We didn’t get here till midnight last night, although our “plan” was to come down on Thursday. Nevertheless, I am just happy to finally be here and The Kid is ecstatic that she got to bring a niece along. Actually, it makes my life a lot easier when The Kid has a friend or relative to play with.

I was wondering what I had left here from last year and was happily surprised to see a drawer full of clothing that I apparently bought at the end of last summer. But of course -  my elation turned to depression when I realized I am a hell of a lot bigger than I was last year. Maybe I will wear them next year…

Kelly and Denny, some Sioux Falls friends,  joined us for breakfast at the Lighthouse. I was happy that we got there before noon so I could order breakfast. This was the first time I ordered the eggs benedict and it was great! Since it’s my first weekend at the lake this year, it’s 4th of July weekend and any other justification for boozing before lunchtime I could think of, I also had 2 mimosas. Yummy! Afterwards we stopped at the Barn Swallow (I have a rant on another post).

Anyway, we were feeling cranky about the game and left The Endzone. There was 2 minutes left to play and San Fransisco had just got a touchdown to give them a 4 point lead. Well that pissy attitude certainly wasn’t necessary because when we got back to the condo and turned on the tv (with 2 seconds to go) we see Brett Favre perform a miracle.

AMAZING!!

We have had the boat stored at both Mau Marine and Parks Marina in previous years but figured it made more sense to take it home. It’s a lot of money to store the boat there and so The Man bought a trailor and for the past few years, stores it at home in Sioux Falls. Also, he can pull the boat out to fill it at the station where gas is $1 cheaper a gallon than on the water.

The part I personally hate is taking the canopy off the lift (although when I compare it to putting the damn thing on it’s a dream). I become intimately aquainted with many spider varieties and can’t wait to hit the shower afterwards. Then we have to load up the boat and clean it out and tarp it and…..yuck.

It was windy and cold today. I complained the whole time but The Man promised I could sleep on the way home. That gave me something to look  forward to since he usually makes me drive back to Sioux Falls. No way was I driving all the way home with the Titanic hooked to the back of the truck!

Saturday morning we decided to met up with some Sioux Falls friends:  Heather, who is my neighbor, her mom, Linda, and Heather’s son, Jacob. They don’t come to Okoboji often so we were eager to show them a good time. The weather was a little chili on the water, so we piled blankets and towels in the boat.

Our friends were staying at Village West so we boated over there for a great brunch the girls cooked for us. From there we showed them the Harbor and then off to The Barefoot Bar.   We spent a couple hours there before heading back to our condo. I wanted to show them The Barn Swallow and that took another hour so we were ready for dinner after that. The girls took The Man’s truck back to their time-share to get ready and by 8 we were ready to go.

Geppettos was our choice for the evening since we wanted to show our friends the finer side of Boji. The Kid and my friend’s kid were a little tired and consequently they were a it fidgety during dinner. The restaurant wasn’t very busy so I don’t  think any other diners noticed. Our meal was fine but it was obvious that the season is over since the list of “out of stock” menu items was longer than the available ones.

After dinner,  Heather’s mom offered to watch the kids so we could go out. The music from Captain’s was sounding pretty good from the street so we decided to stop there for a drink. The Fishheads were playing 70s and 80s and for some old white guys, they sounded awesome!

Stories will be told for years to come about that night…

Some barely 18 kid wearing Wranglers and dirty cowboy boots did an amazing job singing some Johnny Cash tunes while one of his friends got the bar moving with Baby Got Back.

I got a lecture from The Man on the way home for texting too much during the evening -  I thought I would be chastised for drinking too much (yeah, I did that too).

The Kid and I each had our customary grilled cheese and it was yummy. Grandma complained about her pork loin like grandma’s do who are used to eating a farm cooked pork loin.  She said her potato salad was great. The waitress was really nice even though every other diner was ignoring the large sign that said: PLEASE DON’T CHANGE TABLES AFTER BEING SEATED.

Horseplay
Alota Colada
Lake Livin’
Tequila Jack

Tons of bikers here today. Perfect weather for motorcycles! Food was great and I’m amazed at how the waitresses can be so cheerful with all the people packed in here!

Now, I have said it before and I’ll say it again, Butch Parks (the owner of the Parks Marina empire) is a marketing genius. Where so many other bars try to attract the young, single crowd, Butch Parks just appeals to, well…everyone! While mom and dad have a cocktail or a coke, the kids are off having their own kind of fun. Both of his beach bars have a great children’s area with sand, swings and water. When a band is playing, he’ll even hand out hoola hoops to the kids so they can join in the fun. On more than one occasion, The Man and I have had to explain why The Kid tells everyone she loves “The Tiki Bar.”

And the clothes! I know I’ve mentioned before that my Okoboji attire consists of “Barefoot Bar” clothes and I am not kidding.  I left my credit card at the condo and had $60 cash in my beach bag – just enough for another “Barefoot Bar” t-shirt and hat. Every year the clothing area gets bigger and you rarely find the same things that were there the year before. The quality is very good and the price is very fair. Best of all, the huge selection of cool, casual “barefoot” clothes has something to appeal to every age. Add the toys, games and plethora of novelty items and well…did I say marketing genius?

We loaded The Man’s boat with  and found our spot easily. The Kid had another 6-year-old friend with her who had never been on a boat. I was excited to watch the fireworks with them, since I get to experience the magic through their eyes. We had 2 other couples with us and settled in with a beer and blankets.

At 10pm, all the boats set their radio dial to the station sponsering the fireworks. Music and fireworks seemed perfectly synchronized and we enjoyed Lee Greenwood (God Bless the USA), Neil Diamond (Coming to America), Louis Armstrong (Its a wonderful world), Ray Charles (America) and Elvis Presley (Glory, Glory Halleluliah), among others. I have seen the 4th of  July fireworks show for 10 years and I believe this was the best one yet!

Definately an experience I recommend to everyone!