Road Tips

The Ritz - Arnolds Park, IA

On our last night on vacation in the Lake Okoboji area of Northwest Iowa this past summer, our friends, Craig and Kathy Evert, came and picked us up at the Pioneer Beach Resort where we stayed.  They took us around to a couple bars in the area - the Softail Saloon in Superior, IA, a large biker-friendly bar in a small town just to the east of Spirit Lake, then to The Gardens in Arnolds Park.  For dinner, we ended up at a place called The Ritz in Arnolds Park.  I had inquired about The Ritz earlier in the week and I heard they had both great pizza and a top-notch cheeseburger.  The dilemma - can I have both for dinner?   (Photo courtesy Sioux City Journal)

The Ritz is a long time institution in the Iowa Great Lakes area. For over 30 years, the bar/restaurant has sat on the south side of East Lake Okoboji, next to the bridge that connects the north side and the south side of the little bay where East Lake Okoboji meets West Lake Okoboji. (see map) Prior to becoming The Ritz over 20 years ago, it was known as the The Hunter's Inn.  Taylor and Rich (aka "Coyote") Genrich are the owners of The Ritz (below left).  (Photo courtesy Sioux City Journal) 

The Ritz is popular in the summertime because of its large outdoor patio that overlooks the lake.  It can easily accommodate over a hundred diners and is well-lit at night.  The indoor bar area of The Ritz features a long bar, a number of tables and chairs, and a pool table area on the far end.  The sliding doors allow for easy access to the patio, or, when they're closed during colder weather, a nice view of the lake.  The place ain't too fancy, so don't expect fine dining at The Ritz.  

It was just before 9 p.m. when we sat down at a table on the patio.  The sun's dwindling light was casting a dark red hue across the sky over the lake.  It was a beautiful evening to sit outside and have dinner.  

Our server for the evening, Kara, came over to greet us and drop off some menus.  She took our drinks order and we took a look at what they had to offer at The Ritz.  The menu features your usual bar-type food - appetizers, salads and sandwiches - but they're also famous for their homemade pizzas and their famous "Lue's Cheeseburger".  The cheeseburger is what caught my attention as it was a finalist for the Iowa Beef Industry Council's  3rd Annual Best Burger in Iowa contest held earlier this year.  The burger is named after Rich Genrich's mother, Lue Bradshaw, who used to run a place called Lue's Driftwood Inn in Okoboji for a number of years.  

Lue Bradshaw's burgers were famous for years around the lakes area.  She used fresh ground beef for her hamburger patties with toasted buns, two differenty types of cheese and ran it through the garden with the usual veggies.  She served thousands of them during the time her establishment was open.  

When Rich and Taylor Genrich introduced Lue's Cheeseburger to the menu at The Ritz, it was clear it was not the same as what his mom served at her little place.  A couple years ago, the Genrich's changed the way they made the burger going from a pre-formed patty to using fresh ground beef like Lue Bradshaw used to do.  Suddenly, what was a good burger became a great burger, so much so that it was nominated by customers of The Ritz to be one of the top burgers in Iowa.  A couple of judges came into the place in March and had a burger.  They must have liked it as it turned out that the Lue's Cheeseburger missed being the Best Burger in Iowa by only 2/10ths of a point!  (The winner this year was the burger at the Coon Bowl III in Coon Rapids, IA)

While we were deciding what to get, I looked over at a table of middle-aged ladies who were having a good time.  On the table was this huge bowl of margaritas that served as a community drinking vessel with long plastic straws.  I went over to the table and asked the ladies what it was.  One of them said, "Oh, this is the fish bowl!  The is the margarita and the other one over there has Long Island Iced Tea in it!"  The fish bowl is a 64 oz. size and The Ritz estimates they sell between 800 to 1000 fish bowls each summer.  I have to say, the ladies at the table were feeling no pain.

When it came time to order, we each decided to get a burger, but Craig said we needed to also order one of The Ritz's "Garbage" pizzas - it has a little bit of everything on it.  That was a great compromise for me as I was really wavering between the burger and the pizza and I wasn't certain I could wait to come back and try one or the other.  

While the others got the regular Lue's Cheeseburger, I got a Lue's cheeseburger with Swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms and bacon.  When Kara brought out the burgers and the pizza, we were ready to eat.  The burgers came with a boatload of fries that I knew I wasn't going to eat.  A festive toothpick held the top bun to the burger and it was loaded with mushrooms, ample amounts of cheese and couple pieces of bacon.  

The burger, itself, was very, very good.  It was good and juicy with a great flavor.  The bun was soft and chewy, while the mushrooms, cheese and bacon all helped excite the taste buds.  It was very worthy of its lofty standing as a finalist in the Best Burger in Iowa competition.

The pizza at The Ritz is a thin crust, party cut, caramelized plate of lusciousness.  Looking at the pizza, I thought they possibly left it in the oven too long, but it wasn't burnt on the bottom at all.  The toppings were all fresh, the sausage they use had the big chunks with a ton of flavor, the pepperoni was salty and had a nice spicy bite to it, and the sauce was a sweet and tangy mixture that tasted great with a beer.  I had a couple three pieces of the pizza and it was just fabulous.  

It was a fun night hanging out at The Ritz with our friends.  It was a great close to a wonderful vacation.  We've already talked about going back up to Lake Okoboji in late August again next year and we know that we may have to go to The Ritz a couple times, once to get another burger, then again for a pizza.  Both were top-notch and superb.  The Ritz is truly a bar (emphasis on the "bar") and restaurant.  It's not fine dining, but it's certainly fun dining.  (Photo courtesy Iowa ABD.com)

Smokin' Jakes - Arnolds Park, IA

While on vacation in the Lake Okoboji region, my buddy, Craig Evert, told me about a place that he really likes called Smokin' Jakes in Arnold Park. (see map)  "They have great brisket, man," he gushed over drinks one night when we were at their house.  "It's the best barbecue in the lakes region."  Heck, we found out Smokin' Jakes may be the ONLY barbecue in the area.  One afternoon for lunch, we decided to give Smokin' Jakes a try.  

Smokin' Jakes is owned by Linda Geske, who also owns the Table 316 steakhouse and cabaret in Arnolds Park (one of the few restaurants in the area we didn't try on our vacation).  It opens at 11 a.m. and stays open until - sometimes -  4 a.m. for the late night bar crowd looking for an early breakfast - and they're kind of famous for their early, early morning breakfasts.

Smokin' Jakes isn't much more than a glorified corner tavern with a bar, tables and booths.  It's not fine dining, but you wouldn't expect that from a place that serves barbecue and late night/early morning breakfast.  Actually, I didn't see much evidence that there was any smoking apparatus on site.  I figured they must smoke the meat elsewhere and bring it in to the restaurant.  Antique pots or jugs were on shelves above the booths on the west wall of the place.  I never did figure out the significance of those while we were there.

We took a seat at a table along the short wall in the middle.  Our server that day, Julie, was also the bartender.  I got a beer and Cindy got iced tea.  Looking through the lunch menu, I was sort of disappointed to find out that they didn't offer any type of a sampler platter, or even a choice of a barbecue platter - it was basically sandwiches only for any barbecue.  (The dinner menu does offer a variety of barbecue plates including ribs, smoked pork chops, brisket, chicken and turkey.)  I was a little disheartened when I realized that I couldn't try a couple of different barbecued items.  They did have what they called "rib morsels" on the menu, basically rib appetizers, but I didn't feel like getting any of those.

In addition to the sandwiches at lunch, Smokin' Jakes also has a number of soups, salads and appetizers including their "chicken drummies" - small chicken legs with your choice of 10 different types of sauces.  Their sandwiches included grilled chicken, a smoked club that featured smoked ham and turkey (that really did sound interesting to me), and a BLT with smoked bacon.  Oooo....  That almost had me.  

I finally decided upon the brisket sandwich - I figured that I could just east the brisket on its own with out the bun.  I got an order of fries with it.  Cindy ordered the Philly Chicken sandwich - a smoked chicken breast with sauteed onions and green peppers and topped with Swiss cheese.  (You can also get the Philly Beef sandwich with brisket.)  She got a side of cole slaw.  

Our sandwiches came out less than 15 minutes after we ordered.   My sandwich featured three layers of somewhat thick cut brisket lying inside a hoagie bun with a small container of barbecue sauce in between. The fries were thick cut steak fries, so that was a plus.  But the presentation wasn't much.   

Cindy's  Philly Chicken sandwich was almost as boring looking as my brisket sandwich.  The cole slaw was in a small bowl off to the side of the smallish sandwich.  

The taste of my brisket was good - nothing special.  The meat was tender and juicy, but it tasted more like an oven roasted beef than a good smoked brisket, somewhat confirming my fears that they may not have a smoker at all.  The thick barbecue sauce had a sweet and smoky flavor to it.  It was good, but I wouldn't call it outstanding.  The toasted hoagie bun was used more to tear off pieces and dip it in the barbecue sauce.  I asked Julie for more sauce as I also used it on the steak fries, which had the perfect crunchy outside and soft inside.  

