Okobojiville

My favorite place to eat in Okoboji is The Coffee Cup.  Nothing fancy about it and you might as well bring a novel to read while you wait for your food, but really - it’s the best. The food is excellent, the place is casual and the people are nice. The people are ALWAYS nice. We love it and feel it is worth waiting to get in the door after church when the waiting line spills out onto the highway. Really. It’s worth it. And since The Kid pointed out the spider on the ceiling in the bathroom, there aren’t any bugs either!

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I am always surprised at how packed church is on Sundays in Okoboji.  Actually, the church we go to is in Arnold’s Park which is just down the street and I’m not sure where Okoboji ends and Arnold’s Park begins. It’s all Okoboji to me anyway (no offense but to me Arnold’s Park is just that - the park. The amusement park to be exact. Anyway, back to the church thing…

Church is packed into this large building on the main street. The sides are garage doors which depending on the weather, maybe pulled up or not. There is nothing boring about this church and sometimes I wish church could have been this fun growing up. Maybe getting up on Sunday morning wouldn’t have taken so much effort. Usually there is some story (I say story because it isn’t anything like a traditional sermon) sprinkled with anecdotes and personal details of the life of the storyteller/paster.  Looking around at all the visitors - some in lake attire consisting of flipflops and wrinkled Barefoot Bar t-shirts, I can’t help but smile at all the college kids.  I always assume their parents encouraged them to get a dose of spirituality after the previous night’s lake party but that is probably presumptuous. We are, afterall, in Dutch country.

Tags: church, lakes church

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Raining in Okoboji again. We slept till noon for a change and then The Man took The Kid, The Niece and me to lunch at The Endzone. The club sandwich I had was pretty good and the weather was comfortable for sitting outside. My only complaint was the chairs on the patio (those kind that you have to sit way back in a reclining position so only your knees touch the table.)

From there The Man dropped us (The Kid and The Niece) off at Arnolds Park. Now, I had previously bought a summer pass for The Kid and me so I figured it I wasn’t going to go on any rides, then The Niece could use it. No such luck. The Kid and I got our wristbands and I quickly ducked behind the Tipee House to peel mine off and put it on The Niece. Problem solved although not without the guilt of knowing The Kid was wondering if Her Mom just did something terribly naughty.

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I love storms. I always have. The more volatile the weather, the happier I am. I wonder what that says about me? Anyway, there are severe thunderstorms and tornadoes around west of us. I just want to hear thunder, see lightening, and smell rain…in that order.

I spent all last week in the Black Hills and it rained the whole time. I didn’t mind at all. 

Tags: lightening, rain, storms, thunder, thunderstorms, tornadoes

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I was cleaning out my dresser the other day and I realized I have as many “okoboji” clothing items as I do “Harley Davidson.”  For years, I’ve had a special drawer and closet shelf for my Harley clothes, but I didn’t know I had this many Boji clothes. I think most of them say “Barefoot Bar” on them. I probably should just leave them at the condo so I don’t have to pack anything when I go there.

Tags: barefoot bar, Harley Davidson, okoboji

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I am not going to Okoboji this weekend. No, I’m not complaining about Okoboji or the Condo or the Man (well…sometimes) but just the whole “have to” thing. Since we have a condo in Boji we “have to” go every weekend. Heaven forbid we waste one precious weekend of something that we (he) paid for. So, consequently, I get a little bucky about going to Okoboji and DAMNIT, I’m not going this weekend! I have things to do and I hate feeling like I “have to” do anything so…I AM NOT GOING.

Tags: condo, okoboji, sioux falls, weekend

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The Man promised The Kid that I would take her to Arnold’s Park today. I am not sure how that happened but after a little nap I was ready to go. The Man was busy trying to get a friend’s van started so The Kid and I went by ourselves. When we got there, the first thing we did was get our season pass. for $52 its a pretty good deal for those of us coming to Boji every weekend. Then it was off to get a Nutty Bar for me and a cone for The Kid. She is even fussier than I am. She only likes vanilla ice cream.

