Lake Okoboji

 

In this blog post I will talk about a venue I visit each year, it’s one of my favorite places I have visited.  Lake Okoboji is a lake in Iowa, only about 5 hours away from Cedar Rapids.  The lake is surrounded by resorts and large houses.  The resort I stay at each year is called Village West.  We stay in a cabin very close to the beach for one week a year, the cabin is an A-frame, it has two bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, and dining room.  The cabin is a little small for our five person family, so one week of being in close quarters makes us all happy to be home in separate roomsJ.

Village west also contains a hotel as well as over 50 cabins.  In the hotel there is an indoor pool, small movie theatre, arcade, mini golf, small gym, a gift shop, and two diners.  The indoor pool includes a 5 foot deep pool, a children's pool (2 feet deep) and a Jacuzzi available to those twelve and over.  The staff at Village West hides a small star somewhere in the hotel, or on the grounds, and every morning a clue about where the star is hidden is posted on the front of the recreation desk. Out of the two restaurants in Village West's hotel, Betsy's Diner is my favorite. It is an old-fashioned diner with checkered floors and neon lights with an ice cream bar.  Sadly this year the diner was closed because school had already started in Okoboji and there wasn't anyone to run the diner.  The game room has a pool table, arcade games, two ping pong tables, and an air hockey table.  As part of the fun at Village West a schedule of activities are available each week, one of which is a ping pong tournament.  I have never participated in the tournament but have several competitions with my family.
The mini golf courses have deteriorated over the years, a lot of the obstacles have disappeared or have been destroyed in the inside course, but the outside course remains intact.  The recreation desk provides puts for free and a machine right by the desk allows you to buy colored golf balls for twenty-five cents a piece.  

The lake is very clear and a great place to fish, a boat house resides by the lake where jet skis, and paddle boats can be rented by the hour.  My favorite activity is tubing, where you tie a inflatable tube (different then the donut-shaped tubes you float around in) to a boat, and you hold on for as long as you can without being flipped off.  Long term effects of tubing includes rug burn on knees and elbows, sore arms, possible broken ribs.  Okoboji Lake is fairly large so many boats are able to ski, tube, or knee board any time of day.
One thing you must do at least once on your trip is to get up at 6 and watch the sunrise from the dock, it's very beautiful and will be a perfect memory of your stay.

Okoboji is a great vacation for families, not too expensive, and only a short 5 hour drive away

-Enjoy where you are for however long you’re there, Samantha

Lake Como, Italy

 

Lake Como is territory first inhabited by the Romans, Julius Caesar populated the town with 5,000 inhabitants and named it Larius. Throughout time Lake Como has been subjected to several invasions from multiple countries jealous of Como's prosperity and economy. The most famous and widely read novel in Italian literature is The Betrothed, written by Alessandro Manzoni in 1825 when the Lake was under Austrian control.  The book is set in Lecco, Italy (town around Lake Como), when the Spanish ruled very oppressively (1535-1713).  In 1859 Lake Como joined the Kingdom of Italy after Giuseppe Garibaldi defeated the Austrians at the battle of San Fermo.
Como has become very famous for its textile and silk industry in the 19th century, followed by furniture manufacture and design. Each town in Lake Como, although they experience a large influx of tourists each year, maintains their "small-town" feeling.
Every year on the last Saturday in June the festival of San Giovanni is celebrated at Lake Como.  The week leading up to the celebration is filled with events, to start, on Sunday there is a torch-light procession along the water. Monday through Friday is filled with various sporting events such as a bicycle road race, rowing, swimming, bowls, darts, cards games, and gymkhana. On Sunday all citizens attend church in the morning, followed by an evening of wining and dining with dancing, all culminating in a spectacular fireworks display.
Lake Como is a very beautiful and culturally-rich location that is sure to engage and enrapture any traveler.
-Enjoy where you are for as long as you’re there, Samantha 

Giverny, France

 

On the borders of Normandy in France lies a small village, the birthplace of impressionism, Giverny.  Claude Monet used to visit Giverny periodically as a country retreat, and it is here that he developed impressionism.  Monet noticed the village through a train window and decided to buy a house and land to set up a spectacular garden for him to paint.  Giverny had a population of 301 in 1883 when Monet discovered it, but has now experienced a boom in tourism due to the restoration of Monet’s house and gardens.

Another venue that showcases impressionist art is the American Museum in Giverny.  The museum was originally dedicated to American Art, but now provides the impressionists art from all around France and America, and links the pieces/movement with other art movements.  The museum also contains a bar/restaurant to stop in before or after your visit to the museum.

Monet’s grave and a World War II memorial are features of the Giverny Church.  Although the inside of the Giverny church is plain and simple, dating back many centuries, the stained glass windows are fairly modern.  The outside features a World War II graveyard where seven British airmen are buried after being killed near Giverny in 1944.  Monet and his family are also buried there in the midst of a large, beautiful garden.

Another interesting venue to travel to is the Natural Mechanical Museum, a collection of steam internal combustion engines founded in 1955.  Donations and purchased vintage engines have been collected, especially in 1982 when several workshops, factories, and mills closed.  The engines have been persevered as best as possible, allowing tourists to see the earlier development of engines.

Giverny can be accessed fairly easy and cheaply by car, train, or bus as only a short trip from Paris.  You can even rent a bicycle from a café outside the  Vernon train station, (signs indicate it for you), and the rental fee is around 12 Euros with the bike ride only being about 4 miles long until Giverny. 

A very affordable and unique place to stay is the Forest Farm, in Vernon just 4km north of Giverny.  This bed and breakfast stemmed from an old farm with a main farmhouse and several independent buildings, bordered by a 40 acre private forest, allowing guests to admire nature.  The price for a double room with breakfast is 60 Euros, tax included.

As the birthplace of Impressionism, Giverny cannot disappoint those who have an admiration for nature and beauty.

-Enjoy where you are for however long you’re there, Samantha