Cindy said her Philly Chicken was "good".  She said the breast did have a smoked flavor to it, sort of like how I do chicken breasts on the grill at home with indirect heat and a little bit of mesquite or cherry wood smoke.  The cole slaw, which I believe was homemade, was "eh!" in Cindy's book.  "I've had better, but it's not bad," she said.  

Although I was disappointed that I couldn't try something other than a sandwich for my barbecue choice for lunch, Smokin' Jakes was all right.  If it's the only barbecue in the lakes region, then its fine for what it is.  But any type of competition that would come in with good barbecue would give Smokin' Jakes a run for their money.  Compared to other places I've tried in larger cities, it's average, at best.  But for Arnolds Park and Lake Okoboji, it's fine.  Just don't expect world class barbecue when you go in.   

Koffee Kup Kafe - Arnolds Park, IA

Our last morning in the Lake Okoboji area found us having breakfast at another place we passed many times during our time at the lake, the Koffee Kup Kafe.  Located on the main drag through Arnolds Park, we decided to give it a try before we hit the road.  

The Koffee Kup is one of the many seasonally open restaurants in the Lake Okoboji area.  It opens in early May and closes in late September. Hours are a little strange - they open at 7 a.m. daily, but close at 1 p.m.  Owned by Rhonda Revland-Nelson, it's one of those places that fits in well with the political conservatives in Northwest Iowa as they continue to have Freedom Toast on their breakfast menu instead of French Toast.  (Interestingly, they have French Fries on their lunch menu.)   

The Koffee Kup shares its parking lot with Okoboji Middle School just north of the corner of Highway 71 and Broadway  (see map).  It was just after 9 a.m. when we walked into the restaurant and found the wooden booths and most of the tables were full on the north side of the restaurant (below left).  We finally found a small table up against the wall.  

The south side of the restaurant features counter service and a handful of booths (above right).  That's where the kitchen is, as well.  I'm guessing the north side of the restaurant had been added on to the building at some point.  

A waitress came by and dropped off a couple of breakfast menus for us to look through.  Breakfast is served during the six hours the Koffee Kup is open, so you can get a late breakfast at 11:30 a.m. if you like.  Most of the items on the menu are the standard breakfast fare - eggs, omelets, pancakes, French toast - excuse me, FREEDOM toast, Belgian waffles and their homemade cinnamon rolls that are baked fresh daily in a large pan.  The large cinnamon rolls are the same ones the Koffee Kup have had for over 20 years and are a favorite of both locals and vacationers to the lakes area.

Another thing they have on their menu is a fruit-based French Toast - sorry, I just can't get that right - FREEDOM Toast.  (Note to Koffee Kup - let it go!)  The apple or blueberry flavored bread is made fresh daily at a local bakery.  The Koffee Kup also features some breakfast skillets they call "Browns".  Basically, it's a large order of hash browns with a number of different additives such as meats, veggies and cheese, but no eggs added.  You may be able to get some eggs added, but I didn't ask.

I was sort of intrigued by some of the omelets they had on the menu.  The "Boji" omelet was loaded with ham, green peppers, onions, mushroom, hash browns and cheese, then topped with bacon and more cheese.  Whoa!  They also had the "Bottom of the Lake" omelet - ground beef, sausage, ham, bacon, tomatoes, green peppers, onion, mushrooms, and black olives, all topped with cheese.  Double Whoa!  Or you could get the "Meatlovers" omelet with ham, sausage, bacon and, for a buck more, the seasoned ground beef and cheese.  

But I was also thinking of something along the line of the blueberry Belgian waffle or the blueberry French toast. (I'm sorry, I'm not going to call it Freedom toast.)  When it came time to order, I almost pulled the trigger on a sausage, mushroom and cheese omelet, but I decided to get the blueberry Belgian waffle instead.  Cindy went basic - again.  She just got the one egg - over easy - with hash browns and bacon breakfast.  She also got some white toast with it.  She had been thinking about getting a waffle, as well, but decided against it.  "We ate so much, so late last night," she explained.  Yeah, but we were on vacation!  

While we were waiting for our food, two couples came in and were seated in a booth near us. After a bit, I heard one of the guys ask a waitress, "So, what's Freedom toast?"

She said, "It's basically French toast."  

He said, "You're kidding me.  You guys still call it Freedom toast?"  She sort of shrugged her shoulders.  I was thinking along the same lines as the guy.   

Our breakfast came out and the Belgian waffle was basically a waffle with fresh blueberries and a pop of whipped cream on top.  The waffle was light and fluffy, and the blueberries had that great tart taste to them.  It was a good waffle.    

Cindy's breakfast was pretty basic.  The bacon was crisp as she likes it, there were a nice pile of hash browns on the plate, and the toast appeared to come from homemade bread.  She said the breakfast was good, but nothing truly outstanding.  

Still the breakfast at the Koffee Kup was a pretty good value.  Of all the places we had breakfast at during our visit to Lake Okoboji, I'd rank them this way - 1) Family Diner; 2) O'Farrell Sisters; 3) Koffee Kup; 4) Dry Dock Galley and Lounge.  But that may not be very fair because they were all pretty darn good for what they had to offer.  We weren't disappointed with our breakfast at the Koffee Kup in the least.  We'd give it a good recommendation for breakfast.  

Yesterday's - Arnolds Park, IA

During our vacation up at Lake Okoboji this past summer, I was talking to our friends, Craig and Kathy Evert, about a place they took me to when I was traveling through the area about six years ago.  Kathy said, "Oh, we took you to Yesterday's."  I remember it being very nice and I asked if it was still open.  She said, "It sure is.  We were just there a couple weeks ago."  I wanted to take Cindy there for dinner one evening during our vacation and I did just that. 

Duane and Marilyn Zahradnik have owned and operated Yesterday's for nearly 30 years.  Duane runs the kitchen and Marilyn is the one who runs the front of the house.  The little place went through an expansion in the mid-90's by upgrading the bar area and adding another section of seating.  They added a Teppanyaki grill along the way and I believe Duane is the Teppanyaki chef for the restaurant, as well. 

It was around 7:30 when we walked into Yesterday's on Broadway in Arnolds Park. (see map)  With the summer vacation season winding down, we didn't think we needed a reservation.  Unfortunately for us, the place was still pretty full.  Marilyn Zahradnik met us at the front and told us that if we wanted to wait in the bar area we should be able to be seated in about 15 minutes.  

The bar at Yesterday's is an art deco design, something that was inspired from restaurants near the Zahradnik's winter home in Florida.  The "V"-shaped lighting frames a mirror over the back bar.  It was actually pretty cool to see.  We ordered a couple drinks and waited for about 15 to 20 minutes before a table in the original front part of the restaurant opened up.  

Marilyn directed us to a high-backed booth along the east wall of the place.  It had been a few years, but I vaguely remembered the cozy atmosphere of Yesterday's with the wooden walls and comfortable seating.  We looked through the menu that evening and after a bit our waiter for the evening, Charlie, came over to greet us.  He told us of a couple of the specials that evening including one called the "Cheese wheel".  I didn't quite understand the premise of it as he explained that it was steaming fettuccine noodles placed in a large ruggiano parmesan cheese wheel, mixed up with the cheese, then served with your choice of grilled shrimp or chicken, or nothing at all.  But later on, someone at the table next to us got the cheese wheel and I saw what it was all about.  It was intriguing, to say the least. 

We figured we were probably going to do seafood that evening as the menu at Yesterday's skews more toward seafood selections.  However, they do have a number of steak, pork and chicken entrees on the menu, as well. I looked through the wine list at Yesterday's and found a somewhat reasonably priced bottle of Ferrani-Carano Chardonnay.  

One of the appetizer specials that evening was a tuna carpaccio with a cucumber wasabi dressing.  I had Charlie re-explain that one to me when he came back to see if we had any questions.  I ended up ordering that  to start out while Cindy and I tried to figure out what we wanted.  

The tuna appetizer came out a few minutes later and it was so good that I forgot to take a picture of it.  Thin slices of rare tuna on a plate of cucumber straws and greens with a drizzle wasabi cream dressing is the best of how I can describe it.  The tuna was fresh and not fishy in taste at all.  

I was torn between a couple things on the menu.  The pork medallions were calling my name - two boneless pork chops served on bed of mashed potatoes, then drizzled with a red wine reduction mushroom sauce.  Mmmmm....  I also thought about getting the scallops as the ones Cindy got a couple nights before at Maxwells Beach Cafe were very good.  But then I saw the cheese wheel come out again for someone else and it just intrigued me so much that I had to end up ordering that with the grilled shrimp. 

