My parents started vacationing at Grand Lake of the Cherokees back in the late 70's and I still love that lake. it's big (I think the channel is 27 miles from the head to dam) and deep. I used to see quite a few cigarettes/scarab types there in the 80's. The larger, wider areas of the channel ("Bigwater" arround Grove) where they hold sailboat regatas stays fairly choppy for a smaller boat like mine so I rarely venture there. I have heard that property has gotten expensive there but cannot say first-hand as I have not shopped. I've never seen Grand really ever get what I'd call crowded, even on a major holiday like 4 July.