Spending the Fourth in Clear Lake

This year, Linda and I went to Clear Lake in north central Iowa. Probably best known as the home of the Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake offers many leisure activities and puts on one of the better Fourth of July celebrations in the area.

We found Linda's usual family parade viewing spot and waited for other family members to arrive and things to get under way. The family arrived and we were all pretty surprised by an F-16 formation flyover, apparently to start the parade. With Iowa in the political candidates' crosshairs for exposure, the parade attracted two candidates and a former President of the United States, Mitt Romney and Senator and President Clinton. Two of Linda's nieces were also in the parade so we waited for them to pass by before moving to the park for the next traditional activity: eating!

Tradition dictates that the you order a corn dog at the first vendor offering them. Corn dogs fit well into the Iowa diet of about-any-kind-of-food-on-a-stick so we didn't have to look too hard to find a vendor. That tradition honored, we moved on toward the stage to find a shady spot and some benches to establish the next family gathering spot.

Our location established, I followed Linda's daughter's fiance to the home of the next traditional food item: tenderloin sandwich (not on a stick) from the Tender Den. The batter used to make the Tender Den tenderloin bubbles up to a very airy coating around the actual meat; it reminded me of tempura style fried food. As we lingered in the shade in the park, people thoroughly photo-documented the occasion as various combinations of people were arranged and positioned.

Next, we moved to the sea wall for a big family shot. Being not of the family, I was eligible to perform in the role of photographer which I fulfilled to the best of my ability. While I feel I've learned a lot over the past few years with my camera, I got to work with several cameras of varying design and feature so I hope I did okay.

The Surf Ballroom is one of The Places in Iowa to Visit so Linda and I walked the six blocks or so to see the site and possibly step inside. When we arrived, we each were scoping out picture angles that would show the signage and the structure without a lot of wires in the way. The end of one driveway looked like a good spot so we moved into position. As we were discussing the shot, a woman walked down the driveway with a guestbook and pen in her hands. "Would you please sign our book?" Evidently, they've been collecting signatures from various people who've stood in their driveway to photograph The Surf. I signed and she offered to take our picture in front of the ballroom. That's it you see above, cropped a bit.

After roaming around the festivities, we loaded into the car and headed over to one of Linda's aunt and uncle's house along the south shore to enjoy an afternoon chatting, walking along the lake and down to the dock, and, of course, grazing on several tasty treats brought for the occasion.

We left before the fireworks display; it's a bit of a drive and the weather was looking a little like rain so we felt it was probably a good idea to be heading for home. We did take a swing past the home of one of the food items on The List: the Muskie Lounge, home of the Muskie Burger. We were well fed and felt we'd have a good chance at returning to try that treat another day.