Cindy was looking for a shrimp dinner to have that evening and she decided upon the shrimp scampi - sauteed shrimp served with brown rice and a vegetable.  That evening the vegetable was broccoli.  We also both got Caesar's salads.  "Throw a couple anchovies on your salads," Charlie asked.  Absolutely!

The Caesar's salads were good with Yesterday's homemade Caesar's dressing.  The greens were fresh and crisp.  We made short work of the salads before the main courses came to the table.  

A few moments after our salad plates were taken away, Duane Zahradnik wheeled out a cart to our table with a large cheese wheel that was hollowed out in the middle.  A metal cooking bowl full of steaming fettuccine noodles sat at the side along with about five or six grilled shrimp in another small bowl on the side.  Duane took the fettuccine noodles and placed them in the cavity of the cheese wheel and placed the bowl over the top.  He let it sit for a few moments before opening it up and began to stir the pasta around the inside, melting the inner walls of the cheese on the noodles.  

He then added the shrimp to the pasta in the cheese wheel and continued to stir and toss the two inside the hollowed out cavity.   When the cheese had come to a gooey consistency with the pasta and shrimp, he pulled it all out with a pair of tongs, placed in on a plate and served it to me.  I asked him,"So, how many meals can you get out of a cheese wheel."  

Duane thought for a second and said, "You know, I've never really counted. I'm guessing probably 175 to 200 per wheel."  I asked him how many wheels he'd go through in a season (they're open late April until late September), and he said, "This year we've gone through six or seven.  Since we're going to be closing here for the season in about a month, this will probably be the last one we do this year."  That's a pretty popular dish.

I asked him what he did with the cheese he used to hollow out the cheese wheels and he said, "We grind it up and put it in these bowls to use," pointing at one of the parmesan cheese bowls on the table. Oh, yeah.  Well, duh!  

The ruggiano parmesan fettuccine and shrimp had sort of a somewhat pasty texture to it.  The shrimp had a flavorful crusty outside to them, probably grilled in butter, I was thinking.  The taste was excellent.  The ruggiano parmesan had melted throughout the entree and each bite was this delightful cheesy taste.  I also got a side of broccoli crowns with my pasta and I added a couple to the dish to get that cheese taste on the veggies.

Cindy's shrimp were more grilled than sauteed.  There were six large and plump shrimp that were on her plate with a bed of brown rice and a small bit of broccoli off to the side.  There was a drawn butter dipping bowl in the middle.  Cindy said, "Oh, these are good."  

The fettuccine I had was simply wonderful, but - oh! - so rich.  I was getting full, but I couldn't stop eating the ruggiano parmesan cheese sauce.  I knew I was probably going to regret it when I stepped on the scale when we got back home, but it was so good.  And it was very popular - while we were there, I counted no less than 10 times that Duane had to bring the cart out from the back to serve the cheese wheel special.  

Charlie came back around and asked us if we wanted any dessert.  I sort of let out a groan because I was simply stuffed.  But he went ahead and began to name some of the desserts they had.  When he said, "We have a key lime pie that's pretty good," Cindy stopped him and ordered that with two forks.  

Actually, the slice of key lime pie was pretty good.  It had a very creamy texture to it along with a very forward and sweet citrus taste.  Cindy said, "Yeah, this is pretty good, but I think you make a better one at home."  Thank you, dear!   

I remember the food being well above average on my initial visit to Yesterday's so many years ago and this time was pretty much the same.   The cheese wheel was certainly unique to me and it offered some pretty good taste sensations.  Charlie's service was impeccable and we spent some time visiting with Marilyn Zahradnik before we left. (Cindy was intrigued by the bags made out of old sail cloth that she had on display in the restaurant - it turned out her daughter sold them at a shop not far away from there.)   It would be tough to say who had the better meal between Maxwell's and Yesterday's.  Both were very good for what they were.  I don't think you'd go wrong with either place if you were looking for a nice meal at Lake Okoboji.  But if I had to pick between the two, I'd go back to Yesterday's first.  

Dry Dock Galley and Lounge - Arnolds Park, IA

While on vacation in the Lake Okoboji area, we had dinner one evening at the house of our friends, Craig and Kathy Evert.  Beer and wine flowed all evening long and it was 11:30 p.m. before we made our way back to the Pioneer Beach Resort.  The next morning I was a little hungover.  Thinking that bloody mary with a beer would set me right, I remembered a place that Craig was telling me about the night before - the Dry Dock Galley and Lounge.  (Actually, he also told me about O'Farrell Sisters as another place around Lake Okoboji where you could get a bloody mary with breakfast.)  We decided to try the Dry Dock for breakfast that particular morning. 

The Dry Dock Galley and Lounge is part of the Four Seasons Resort hotel on West Lake Okoboji (see map).  While it shares its name with the highly exclusive and elite Four Seasons hotels, it's far from being a similar property.   Dean Mitchell of the Mitchell Investment Group is the long-time owner of the Four Seasons Resort in Arnolds Park.  The place was actually sort of nice.  We had looked at staying there, but for some reason we didn't pull the trigger.  We did take a look around the property after breakfast and determined that even though we liked the rustic charm of Pioneer Beach Lodge, we'd probably stay at Four Seasons the next time we came up.   

We pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant around 9:30 on a nice weekday morning.  We went inside to check the place out. There are two parts of the Dry Dock Galley and Lounge - actually three, if you count the outdoor patio that was closed for cleaning that particular morning.  You initially walk into the lounge area with a sloping ceiling toward the bar.  Like a number of other restaurants/lounges on the lake, the place had a nautical theme to it.  

We were seated in a hardwood paneled dining room with a polished teak wood ceiling and large windows looking out over the patio and lake.  Heavy tables and chairs were spaced throughout the smallish, yet cozy dining area.  A large party of older women took up two of the tables near us and they were all enjoying a bloody mary before they ordered breakfast.

Yes!  A bloody mary!  That's what I ordered when our waitress came over to drop off a couple menus for us.  I asked for a beer chaser with it and she said, "Oh, the bloody mary automatically comes with a beer chaser."  When she brought it out, however, I was disappointed in the size - both with the bloody mary and with the beer chaser.  The bloody mary was in a 10 oz. tumbler and the beer chaser was in a 6 oz. plastic cup.  It wasn't even filled to the top.  And this all cost $5 bucks.  I said, "You got to be kidding me!  This will be gone in two minutes!"  And just like that, it was.  I got a second one when we ordered breakfast and the second beer chaser was, maybe, half full. While the bloody mary was pretty good, it was not a very good value, to say the least. 

 We looked over the menu to see what we wanted for breakfast.  The had the usual stuff for breakfast including something called the Eggs Benedict Arnold - a play on the Arnolds Park name.  It was, basically, eggs Benedict on ham and an English muffin with a side of hash browns.  I ended up ordering that along with a side of bacon.  Cindy wasn't as adventuresome - she just got a egg over easy with a side of hash browns, bacon and toast.  

Our waitress brought our breakfast out to us after awhile and I was pleasantly surprised with the portions.  While they skimped on the bloody mary and the beer chaser, they certainly made up for it with the breakfast.  The poached eggs were large and swimming in a hollandaise sauce atop a large slab of ham that eclipsed the English muffin underneath.  I got four pieces of bacon with the eggs Benedict and an ample amount of hash brown potatoes. 

Cindy's breakfast looked a lot larger than it read on the menu.  The egg was large and covered nearly half her plate.  It rested on a portion of her hash browns and she had three pieces of crisp bacon, just as she likes her bacon.  

Quite actually, the breakfast was pretty good.  The eggs Benedict were very good with the rich hollandaise sauce on the top.  Having the slice of ham was a nice surprise versus having just a couple slices of Canadian bacon like you normally get with eggs Benedict.  After the eggs Benedict and the bacon, I hardly made a dent in my hash browns.

Cindy said her breakfast was good, but nothing special.  "I don't know how you can make eggs, bacon and hash browns be anything special," she said.   

The Dry Dock Galley and Lounge also serves lunch and dinner with steaks, chops, seafood and sandwiches on the menu.  If we do get back to Lake Okoboji next summer as we've been talking, we'll probably end up at the Four Seasons Resort and back at the Dry Dock Galley and Lounge for breakfast and probably dinner.  While I felt somewhat cheated on the size of the bloody mary and the beer chaser, the portion and flavor of the breakfast more than made up for it.  At first I was skeptical, but I ended up being happy with our visit to the Dry Dock Galley and Lounge.  

Arnolds Perk - Arnolds Park, IA

When you're on vacation, you need to cut loose and pamper yourself from time to time.  One morning after we did a "his and hers" pedicure session at a salon in Milford called "Just Teaz'n", we decided to head back into Arnolds Park and look up a little coffee shop which, we were told by our friend Kathy Evert, has gourmet cupcakes to die for.  The name of the place - Arnolds Perk - is a cute play on the nearby Arnolds Park amusement park name.  It was about 11:45 when we walked into Arnolds Perk to get a gourmet cupcake.  

