Honey Creek, Friends, Beer and Fun

It was just what the doctor ordered. And by doctor I mean me. I ordered myself to get away and have some fun with friends. That prescription was filled and I'd like to report the patient is doing better.

We left West Des Moines around 4 p.m. on Friday - dropping Odie of at Logan's house. She got to spend the weekend with teenage twin girls, a 10-year-old girl, a 75 pound boxer, a chinchilla. This group's mother, Leslee, is the daughter of Connie who lives in Diamond Brooke, our townhouse complex.

Then we were off on our South Central Iowa Adventure - to Honey Creek. (click link) It's the resort the Department of Natural Resources built on Lake Rathbun back in 2009ish. Yep - right when the economy bombed. It's been a tough go financially for the place - DNR just paid off the bonds this year, but it's yet to sniff a profit. It's still a pretty well-kept secret if you ask me. Remote? Yes...it's in the middle of no-where. I suppose that's part of the beauty of the place. It's a great place for family reunions and destination gatherings. There was a wedding reception going on this weekend.

There is a huge beautiful lodge with a full restaurant, bar and several meeting rooms. On the other end of the place there is a large water park - the kids were loving that place. The pool closes down for adults only from 9-10 p.m. Good thinking!

We met our longtime pals Bobbie and Jeff McFee there. We thought about asking other friends to go too, but some of them have their own cabins on a different lake, so we figured their lake places would be higher priority for them - not a jaunt to south central Iowa. I did dream about our fave south of the border lake last night - there was a bear involved. (not Bare Don).

I'd been to Honey Creek for meetings before, but not to stay. It had been a while though. I'd forgotten how impressive the place looks when you first drive in. The staff is friendly and we got checked in quickly. The rooms are nothing special, but were attractive and clean. We ended up in disabled friendly King rooms right next to each other. We dragged along enough liquor for 10 people - forgetting that we're now in our mid-50's.

The first night we ate at the HC Restaurant and sat in the spa after 9 p.m. when the cherubs were sent off to bed. We sent ourselves to bed shortly after 10. Breakfast was offered back at the same restaurant - and we enjoyed watching bald eagles swoop over the marina dock outside the window. We chatted long after our food was gone, enjoying good coffee and company.

McFees were in charge of BMs after that. Yep - Bloody Marys in their room. Later, on our way to the car for a tour of 2 area towns, I insisted we do a photo session "out back".  Nobody wanted to sit in the icy Adirondack chairs - so we stood by them.

Bobbie and Jeff



Wish the place woulda been hoppin'

First we headed north to the small town of Albia where the Albia Brewing Company had opened in late 2012. Few patrons were out on a chilly Saturday afternoon so we hogged the owners' attention. Brian and Barbara Lindberg and their daughter gave us plenty of love. (The daughter now lives in Prairie City and knows my co-worker Angie. Small world). We enjoyed 2 paddles of beer plus delish appetizers. We each selected our fave before Brian gave us a tour of the joint. He sells Shelter Insurance but has always loved brewing - so started this venture.

Brian brews on Sundays. I liked the beer called Black Betty

Next we headed to Centerville, 20 miles south in Appanoose County, in search of a bar with a TV so we could watch the ISU basketball game. We ended up at the historic Continental where again we received personal service and attention - until the oldsters started shuffling in for supper at 5 p.m. Bobbie and I walked around the square visiting several excellent gift stores and Browns Shoe Fit (I held back and didn't purchase shoes...so proud). The Cyclones came through with a bball victory. Yay! Maybe I should shop during games more often!



Continental - lobby

Making the turn on the square, Bobbie saw some unfortunate soul's butt crack - and that was our kinky high (or low) light of the day. I was lucky enough to miss it - she didn't shout out fast enough. And it was like a car wreck and she couldn't avert her eyes long enough during the brief view to see if it was a man or a woman. In this weather, I'd think they'd have felt the chill.



Love the sign

Next we walked a block to the Majestic Theater owned by the same group. A guy gives Arthur Murray ballroom dance lessons frequently there we were told. The theater must not be updated to digital. The bar and drink areas are delightful and would be a great place for a small wedding reception or party. We ordered bevvies from the lone bartender (it turned out he knew Creston's Mike Gerleman) and settled into the comfy leather couch/chair area.

Hungry, we ordered pizza from the local Greek joint George and Nick's. It was delivered to be delivered to us there and was quite yummy. I couldn't talk Paul into trying out the dance floor with our newly learned Foxtrot and Waltz moves.

Beautiful dance floor - it was calling to us

We headed back to Honey Creek by 9 p.m. and once again were in bed by 10. Hell, we're old!


We made ourselves at home..at the Majestic

The breakfast buffet this a.m. was great - it included an omelet bar. There were even more eagles than yesterday. We chatted by the fireplace before packing up and heading home. I'd recommend this trip to anybody and Paul and I plan to come back in warm weather with our kayaks! It was sure nice to hang out with our friends - I might make it through a few more weeks of winter now.









Dreaming of vacations

Betso is coming to Florida! I haven't even allowed myself to think about our annual trip to Marco Island so far this winter. But after the rough driving week of this past week, it's time.

I had a near miss with a semi on my drive to DSM Tuesday. Jeff McFee tells me semi drivers have to hit a switch to release their trailers. So the driver must have done that in order to keep control of his tractor. Whatever happened - scared the bejesus out of me! Then Friday - I was in Centerville with my EMS Audit Team, Jen (my Supe) and Jeff (a co-worker). I'd left my car in Albia, on Hwy 34 so I could drive home after our audit and tour of the Rathbun Solid Waste facilities.

We finished up in Centerville around 2:30 PM and started north - with a stop on the way. Jen had spent New Year's Eve with her whole fam at Honey Creek Resort at Lake Rathbun. It's a beautiful destination resort built by Iowa DNR right on a huge man-made lake. See the link. It's a great place for a family reunion.
http://www.honeycreekresort.com/

Her eight year old daughter left her slippers there - Jen had thoughts of retrieval. No such luck though... It's a cool place - worth a stop if you ever get the chance. About then Jeff got a call from his partner Nick - mentioning freezing rain in DSM. Paul had called earlier saying the same thing about Creston. #%*$(#

So we got on the road. When I got my car in Albia, sure enough all sorts of precip was falling - rain, sleet, snow. The pavement was wet but I couldn't tell if it was slick and really didn't want to test it. I went about 50 mph as I headed west towards Chariton - thinking to myself, "I can always give my friend Leslie Goldsmith a call!" (recall that is where alternative Leslie and Paul Goldsmith live)

But I didn't feel any slip sliding, so I kept forging ahead, listening to my book - the third one I've gotten of the trilogy - Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm on #2. When I got to Osceola (home of our friend and new Lt. Gov Kim Reynolds), the pavement finally dried up. Phew. I need a massage after stressful work (these EMS audits are a bitch) and driving. Plus I need a lemondrop martini or two (took care of that Friday night...)

So last week Betsy said she was looking into airfare to go to Marco while Cindy, Paul and I are there. Paul may get to drive 3 Miss Daisys around! That would be such fun. I haven't even allowed myself to think ahead about my paradise...but this week I start to! And now Bobbie has booked us on a summer vaca in San Antonio along with McKims and Higgins. Always a good time with the tailgating group! I love having stuff to look forward to.