Day 7: Spirit Lake, IA

Woke up about 7:30 and had a nice breakfast with my Auntie Barb. She and I are going shopping at thrift and consignment stores here in Spirit Lake and Many Hands Market in nearby Spencer — I have 3 short sleeved shirts and they are all dirty. Gotta hit the washing machine tonight!

Meanwhile, dad and Uncle Roger took a driving tour of West Lake Okoboji and the environs. They had a picnic lunch by the slough and apparently saw NO “yellow-heads” (sorry, can’t help you except to say it’s apparently some kind of bird).

John and Barb outside Bergen Bar & Grill

Batter dipped walleye and wild rice (Bergen Bar & Grill, Jackson, MN)

Saved the best part of the day for tonight — a trip to Jackson, MN (Uncle Roger’s hometown) to eat batter-dipped walleye at Bergen Bar & Grill. This is in anticipation of Walleye Weekend here in Okoboji, a catch-and-release fishing and eating celebration of this much-loved fish.

I have also now also been officially introduced to Twin Bing, a peanut and chocolate coated cherry nougat candy bar only available west of the Mississippi. (On a side note, I sampled some Twin Bing ice cream last night and didn’t really like it much, so I was very surprised to find I enjoyed the original candy that inspired it.)

All in all, a lovely day with dad, uncle, and auntie, so off to bed now. Sleep well out there across the Universe!