Established in 2000, Arnolds Perk is owned by Shannon Dunham, who, along with Darcy Rossow, also owns Dukes Burgers - a hamburger stand right next to Arnolds Perk on West Broadway Street in Arnolds Park (see map).   Arnolds Perk is a seasonal business - as are many other businesses in the Lake Okoboji region.  They open on Memorial Day weekend and close after Labor Day.   Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday thru Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.  

After looking through a couple art galleries close by on Broadway, we went into Arnolds Perk.  The smell of the fresh coffee was almost intoxicating.  I love the smell of a rich, robust coffee, but I don't like what it does to me.  It makes me jittery and anxious.  Oh, I'll occasionally have a cappuccino or an espresso after a nice meal - as long as its earlier in the evening.  Too many times I've enjoyed an espresso with my colleagues after a nice meal that finished at 10:30 at night and I had trouble getting to sleep.  I said, "That smells great!"  I turned to Cindy and I said, "If I get a cappuccino, will you help me drink it?"  

She looked at me like, "Who is this man standing next to me and what have you done to my husband?"

Arnolds Perk is a small, narrow establishment with a tin roof ceiling.  There is a long front counter full of cupcake and pastries with a small kitchen toward the back corner.  Because they offer free wi-fi at Arnolds Perk, there were three people in the place - all working on their computers while enjoying a coffee.  '

In addition to coffee, espresso and cappuccino,  Arnolds Perk also features cold coffee frappes, fruit smoothie drinks, tea and Italian soda drinks.  They have a light breakfast menu that features their famous cinnamon rolls (you get your choice of caramel or cream cheese frosting - can I have both?), muffins and pastries, scones and croissants, a granola parfait, and something called the "Power Breakfast Sandwich" - two eggs with bacon or ham, with your choice of cheese and bread.  Something told me that we should have tried Arnolds Perk for breakfast.  Well, we can the next time we come up for vacation.

They also have a lunch menu that features a couple of salad items, and a number of sandwiches including pressed paninis.  They have five different types of bread to choose from, along with four different types of cheese to go with either ham or turkey.  They also have a Caprese Melt - sliced fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil pesto and olive oil toasted on sourdough bread.  That all sounded good, but we were there for the cupcakes.  

The cupcakes come in three sizes - Babycakes, Mamacakes, and Papacakes (cute, huh?) priced respectively at $1.00, $2.00, and $3.00 each.  They had 10 different types of cupcakes to choose from - The White Out was a vanilla cake cupcake topped with a vanilla butter cream frosting and glitter; The Black Out was a chocolate cake cupcake topped with chocolate butter cream frosting and mini chocolate chips.  They had the Red Velvet that consisted of a mild chocolate red cupcake with cream cheese frosting and mini white chocolate chips.  Oooo....  That one just about got me.  

That is until I saw the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cupcake -  a vanilla cake cupcake topped with cream cheese frosting which is mixed with chocolate chip cookie dough and Chocolate chip cookie chunks, and drizzled with chocolate frosting.  Oh man!  That was too much!   Then the Cookie 'n Cream cupcake jumped out at me -  a chocolate cake cupcake topped with Oreo cookie cream cheese frosting, then topped with Oreo chunks drizzled with white frosting.  My head was spinning. 

The one I ended up getting was the Lemon cupcake - vanilla cake cupcake topped with lemon cream cheese frosting and powdered sugar.  It didn't quite sound as exciting as the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or Cookie 'n Cream cupcakes, but I'm a sucker when it comes to anything lemon.  Cindy, too, was having a difficult time figuring out what she wanted until she finally decided on the Coconut cupcake - a vanilla cake cupcake topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting, white chocolate mini chips and shredded coconut.  I don't care for coconut at all, so I'm sure she got that so I wouldn't hound her for a bite.  She got the Babycakes size, while I got the Papacakes size.  I also ordered a large cappuccino.  The lady behind the counter said, "I think he's just finishing up working on the espresso machine."  She pointed to a guy down the way who was servicing the machine.  He said he would make my cappuccino to make sure the machine was working properly.  

My lemon cupcake was everything Kathy told us it would be.  It was fabulous.  The cake was light, moist and had a great vanilla flavor.  But the lemon cream cheese frosting was to die for.  It had a great citrus taste and didn't taste like it was made with a lemon juice substitute.  Yeah, this was the ultimate in guilty pleasures for me.

Cindy said her coconut cupcake was "wonderful", but she was upset that she didn't get the $2.00 Mamacake size.  "That went kind of fast," she said.  I'll say.  I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of it.

The cappuccino was also very good.  It took about three or four minutes for him to get it to me - our cupcakes were long gone by the time I walked up to the counter to get the cappuccino.   I took a couple sips and I thought it was pretty darn good.  Cindy took a sip and she said, "Oh, yeah."  She's somewhat of a coffee snob and she knows what's good and what isn't.  "This is very good.  They use very good coffee beans."  

The guy who serviced the machine said, "Does it taste good?"  I told him it tasted great.  He said, "Great!  I did my job!"

I didn't expect to write this much about Arnolds Perk, but it was one of those fun experiences that sort of snowballed as it went on.  We really would like to get back to Lake Okoboji for another week next year and I can see us having a couple visits to Arnolds Perk possibly for breakfast and for another cupcake.  (I also need to get back and try a Dukes burger, too!) 

Fisherman's Wharf - Okoboji, IA

We had passed a place called Fisherman's Wharf on the north end of the Highway 71 bridge that goes over the waterway between East and West Lake Okoboji a number of times during our vacation in that area earlier this summer.  It looked intriguing with its deck dining and nautical theme.  We decided to have lunch there one day during our vacation.

Known as simply "The Wharf" to the locals and regulars, the restaurant has been a staple for residents and vacationers in the Lake Okoboji area for years.  It was originally on the west side of the road until the Iowa Department of Transportation had it condemned in the mid-90's for the construction of the new bridge.  The owner at that time, Jeff Kurth, moved the restaurant across the highway into what was an old Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.  He added on to the restaurant putting in a bar, a three-season dining area and an outdoor deck that overlooked the marina next door.  

Before Kurth bought the place in 1994, it was known as Harold's Fisherman Wharf.  I was talking to a lady in Arnolds Park about Fisherman's Wharf and she told me that there was a man - Harold - and his wife - Margie - that originally owned the business.  When I asked what their last name was, she said, "Hmmm...  You know, I don't remember.  I just remember when I was a little kid and my parents would just say we were going to Harold and Margie's for dinner."

And long before it was known as Fisherman's Wharf, the site on which the building stands was home to the Okoboji General Store.  In the early 1900's, the Okoboji General Store was the one-stop shop for residents and vacationers looking for supplies, fishing licenses and also served as the local Post Office.   

In 2010, a series of winter storms caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to docks and storage buildings at Mau Marine, located next to Fisherman's Wharf.  When Jerry Kurth decided to retire that same year, the owners of Mau Marine, Julie Andres and her sister, Susan Mau, decided to buy Fisherman's Wharf so they could control all the land on that corner of East Lake Okoboji.  

Now, I went to school with a Julie Mau at the University of Iowa.  And I seem to remember that she was from Ida Grove, IA.  It turns out that this Julie Mau Andres' father and mother, Dick and Donna, were from Ida Grove and the family used to vacation at Lake Okoboji in the summertime.  So, I'm guessing that the Julie Mau I went to school with at Iowa and the Julie Mau Andres who co-owns both Mau Marine and Fisherman's Wharf is one and the same person.  

Boating was a passion for the Mau family and Dick and Donna decided to buy the old Wilson Boat Works in 1988.  Wilson Boat Works was also an iconic business in the Lake Okoboji region tracing their history back to the late 1800's when it was originally known as Wilson Boat Works which included a marina, boat yard, manufacturer and a livery stable.  Wilson Boat Works made row boats at first, but then their boat manufacturing evolved into steam-power cruisers and wooden skip boats.  After World War II, the popularity of pleasure boats exploded and Wilson Boat Works became a dealer for both Chris Craft and, then later, Sea Ray.  

An aerial photo of Mau Marine and Fisherman's Wharf.  Photo courtesy of Boating Industry.com 

Dick and Donna Mau continued that tradition of selling both Chris Craft and Sea Ray up until the time in 2003 that they decided to retire and sell the business to their two daughters.  Julie Andres and Susan Mau are an extremely rare commodity in the boating business - they are one of the very few boat dealerships and marinas owned by women.  In fact, the Mau sisters have been instrumental in incorporating boating classes for women and including women in the process of buying a boat.  

