LAKE OKOBOJI

I had never heard of Lake Okoboji until last summer. Since one of my timeshare weeks was expiring at the end of August, I looked for a place close and drivable, hopefully in Minnesota or Iowa. What I found available was a Studio Unit at Sunrise Cove in Village West on Lake Okoboji in Spirit Lake, Iowa. I did some research on the area and found Lake Okoboji was known as the Great Lakes area of Iowa, so I went ahead and booked it. The drive wasn’t bad, only about three hours south of my house. Spirit Lake was a small town with a cute little old style downtown area. Arnold’s Park, a neighboring town on the lake, had an amusement park along with shopping, dining and boat rides. Cabins, homes, resorts, stores and restaurants surround all shores of the lake. The weather wasn’t the best as it was cool and rainy which was unusual for August but it proved to be relaxing just the same. I went shopping in all the cute little shops and antique stores looking for something unique to the area. Finding the book, Okoboji, by Peter Davidson turned out to be just what I was looking for as it was about Lake Okoboji and even included a love story. Back at the resort, I managed to complete the edits on my manuscript, Taking Chances, which was the goal for the weekend. Mission accomplished! The resort I stayed at offered a free boat ride including a tour of the lake, so I signed up. Of course it rained, but the tour boat went out anyway. It was a nice way to hear all about the history of the lake and its long time residents. On the way out of town, I stopped at the local book store, Hill Avenue Books, located on the main street in Spirit Lake. I wanted to see what type of books they carried and after chatting with the owner I mentioned my book, Real Norwegians Eat Lutefisk. I wasn’t sure if she even knew what Lutefisk was, but to my surprise she told me they had Lutefisk dinners in Spirit Lake. After looking at a copy of my book she purchased a couple copies for her store! Lake Okoboji proved to be an interesting resort lake area where I could relax, work on my writing and even sell my writing!