It took all of 5 minutes for The Kid to realize she is now tall enough to ride the roller coaster. I didn’t really want to but I was hesitant to let her go by herself. Usually when I ride it I’m unable to move for a couple of days due to strained muscles in my back. I suppose it’s an age thing. The Arnold’s Park roller coaster was the first one I ever went on when I was a kid and I remember that day well. I didn’t want to wreck the moment for her so I strapped myself in.

Tags: arnolds park, nutty bar

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I slept in this morning. The Kid woke me up and said The Man was taking her to breakfast at the Lighthouse. Now, I do like the Lighthouse but not three mornings in a row! I told them to go without me which gave me an extra hour to snooze. When they came back, we hung around a few hours watching black & white war movies on the AMC channel.

Later, a phonecall from some friends prompted us to head over to The Barefoot Bar again. We tend to go there for most of our entertainment needs for various reasons, including the fact that there is a children’s play area for The Kid. Whoever planned for this bar to be “a family fun place”  is a marketing genius. No need for a sitter. The parents have fun, the kids have fun and everyone wins.

I don’t know who the entertainment was since I was engaged in conversation the whole time. I am rather proud of myself that I didn’t spend the usual hundred bucks on Barefoot Bar clothing and accessories…not today anyway (yesterday was a different story.) By the end of the summer we are usually well outfitted in Okoboji clothing and most of it advertises either The Barefoot Bar or Okoboji Boatworks. Did I mention genius marketing?

Tags: barefoot bar, lighthouse, okoboji boatworks, tiki bar

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The day actually turned out much nicer than I was expecting. We decided to (finally) put the boat in the water. The Man takes it home off season so we have to get it in the water and onto the boatlift at the condo. He used to store it here  in Boji off season but decided the cost was worth taking it home. After washing down the exterior of the boat (yet again) The Man backed the Dually down and in a matter of minutes, the boat was in Eastlake. We all jumped in and off we went. The boat is a twin engine SeaRay and has an awesome ride. We went right over to Westlake (The Man, The Kid, The BFF, BFF’s Kid and me.) After cruising around briefly, we decided to go back to Eastlake to The Barefoot Bar. Bff hadn’t been there before and I’d been bragging it up for so long so we thought we’d go there.

After pizza and beers and listening to The Dueling Pianos (The Man’s favorite Tiki Bar entertainment) for a couple hours, BFF stated that she and her son had to get going.

Back to the condo and I took a nap.

Tags: beer, Boating, Dueling Pianos, Eastlake, pizza, SeaRay, tiki bar, Westlake

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The Kid wanted to go “where we went yesterday” for breakfast and this time we wanted to make it to the Lighthouse before they stopped serving breakfast. It was packed this morning and we had to wait in the holding pen (that’s the bar area where they don’t serve food.) I consumed myself with thoughts of guilt over not making it to church this morning, although Rev Schuller on TV is about as good as it gets IMHO. His sermon was a tearjerker - recounting the forgiveness of a mother toward the kamikaze soldiers that killed her son in WW2.  I would really like to see the Crystal Cathedral someday…

While waiting to be seated at the Lighthouse, I had to go outside for a bit due to a severe hotflash. Immediately I thought of the book I had at home (given to me 5 years ago by a  grinning friend) called Hot Flashes and Warm Bottles.  The book is a humorous look at being a “late in life mommy” which is just another way to say, “you won’t live long enough to see your grandchildren.”

OK…back at the restaurant…my cheese omelet was great (lotsa cheese, just the way I like it) but the hard and crusty toast sucked. We had the same waitress as  yesterday who was very cheerful and friendly considering it was standing room only. 

BFF and her 17 year old showed up on the way back from a graduation party in Spirit Lake and decided to stay the day. Back at the condo, The Man turned on the TV and got comfortable, which made me wonder if we really would get the boat in the water today?

Tags: church, hotflash, lighthouse, rev schuler

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