After the Mau sisters acquired Fisherman's Wharf when Jerry Kurth retired, they kept on two longtime workers - Shawn Jeffrey and Tootie Stellmach - to run the business.  It was Tootie Stellmach who greeted us when we got into the restaurant around 1:30 on a weekday afternoon.  It was a very windy day and Tootie told us that the deck (below left) was closed, but the three-season porch (below right) was open - but it was still a little breezy in there.  We ended up sitting at a table in the bar area next to a window that looked out to the marina.  She dropped off a couple menus and told us that Melissa would be taking care of us.   

The bar area (below left) wasn't all that large, but it was certainly a nice area to sit.  The large windows let in a lot of natural light.  The bar, itself, had about 10 seats around it and had a long shelf that ran directly above.  The nautical theme to Fisherman's Wharf was consistent throughout the restaurant and bar area.  

The main dining room (above right) was also well-lit and had a cozy feeling, as well.  It had a number of tables - high and regular sized - and some of the tables featured bench seats.  When we got into the restaurant, the dining room was nearly full.  When we left - when we took this picture - is was nearly deserted.  

The menu at Fisherman's Wharf is a mix of steaks, seafood, chops, chicken, sandwiches, burgers, salads and appetizers.  We weren't going to be eating a lot since we'd had a large breakfast about five hours earlier, but we wanted something to tide us over as we were scheduled to have a late dinner that evening.  Cindy was intrigued with the po' boy sandwiches they had to offer at Fisherman's Wharf - most especially the walleye po' boy.  She ended up ordered that from Melissa when she came around to take our order.

I thought about getting a burger, but the breaded tenderloin sounded interesting.  When I asked Melissa about it, she said, "It's one of our most popular sandwiches."  I ended up getting that and instead of fries for a side, I got a cup of their French onion soup.

Our food made it out to us in about 15 minutes.  The French onion soup had a load of shredded Swiss cheese on the top - it wasn't baked in like you normally see with French onion soup.  And I have to say that it was very good.  It had a good onion flavor to the soup, the broth was also tasty and the cheese had melted in with the broth after a minute or two.   

My breaded pork tenderloin had some thickness to it and it hung over the sides of the bun just by a little bit.  The first bite yielded a wonderful pork taste that the breading didn't overpower.  The pork was tender and juicy - it was a very good breaded pork tenderloin.  The kaiser bun was also light and fluffy and stayed together with each bite.  I was extremely happy with what I had ordered.  

I suppose Cindy's sandwich could be categorized as a po' boy.  Actually, it was a fish sandwich on a toasted hoagie bun.  The walleye filet was breaded and deep fried.  I've usually seen po' boy sandwiches where the fish or meat is shredded or chopped.  Cindy took a couple bites of the sandwich and said the fish was good.  But after that, she opened up the top of the bun and began to just eat the walleye filet without the bun.  She offered me a bite of her walleye, but I don't care for deep fried fish all that much.  I'll eat it from time to time if someone is having a fish fry, but normally I won't eat any restaurants deep fried fish or seafood.    

For lunch, yeah, Fisherman's Wharf was pretty good.  It would have been nice to sit outside (we saw the deck was packed with diners on many occasions through the week when it wasn't windy), we were happy with sitting in the bar area.  Melissa did a find job taking care of us and the food was above average.  And it seemed to be a pretty good value. We were talking about coming back to Okoboji for a vacation again next year, especially after we'd been there for a couple days and getting acclimated to the area.  Fisherman's Wharf would be one place where I'd like to go back and have dinner if we have the chance.   

(Update - Fisherman's Wharf closed in the fall of 2014 as the landlord decided not to renew the year-to-year lease on the place.)

O'Farrell Sisters - Okoboji, IA

During our vacation up at Lake Okoboji late this past summer, I was talking to my buddy, Craig, who lives in Spirit Lake.  He was filling me in on a couple breakfast places we needed to try, one of them being O'Farrell Sisters in Okoboji.  He said, "And you can even get a bloody mary with breakfast!"  His description of O'Farrell Sisters sounded intriguing enough even without the tease of having a bloody mary for breakfast, so we sought the place out for breakfast one morning.  

The history of O'Farrell Sisters begins back in the late 40's when sisters Edna Mae and Arlene O'Farrell bought a little restaurant on the north side of the Highway 71 bridge between East Lake Okoboji and West Lake Okoboji.  The restaurant had been owned by Ike Kissinger who sold the business to the O'Farrell Sisters after he decided to run for - and subsequently, won - the sheriff's job in Dickinson County.  Their sister, Ferne, joined the sisters in the business and other family members chipped in to help from time to time.

The O'Farrell Sisters restaurant was open seven days a week and business was booming.  Their Sunday night fried chicken dinners were so popular that people would line up around the building to wait for a seat.  There were times the line would be so long that they've have to lock the doors because they had run out of chicken.

The O'Farrell Sisters were also known for their delicious homemade pies.  Made fresh daily, people would come into O'Farrell Sisters just for their pies.  That's a tradition that has continued over the years.   

In 1959, Arlene and her husband, Furman Henderson, moved to Tallahassee, FL.  Not long after, Edna Mae and Ferne moved the restaurant to its present day location on Lake Shore Drive in Okoboji (see map) up the hill and away from the lake waterfront.   They built the building on land that had a garden and a chicken coop, which was moved across the road.   

It was business as usual for the O'Farrell Sisters until Ferne passed away in 1974.  Four years later, Edna Mae passed away.  Arlene still owned part of the restaurant even though she still lived in Florida.  She sold the  restaurant to her nieces (daughters of both Ferne and Edna Mae), Joyce Gapinsky, Jo Ann Anderson, Charlotte Sarvie and Cheri Peterson (pictured right).  Now a seasonal business open from May through September, the nieces successfully ran the restaurant from 1973 thru 2003, even though Jo Ann passed away in 1997 and Cheri in 2002.   

Joyce and Charlotte decided to sell the business after the 2003 season and it was bought by a family named Anderson who wanted their daughter to run the restaurant.  However, before they opened for the season, the Anderson family decided they'd rather build a summer home on the site instead.   This is when Leo "Butch" Parks, Jr. stepped in.  

Butch Parks is a local marina owner and saloon owner.  Parks owns the infamous Barefoot Bar at his marina, Parks Marina.  Parks is sort of a polarizing figure around the Iowa Great Lakes.  He has been a thorn in the side of local municipalities challenging rules and laws that inhibit him from serving liquor on the lake, but is also known as somewhat of a philanthropist giving to various charities around the area.  It was Parks who stepped in when the Anderson family decided to tear down the restaurant and build a vacation home.  He called O'Farrell Sisters an "institution" around Lake Okoboji and he bought the property from the Anderson family.    

Parks hired two daughters of Ferne O'Farrell - Linda Sealey and Sharon London (pictured at right, courtesy of Sioux City Journal) - to run the place for him.  The sisters were involved in their own restaurant - O'Farrell Foods - that also served lunch and dinner, but Parks was insistent on the sisters running his restaurant.  Sharon London left the business in 2008, but was asked by Parks to return to the business in 2011 because, as Sharon told us when we visited the place for breakfast, "He told me that the place never ran as good after I left.  So I came back."  

When Parks bought the business in 2004, he was denied a liquor license because the property had been rezoned in 1978 after the death of Edna Mae O'Farrell.  The city of Okoboji was afraid the restaurant would be sold outside the family and turned into a bar.  Parks eventually sued the city of Okoboji, but lost a district court decision challenging the legality of the rezoning ordinance for O'Farrell Sisters.  Parks and his lawyer successfully argued before the Iowa Court of Appeals that the lower court ruling didn't take into consideration that serving alcohol at a restaurant still made it a restaurant.  That decision was upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2008 and Parks was allowed to sell liquor at O'Farrell Sisters.  That's how I was able to get bloody mary with my breakfast on our visit.  

It was after 9:30 when we got into O'Farrell Sisters.  It was a little tough to find as Lake Shore Drive doesn't really start near the lake, but more up the road from the Highway 71 bridge.  We found a place to park on the street across from the iconic restaurant with the large neon fish sign on top of the building.  

Walking in to O'Farrell Sisters, it was like walking back into the 60's.  The restaurant isn't that big with a handful of tables and booths in the larger section of the dining room.  A high counter bar was in front of the kitchen.  There is a small bar area on the west side of the restaurant that is filled with pictures of the original O'Farrell Sisters. Interestingly, Ferne was only in one or two photographs, mainly in the background.  "Mom never liked getting her picture taken," Sharon London explained to us later on.  "You can see her back in the kitchen in this picture, and I think that's her hand in this one."    

We took a table in the smaller of section of the restaurant near the small bar and surrounded by the pictures on the wall.  A young lady brought us menus and I ordered up my bloody mary and asked for a beer chaser. The waitress asked Sharon for a beer chaser and Sharon told me over the bar, "We don't have draft beer, hon. Only cans."  

"Oh, OK," I said.  "That's fine, I'll take a can of Bud Light to go with the bloody mary."  Cindy sort of gave me that look of "It's 9:30 in the morning!"  But, yeah, we were on vacation!  

