does anyone know ANYTHING about the Lake Okoboji area in northwestern Iowa?

Okoboji is a wonderful place, a chain of lakes in Dickinson County. Most of the summer activity takes place on the lake, of course, and the most popular lake seems to be West Okoboji. The area has something for every taste:
1.) A Coney Island style amusement park on the south shore.
2.) Some very good museums including a nice art museum, a maritime museum that documents boat history on the lakes, a currency museum (very interesting) and an assortment of local historical society museums.
3.) The Okoboji Summer Theater, one of the longest running summer stocks in the country. The casts are a combination of professional actors and students from Stephens College in Columbia Missouri. Their shows are top-notch.
4.) A very active nightlife. There are tons of bars, nightclubs, live music, a comedy club and a multi-plex theater.
5.) Assorted amusements including a water park, a couple of go-cart tracks, miniature golf galore.
6.) Good shopping.
7.) Excellent system of bike trails around the lakes region.
8.) Several public beaches.
9.) The Spirit Lake Massacre historical site where Native Americans killed several settlers years ago. (Recently, historians have suggested they had it coming. You can decide for yourself.)

Don't miss Sunday morning sailing regatta on West Lake, an afternoon at the Three Sons in nearby Milford (home of the University of Okoboji *wink*), a ride on the Queen II excursion boat, a nutty bar and roller coaster ride at the amusement park.

Have fun.

Jay Wagner
Iowan.com

My husband is from NW Iowa,(Marcus)and during one of our summer vacations we spend some time there. It is just as Jay described. Don't forget to pick up some t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. with the University of Okoboji, (home of the fighting phantoms). Make for great conversation especially if your from another state as we are (Calif). Fun for all ages!!

I really enjoyed reading this post, as it brought back some great memories. When I was a theater student at Stephens College, I spent the summer of 1974 doing summer stock at the Okoboji Summer Theater that Jay mentioned (and he's right, our shows were top notch). I had a great time there. My days were filled with rehearsals, set building, painting, costume sewing, light hanging, working in the box office; the nights of course were when we performed our main stage shows. There is also a smaller covered outdoor theater (at least there was then, I assume it's still there) where we did children's theater shows and performances of experimental or avante-garde plays. We students participated in every aspect of theater. We did a new main stage show every week , for ten weeks. It was an intense, exhausting, and exhilerating experience. And somehow we still found some time to go swimming in the lake, and to go partying after the shows at the many bars and restaurants in the area. Ah, the energy of youth! I remember that I found it to be really beautiful there; the theater campus was surrounded by meadows and cornfields, and I enjoyed the agrarian beauty around me. I suspect it is probably somewhat more built up now than it was then, but there are probably still lots of farms and cornfields around. I'd love to go back someday, have a great time if you go.

Good to hear from a few other Okoboji lovers. In interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I was in a show at the Okoboji Summer Theater in the summer of 1979. I was in junior high at the time and Adison Myers was looking for someone to play the part of a singing telegram boy for the show "Junior Miss." Since my folks were avid theater goers and because I had met Adison a few times, he asked me to try out. I spent three or four weeks rehearsing and then a week on the stage. My most vivid memory is the tiny dressing room where EVERYBODY changed clothes. It was a teenage boy's dream: a half-dozen college women prancing around in their underwear. The area is a little bit more developed now; the Iowa Great Lakes Art Center is now located next door and there's a small strip mall across the road where many of the actors go after shows to have a drink. But there are still a lot of cornfields in the area too. A friend of mine in fond of saying: "The neat thing about Okoboji is that one minute you're driving past a lake and the next minute you're driving past a cornfield." Thanks for letting me share.

Jay Wagner
iowan.com

recomendation: do not go on memorial day, July 4th, or labor day, you won't have a chance to enjoy yourself those weekends it is so busy that just getting somewhere can be a hassle, but if you like swap meets those weekends they have huge swap meets