Some of my friends, who live on lakes in other places, have asked me why I think living at the Iowa Great Lakes is so much more fun than it would be live on their lakes.

So I listed some of my reasons, about 30 of them, in fact!

1. Around 4 pm in the afternoon we have an ice cream truck that goes by our home.  (The photo is not of our truck, however, but ours is very similar!)

2.  We have a drive-in restaurant close enough to walk to.  This is a big treat for us, since it was closed for our first three summers here.

3.  We have over 10 restaurants that we can boat to!  

4. We have fireworks about a ten times each year! (at least we did this year)

5. We have a store dedicated to doughnuts, (Spudnuts) and a mini doughnut stand!  Now there is a kettle corn stand and a sno cone stand, too.

6. We have a historic amusement part, Arnold's Park.

7.  We have Rock and Roll concerts every Thursday night at the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association's Rock and Roll Museum and free concerts in the green space, every Saturday night in the summer.

 8. We have 7 golf courses within 10 miles of our home.  (We have three mini golf courses, too!)

8. We have fine dining, lots of fun restaurants and a plethora of sports bars that serve great food!

9. We have the Dickinson county fair several minutes away.  Home to not only the fair, but one of the many farmer's markets in the area.  The farmers markets feature produce, flowers, baked goods (including gluten free) and grass fed beef.

 

10. The famous "Clay County Fair" is 25 miles away with world class entertainment. (And lots and lots of junk food!)

11. We have lots of car shows.  They might feature classic cars at many of the "cruise ins" or the University of Okoboji Corvette Club shows.

12. We have a classic wooden boat show.

13. We have Regattas at the Okoboji Yacht Club.

 

14. We have a multiplex 7 screen movie theater, a drive-in movie theater, children's playhouse (Treasure Village) and a summer theater company (The Okoboji Summer Theater.)

15. We have the Pearson Lakes Art Center and the Sami Center for Performing arts. 

 16. There a lovely inn and wedding venue, The Wild Rose Inn.  (Which is close to the Nature Center and museums.)

17. We have historic sites, such as the Gardner cabin, which was the site of the Spirit Lake massacre.  We also have six museums. The Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum is a must see, along with the new Okoboji Classic Car museum, Clark's Acres, the Dickinson County historical museum, The Higgins Money Museum and the Westport rural schoolhouse museum.

 

The Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum

The Okoboji Classic Car Museum

18. We have almost a dozen antiques shops/malls! (And three huge antique shows/flea markets, every Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day.)  We also have occasional sales.

 

19. We have parades, city festivals and art shows.

 

20. We have an excursion boat, the Queen II.

21. We have a luxury interior design service, Twetten's Interiors.   Mr. Twetten has been published in 
Architectural Digest and many of the lakes residences have benefited from his style and good taste.  (We also have lots of home stores, gift stores and souvenir stores!)

22. We have lots of fun accessories stores and several nice women's clothing stores...one, Bungalow 29, is my favorite! 

 

23. We have a store dedicated to cookies (Hey, Good Cookies) and a chocolatier (Goodies.)  We also have an old fashioned candy store, called the Sugar Shack!

24.  We have three micro breweries and several wine bars and stores.  A winery is only 7 miles away.

West O Brewery

 Boji Beer Company

 Little Swan Lake Winery

25. We have lots of bars, but at one, you dine al fresco under grass roofed huts complete with duel bands and live palm trees!  It is the Barefoot Bar, of course.

26. We have a water park, Boji Splash!

27.  And Memorial Park in Spirit Lake has a splash pad for the kids and fantastic playground equipment!

Okay, now do you get the picture?

28. And we can boat from our lake to three smaller lakes and one of only three blue water lakes in the world, West Lake Okoboji!

29. And if that isn't enough fun for you there is always fishing.  And it is pretty good.  Big Spirit Lake is a fisherman's paradise!

(Caught, 2011)

Perhaps now you can see why living here is so much fun.  With bands at every bar and most restaurants, wine tastings, and events there is never a want for entertainment. 

30.However, when you need to unwind, the view is peaceful from our deck.  We have everything here for a fun and exciting summer, but we can find peace and quiet in our own back yard.  Perhaps that is the best reason for living here.