O'Farrell Sisters are famous for their pancakes using a homemade batter recipe that has been handed down through three generations.  The restaurant serves breakfast daily until 2 p.m., but after 11 a.m. they begin to  serve burgers, sandwiches and appetizers including their famous chicken wings with your choice of five different sauces made in house.  And because there are "no rules" at O'Farrell Sisters, you can get a slice of their homemade pie at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m.    

I pretty much knew I was going to get blueberry pancakes with a side of bacon, but Cindy was sort of torn between getting pancakes or the egg combo that came with your choice of bread for toast, an English muffin or biscuit, hash browns and your choice of meat.  But she ended up getting an egg over easy, ala carte, along with a couple pancakes and toast.  She likes her pancakes well done, something she got from her grandmother who would cook them for her in an iron pan when Cindy was little.  

Our breakfasts showed up about 15 minutes later, just after I finished my bloody mary and beer.  The blueberries were folded into the pancake batter - the way blueberry pancakes should be made.  Too many times, restaurants put blueberries - or even worse, blueberry pie filling - on top of the pancakes.  I think they should be inside the pancake batter, the way O'Farrell Sisters do it.  

And the pancakes were very good.  Now, I think my wife makes the best pancakes in the world.  I have yet to come across pancakes anywhere that rival Cindy's pancakes.  But the pancakes at O'Farrell Sisters came close.  The flavor of vanilla was prevalent in each bite.  The blueberries were fresh and they were cooked thin and not fluffy, just as I like them.  Cindy felt her pancakes could have been more dark than what they were, but she was fine with what she had.  Cindy said, "These are good pancakes.  I can see why they come in for these."  

After breakfast, it gave us some time to visit with Sharon London.  She told us of working in the restaurant as a little girl.  "In the summertime, it would be unbearably hot back in the kitchen, before this place was air conditioned," she said.  "When my sister and cousins would get a break, we'd run down to the lake, jump in and cool off, then come back up the hill to go back to work."  

Of all the places we had breakfast while up at Lake Okoboji, O'Farrell Sisters was the most unique place.  I think the pancakes were very good and having a bloody mary before breakfast was a fun thing to do.  The staff was friendly and efficient, and we enjoyed visiting with Sharon London who gave us some insight on the history of O'Farrell Sisters.  Butch Parks is right - O'Farrell Sisters is an institution around Lake Okoboji.  It's a great place for breakfast - or for just a piece of homemade pie.

Los Pueblos - Arnolds Park, IA

At first glance, there seemed to be a lot of Mexican restaurants in the Lake Okoboji area.  When we asked our friend, Kathy, who lives in Spirit Lake, she simply said, "Well, there's a lot of Mexicans living around here!"  That makes sense - there's a lot of good Mexican restaurants in the Quad Cities because there are a lot of Mexicans who live there.  For lunch one day on our vacation, we decided to try a Mexican restaurant, mainly because I thought a margarita would sound good.  We picked Los Pueblos on the main drag through Arnolds Park (see map).

It was well after the noon time rush when we went into Los Pueblos.  The owner, Florencia, greeted us as we came in.  She was a small woman with a big smile and bubbly personality.  Florencia asked us if we wanted to sit outside on the patio in front of the restaurant.  It was warm outside and a nice day, but we decided to take a booth along side the windows that look out onto the patio.  

The interior of Los Pueblos was brightly lit by the natural light that came in through the windows on the north and west sides.  The walls were painted in light pastels and adorned with Mexican art work.  A number of tables were in the middle part of the restaurant while booths with high walls separating them took up the wall space along the windows.  

Florencia had dropped off a couple menus for us to look through and she asked, "Can I get you something to drink?"  

I replied, "I've been dying for a margarita."

She asked, "Do you want a big one?  The grande?"

"Sure," I said.  "What the hell."

Florencia looked at Cindy and said, "And you?"

Cindy said, "Sure, a big margarita."  

That was a mistake.  Here is a picture of the grande margarita at Los Pueblos.  Cindy couldn't believe it when Florencia brought them out to us.   Cindy said, "Oh, my God.  You're going to have to wheel me out of here!"  

Florencia didn't say how big they were, but I'm guessing we were drinking 48 ounces - at least - of margaritas.  

The menu at Los Pueblos was rather interesting.  In addition to the Mexican food they had, they also had an "American Food" part of the menu that featured burgers, chicken strips, a steak sandwich, and, interestingly, fettuccine alfredo.  I thought it was sort of funny that they'd have fettuccine alfredo listed under "American Food".   

Florencia told us that because it was just before 2 p.m., we could still get something off the lunch specials list.  The lunch specials are smaller portions of normal sized dinner entrees they serve at Los Pueblos.  Cindy ordered the chicken chimichanga with rice and beans, and I ordered the Pueblos lunch special - two beef chimichangas with lettuce, tomatoes and guacamole.  

While we waited for our food to come out, we munched on the homemade chips and salsa that one of the guys brought to the table.  There were two different salsas - one mild and another one that had a roasted taste to it.  The roasted salsa looked hot and it appeared to have a lot of black pepper in it.  But it was rather mild to our tastes.  But the salsa and the chips were good, but we made sure not to over eat on those.

Here's our lunch specials that Florencia brought out to us. Cindy's chimichanga wasn't all that large, but they put a boat load of rice and refried beans on her plate.  She said, "I won't even begin to be able to eat all this." Cindy said her chicken enchiladas were "delicious".   

My chimichangas were cut into halves and placed in the corners of the plate around the lettuce, tomatoes and guacamole.  The beef was shredded and moist.  It had a pretty good flavor, too.  I added a little salsa to the chimichangas, but they probably didn't need it.  Mine, too, were very good.  

Cindy was having troubles finishing her margarita.  Florencia came by to pick up our plates and I was helping Cindy finish out her drink.  Florencia said, "Happy hour started at two.  Half price drinks.  You want another one?"

Cindy laughed and said, "Oh, goodness, no!  I really wouldn't be able to walk out of here!"

Here's a picture of Cindy with her new friend, Florencia.  Yeah, I know it looks like Florencia is holding Cindy up, but she may have had a little buzz going.  Me, on the otherhand, well, I needed a nap after having lunch and more than one huge margarita at Los Pueblos.  

We liked the food at Los Pueblos.  Our friends told us later in the week that Los Pueblos was probably their favorite Mexican restaurant in the area.  We were happy with our meals.  I wish I would have asked how big the "grande" margarita was, however. They were $11.95 each, once again making our liquor bill higher than our food bill.  But we were on vacation and we were having fun.  The food was your typical Mexican fare, Florencia was fun to deal with, and it was a comfortable place to eat.  I can't say anything bad about our experience at Los Pueblos.  

The Family Diner - Spirit Lake, IA

On the first morning during our vacation at Lake Okoboji, we decided to scout around for a place for breakfast.  Cindy thought she had seen a family restaurant in downtown Spirit Lake when were trying to get our bearings the night before after we checked in to Pioneer Beach Resort.  I took a turn down Hill Ave. and sitting on our left just at the corner of Lake Street and Hill Ave. was a place called The Family Diner (see map).  I said, "Well, I suppose that place IS a family restaurant!"  

We went around the block and parked the car in front of the place - luckily, the only spot that was open along the block.  We went inside and, also luckily, we found one table that had just opened up.  The place was packed.  And it was just after 9 a.m.

Matt and Darlene (Dar) Hall are the owners of the highly popular Family Diner.  We found out later on that being packed at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday morning was not an aberration.  Actually, we heard that the place is usually packed from the time they open at 6 a.m. until they close at 4 p.m.  Known for their breakfasts and their noontime comfort food and sandwiches, the Halls have been in business for about 3 years. 

The restaurant is long and narrow with tables in the middle and booths on the side.  The kitchen area was in the back of the dining area with a huge serving window seperating the two areas.  The restaurant was well-lit with a lot of natural light coming in through the windows on the north and east side of the restaurant.  

A waitress came over to give us menus and asked if we needed coffee.  Not being much of a coffee drinker, I always decline, but Cindy said she'd like a cup.  After the waitress came back with her coffee, Cindy took a sip and said, "Oh, gosh, this is good coffee!  This must be a pretty good place for breakfast!"  Cindy's corrolary between good coffee and good food in a breakfast place has proven to be accurate more often than not.   

Two young ladies and a little girl were seated at a table next to us and they had a couple of humongous cinnamon rolls.  Now, the Quad Cities is sort of famous for their large cinnamon rolls - you can't be a breakfast place worth your salt anywhere in the Quad Cities if you don't have huge cinnamon rolls.  The cinnamon rolls at The Family Diner rivaled any thing we've seen in the Quad's.  And they looked damn good. 

