saturday, late morning or possibly close to noon and we were dripping with sweat as the temperature that day was pushing 110 degrees with humidity off the chart.  This is when we met Shannon and Matt who had traveled from St. Louis to Canton because of the article in the June issue of Southern Living.

Shannon and her husband Matt are the quintessential customer.  Their family and their story is exactly the reason Lakehouse Outfitters exists.  It’s a story we couldn’t help but share; written from Shannon’s perspective.

Enjoy!

Shannon's Story:

Our Home is in Town & Country, Missouri (a St. Louis Suburb)
Our Lake House is located in Tannenbaum Resort on Greers Ferry Lake, Arkansas

Why Greers Ferry?  Matt, my husband, has been coming to Greer's Ferry Lake since he was a toddler.   When we moved back to Little Rock in 1996, Greers Ferry Lake is one of the first places he brought me and I fell in love with its natural beauty, protected shoreline and crystal clear water.
 
We are very fortunate to have found Camp Torbett, our current lake house.  It has exposed wood ceilings, pine floors, a vintage fireplace out of a house in New Orleans and a fantastic boy's bunk room.  Most importantly it is a spacious yet cozy, charming and delightful place to unwind and recharge! It's not only a place for our family, but a place to connect with the families and friends that we've made along the way during our life together!

We love having a lake house because we live hectic lives and the lake house requires us to: sit back; reflect; be silly; eat too much; sleep too much; play too much; and laugh too much and appreciate as much!

Little Known Fact About Greers Ferry Lake:    This year was the 25th World Championship Cardboard Boat Races in Heber Springs, AR (on the lake at Sandy Beach).  Usually held in July, children and adults spend weeks building and then racing their fine boating creations. It's so much fun to sit on the water on your boat or at Sandy Beach and see all of the outstanding boat designs!
 
What brought me to Canton/biggest take aways/pleasantly surprised:  My best friend of 20 years, a sixth generation Texan, has been talking about Canton for years.  It didn't sound all that appealing until my husband and I saw the June 2011 article in Southern Living and we decided to plan a trip during the hottest time of the year August to come visit! Lakehouse Outfitters was at the top of the list and my friend made me wait nearly 3 hours to get there, because she wanted to provide me with a methodical introduction to Canton!  I'm so glad she did because my husband and I were BLOWN away by the variety and breadth of items available in Canton.  It was overwhelming trying to process everything we saw, determine what we needed and come to grips with all the things we wanted.  We were also so impressed with vendor attitudes and willingness to help.

Did we make any unexpected purchases at Canton?  We bought a cedar cooler bar for our lake house and we were hoping to find a new mirror and ended up buying a pair of vintage windows that I replaced the glass with mirrors and they are one of my favorite finds ever!  We are returning again in October as a side trip for the Arkansas and Texas A&M game at Cowboys Stadium.  My husband, who is channeling his inner Verne Yip (HGTV) already has already begun to compile a list of things we need to get for our city home and lake home as well as unique gifts that we can give to family and friends this holiday season.

I think the highlight for me was meeting Cindy and getting to order our Greers Ferry Lake map for our lake house and the guestbook.  There's something very satisfying when a visit exceeds your expectations and that's what our interactions with Lake House Outfitters was.  When our map arrived, we were like kids at Christmas and we've placed over our bench of beach towels which is by the door exiting the house out to the lake.  The map hasn't been up very long, but EVERYONE has commented that they love the map and how it totally suits the feel of our house. And our visitors have loved the guestbook and we know it will become a memory keeper of all the wonderful weekends that we will have with friends and family in the years to come!