The breakfast items on the menu were plentiful and difficult to choose from.  They had pancakes, omelets, French toast made with homemade bread, skillet dishes - just about anything that you could think of for breakfast they seemed to have it.  I was contemplating getting the blueberry pancakes or the blueberry French toast.  The omelets we saw the waitresses bring out looked pretty damn good, too.  I was in sort of a quandary as to what I wanted to get. 

Cindy had her eyes on a couple things - the French Toast with apricot syrup was very appealing to her, as was the breakfast special with a couple eggs, bacon, hash browns and homemade toasted bread. 

When our waitress showed up to take our order, Cindy got the French toast - one slice - with the apricot syrup. For good measure, she got an egg on the side with bacon.  I wanted an omelet, but I was torn between the corned beef hash omelet, or a sausage and cheese omelet.  I looked on the menu and saw that they had corned beef hash available as a side, so I ordered the sausage and cheese omelet - I had my choice of three cheeses, so I took cheddar.  And I asked the waitress if they could throw some mushrooms into the omelet.  "Sure," was her exuburant reply. 

Because they continued to be busy at The Family Diner, about 20 minutes after we ordered our food showed up. The wait was worth it.   First of all, the portions were huge.  Cindy's one piece of French toast was almost 3/4's of an inch think.  It had a slab of butter and was sprinkled with powered sugar.  The only problem is that the waitress forgot to bring the apricot syrup.  (We were able to chase down another waitress and she brought out the syrup for Cindy.)  

My omelet was also very big.  The cheese was oozing out the side of the omelet and large chunks of sauteed mushrooms were visible on top.  I also had two very thick pieces of homemade wheat bread on my plate with the omelet.  

But the corned beef hash (right) is what really opened my eyes.  They certainly didn't skimp on the sides at The Family diner.  It covered over half the plate and it was a load of corned beef hash for $3.25.  I knew I would have trouble finishing everything on both my plates.

Chunks of sausage were found throughout the omelet.  It was cheesy and the mushrooms - although they were canned, but sauteed - were also a nice taste sensation.  The omelet was thin - as I like my omelets - and it was simply excellent.  The corned beef hash, too, was very good.  It had a nice crust on the outside of the has and the corned beef was very good in flavor.  Cindy had some bites of the corned beef hash and she, too, said it was very good.

Cindy really enjoyed her French toast.  She said, "The apricot syrup is the best part.  I wasn't certain that I wanted French toast, but when I saw they had apricot syrup, that pretty much helped me make up my mind."  Her bacon was crisp, just as she likes it (I like my bacon a little more medium rare to medium), and the egg was, well, it was a fried egg.  Not much you could do with a fried egg.  She used some of my toast that I definitely wasn't going to eat to dip into the yoke of her egg.  

Before we left, we had to order one of the huge cinnamon rolls to go.  We had a refrigerator and a microwave back in our cabin at Pioneer Beach and we figured we could have it as a snack either at night or in the morning.  Quite actually, we pieced on the cinnamon roll for the next three mornings as a snack to tide us over until we had our real breakfast.  It was that huge.  The cream cheese vanilla frosting on top was the pièce de résistance.  It was stupidly great in taste.  

As we were leaving, I told Cindy, "I don't think there's a lot of breakfast places around here.  If we can't find any more, we may be back here for breakfast a couple more times while we're here."  

She said, "That would be fine with me!" 

 We did find more breakfast places around Lake Okoboji during our stay, but I'm going to tell you right now - none of them were as good as The Family Diner. The taste of the food, the value of what we paid versus what we got on our plates, and the fine service were the best we found at any of the breakfast places in the area.

Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum - Arnolds Park, IA

The Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum attached to the new Roof Garden Ballroom at Arnolds Park celebrates the bands, musicians, disc jockeys and impresarios who pioneered and shaped rock and roll music across the state beginning in the 1950's.  During our vacation in the Lake Okoboji region, I made it a point to stop in to the museum to pay homage to a number of friends and others who have been inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

The Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame began in 1997 with the first induction class that included of D.J. and the Runaways, The Fendermen, disc jockeys Dic Youngs and Peter McClain from the original KIOA station radio in Des Moines, and Darlowe Oleson, the owner of the original Roof Garden Ballroom when some of the biggest names in rock in the 50's and 60's would play there. 

The Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum is located on Lake Street in Arnolds Park, next to the Arnolds Park amusement park, just up the street from the pier on West Lake Okoboji (see map).  It's open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., then it's open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday thru Saturday until the end of October.  Winter hours are 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday thru Saturday from the first part of November to the end of May.  Cost to get into the  museum is one measly buck.  

The museum curator is Connie Mueller who was hired in 2011 taking over for longtime curator Doris Welle.  Mueller has worked hard to update the exhibits, publish the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Yearbook, and to coordinate and produce the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony held each Labor Day weekend.  Connie was on hand to greet us as we walked in just past 11 a.m. one weekday morning.  

As I said, I have a handful of friends who have been inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Bob Dorr, Jeff Peterson, Steve Hayes and other members of The Blue Band (Jeff had been previously inducted in the IRRHF with his band Headstone, and Bob for his work on KUNI Radio); Ralph Stephens, Donnie Myers, and John "Barney" Behm from the Deputy Dawg Band; Patrick Hazell, Steve Hayes (again!), Bo Ramsey and the late Rick Cicalo from The Mother Blues Band (Bo was also inducted for his solo work); Chuck Lannom, who was the original bass player for The Mojos out of Grinnell; and Tom Kingsbury from Flood Music in Sioux City, a pro dealer I used to call on years ago.  Plaques celebrating their induction - and others - into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are on the east wall of the museum.  

I had always heard about the Roof Garden Ballroom as a kid growing up.  It sounded like a mystical place to go for a kid in his pre-teen years as I was getting exposed to rock and roll music growing up.  Unfortunately, the original Rooftop Ballroom is no more, demolished due to old age in 1988.  

It opened in June of 1923 and soon became one of the most famous Midwestern big band ballrooms in the 30's and 40's where the likes of Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong all played with their orchestras at the Roof Garden.  

Pictured right, a 1929 aerial shot of the original Roof Garden Ballroom on the shores of West Okoboji Lake.  Picture courtesy Iowa Ballroom.com

Original owner Dr. A.L. Peck sold the building to Darlowe Oleson in 1958.  Oleson owned four other ballrooms across Iowa and he had the moxie to risk the wrath of conservative and church groups by booking rock and roll acts in his ballrooms, all of which were successful ventures.  Oleson's ownership of the Roof Garden Ballroom ushered in a golden period for rock and roll music in Northwest Iowa.  In addition to local and regional bands, the Roof Garden Ballroom also saw the likes of The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the Yardbirds (with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page) play there in the late 50's into the early 70's.  Johnny Cash, The Monkees, and the Shangri-La's also played shows at the original Roof Garden.  The Everly Brothers, who were both spent their formative years in Shenandoah, IA, played the Roof Garden Ballroom every year for seven years straight.  

After a tornado demolished a portion of the ballroom in 1968, Oleson rebuilt the Roof Garden.  However, Olesen tragically died in a plane crash in 1972.  Fewer and fewer bands played the Roof Garden Ballroom after that.  The ballroom fell into a state of disrepair and along with the amusement park next door, the Roof Garden closed for good in 1987.  A year later, local fire departments burned down the original Roof Garden Ballroom for practice.

In 1989, some local people helped restore the amusement park, and then a few years later a new ballroom was built just south of the original Roof Garden.  This is where the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has their induction ceremonies, and the museum has bands come in and play for the Roof Garden's "Rock the Roof" Thursday night shows during the summer months.  

Connie Mueller took us into the new ballroom and told us that they get about 1200 to 1500 people each Thursday night through the summer months when they have the "Rock the Roof" events.  There is also an outdoor stage in a park to the east of the shops opposite the museum that features bands on Friday and Saturday nights through the summer.  Connie told us that even with the attached reception hall on the north side of the new Roof Garden Ballroom, the total square footage of the entire building is smaller than the original Roof Garden.  

We went back into the museum to take a quick look around.  The museum was featuring an exhibit that showcased famous drummers from Iowa.  Drummers such as the late Richie Hayward from Little Feat; Willie Leacox, the longtime drummer for America; the late Keith Knudson from The Doobie Brothers; and Phil Jones who played with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Neil Young and Bob Dylan were honored for their place in rock and roll history.  

Also honored were the three percussionists for the Des Moines-based thrash rock band Slipknot, and Alice DeBuhr from Mason City who was the original drummer in the L.A.-based all female rock band Fanny.  There was also an homage paid to John "JR" Robinson, an in-demand session drummer from Creston.  Robinson has been called "The Most Recorded Drummer in the World" and has played on hit records with singers such as Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie, The Pointer Sisters, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Barbra Streisand.  He has also worked as Quincy Jones' session drummer since 1979 and has also played drums on dozens of movie soundtracks and music scores.  Although the displays were a little confusing and somewhat scattered in their appearance, it was still sort of interesting to learn about some of the famous drummers who once called Iowa home.  

The museum also showcased an exhibit that honored the Great Lakes Recording Company, a studio that, when it opened in 1965, was only one of two recording facilities in the state of Iowa.  The original studio was in nearby Milford and recorded over 150 singles and over 40 albums for either the IGL, Iowa or Sonic labels.  A number of regional rock bands from around the Midwest came to Great Lakes Recording to record songs.  Dee Jay and Runaways had a hit song that made the Billboard Top 40 chart - "Peter Rabbit" - that was recorded at Great Lakes Recording, as was the Pete Klindt Quintet's mid-60's hit "Walking Proud".   

The Iowa Rock and Roll Museum also featured an exhibit of 14 guitars that were each signed by annual inductees of the Hall of Fame.  The 14 guitars (now 15) bore the signatures of inductees since 1999.  I couldn't get past the fact that each of the guitars were beautiful instruments never to be played.  

There was also a display of clothing that some Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bands wore back in the 60's.  Many bands coordinated their wardrobe so they all dressed alike when playing music.  There's also an old working jukebox that features music from the 60's.  Numerous pictures, records, plaques and other memorabilia are tastefully crammed into the museum.  

Interestingly, we were told by a lady working with Connie Mueller that day that the creaky floor we were standing on in the center to the front of the museum was a restored piece of the old floor at the original Roof Garden Ballroom.  "They found it in a heap after the original Roof Garden was gone," she told us.  "This part of the floor was the biggest piece they could find, but it was covered in bird poop and sort of weathered from the elements."  She said when they built the museum they put the floor in to be part of the display.  "So you can say you actually stood on the floor of the Roof Garden Ballroom," she proudly exclaimed.   

OK, so it wasn't the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame out in Cleveland (a place that we visited about 8 years ago).  It took us about 30 minutes, tops, to go through the museum - and that included looking around the new Roof Garden Ballroom and chatting with the ladies in the museum.  But for a kid growing up in a rock and roll culture of the 60's with three older sisters and an older brother that played rock music on the car radio or on the Zenith transistor radio that we had around the house, it was a pretty neat experience.  I think it's definitely worth the buck a head admission fee.  Heck, I would have paid TWO BUCKS to experience Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum.   

Maxwell's Beach Cafe - Arnolds Park, IA

Our first night of our vacation earlier this year in the Lake Okoboji region of Northwest Iowa found us eating out at what many think is the premier restaurant in the area, Maxwell's Beach Cafe.  Located at the end of Lake Street next to the legendary Arnolds Park amusement park, and across from the pier that juts out into West Okoboji (see map), Maxwell's has been in business since 1986 offering upscale fare to vacationers and locals in the lakes region.

Lewis Casson and his wife, Julie Roth are the owners of Maxwell's Beach Cafe.  Casson is a native of Liverpool, UK who moved to the U.S. and began to work in the restaurant industry.  After working at restaurants in Kansas City, Sioux Falls and Spencer, IA, Casson opened the seasonal restaurant (open mid-May to late-September) on the shore of West Lake Okoboji.  While they offer locally raised beef and pork, they also have a number of items on their menu that feature more cosmopolitan selections.  

After parking our car in a lot directly behind the restaurant, we made our way around to the front to enter the place.  Maxwell's features a covered outdoor patio, but the late day sun was beating down in the patio making it warm and somewhat bright to sit outside at that time.  We decided to eat inside where it was cooler and the seating was more comfortable than the plastic chairs outside.  A hostess greeted us and sat us in a booth toward the front of the restaurant.  It was far from busy - the late summer season was winding down - and we knew we wouldn't be hurried at all during the meal.  

Actually, the clientele was an interesting mix of vacationers in shorts and polo shirts (like us), golfers just in off the course, families with little kids, and older people who were very dressed up to go out for dinner - on a Monday night.  The dining room was rather large with a series of booths along the wall and tables in the middle.  A small bar was on the east side of the dining room but it was fully stocked with liquor, wine and beer.

Our waitress for the evening, Kailey, came over to greet us.  She asked if we wanted anything to drink and I ordered a beer while Cindy decided to stick with water for the time being.  After Kailey brought my beer back to me, she told us of the specials that evening.  They sounded interesting, but a quick look through the menu told me that they had a steak au poivre on the menu - a New York-cut strip steak with a peppercorn cream sauce on top.  I'm a sucker for a good steak au poivre.  Maxwell's looked like the kind of place that could make a good one.  

Maxwell's also featured a domestic Kobe beef sirloin steak raised from cattle at Majinola Farms near Panama, IA.  I think they actually had it wrong on the menu - Majinola Farms raises Wagyu beef and I don't think you can call it Kobe beef unless it's actually grown in Japan.  I'm not certain about that, but that's what I read when I first wondered about the difference between the two.  The other thing that sort of concerned me about the "Kobe" beef at Maxwell's - it was pretty cheap.   It was only $22 bucks.  I've had Kobe and Wagyu beef that was four times the price of what they had on the menu at Maxwell's. It was either a very small piece of meat or it was a bad cut.  Either way, I wasn't going to order it.  

Some of the other eclectic things on the menu included a roasted duck entree, double cut lamb chops, a Korean-style spare rib dish, and something called "Shittake Beef Pappardelle" featuring homemade egg noodle pappardelle pasta mixed with spicy marinated beef, sliced shittake mushrooms and drizzled with a soy/ginger sauce.  That sounded very interesting to me.  

Cindy was looking hard the jumbo scallops - homemade pappardelle egg noodles with aspargus and prosciutto ham with caramelized onions.  It's topped with a cream sauce and jumbo scallops.  That's what she decided to get.  I couldn't find anything to sway me away from the steak au poivre and I ordered that.  Cindy also ordered the spinach chevre salad and I got wedge salad for openers.  We both had taken a look through the wine list and Cindy decided to order a glass of the William Hill Central Coast chardonnay.  I was going to have a glass of wine with dinner (I ended up getting a glass of the Textbook cabernet), but in the meantime I switched from a Bud Light to a bottle of Lucky Bucket lager - an Omaha-area micro-brewery that I've never tried before.  (There's a large Omaha influence in the Lake Okoboji region - lots of people from Omaha have vacation homes in the area.)  I tried it and I wasn't impressed with the beer.  I'll think twice about ordering one again if I come across it in the future.  

Our salads made it out to the table and the presentation was nice.  Cindy's spinach salad had goat cheese crumbles, strawberry slices and almonds on top, along with an aged balsamic vinegar drizzle.  She said the spinach leaves were very fresh and loved the taste of the strawberries.  

My wedge salad was actually cut into quarters with sides of both a creamy blue cheese dressing and Maytag blue cheese crumbles.  The lettuce was crisp and fresh, but the great taste of the Maytag blue cheese was the winner with the salad.  

Not long after we finished our salads, Kailey brought out our main entrees.  Cindy's jumbo scallops with pasta dish looked scrumptious - and she said it was.  The entree featured three large grilled scallops on top of the pasta along with asparagus chunks and ample amounts of prosciutto.  She cut off a chunk of one of her scallops to give to me to try.  She asked me, "Isn't that great," as I took a bite of the scallop.  It was very, very good.   

My steak au poivre looked good, but it was overcooked to more of a medium-rare versus the rare I had asked for.  But it certainly wasn't a deal-breaker.  And it had a LOT of fat for the cut of meat.  Aah!  That's one of the hazards with steak whether you're eating out or making one at home on the grill.  The au poivre sauce was very good and the beef - what I could get at - was tender and flavorful.  Three or four stalks of grilled asparagus came with the steak (they weren't bad - a little limp), and a side of pretty good broasted potatoes were on the side.  It wasn't the best steak au poivre I've ever had, but I certainly couldn't bitch much more about it.  

After dinner, Kailey came out with the dessert tray.  I was sort of stuffed from the dinner and I wasn't certain that I wanted anything else for dinner.  Cindy said, "Oh, come on!  We're on vacation!"  We decided - actually SHE decided - to order the tiramisu (made locally for Maxwell's) with two forks.

Kailey brought out the tiramisu and it was a large piece that was drizzled with a caramel sauce.  Oh man, was it great!  The caramel sauce was a nice addition to the tiramisu giving it another sweet little bite.  We've had tiramisu at a lot of places over the years and, quite frankly, it was one of the better ones we've had.  

The meal we had at Maxwell's Beach Cafe was very good. I really can't quibble about the cut of steak having too much fat on it.  But you would think that a New York strip steak would be a little more lean than what I had at Maxwell's.  Kailey's service was good, we liked the ambiance of the place and we felt it was a pretty good value for what we got.

As we were leaving, Julie Roth was up front at the hostess stand and she asked, "How was your meal, folks?"

We couldn't lie - it was very good.  And we also knew that it would be tough to top this meal at any other Lake Okoboji restaurant while we were there.