What Spurred the Journey to Lake of the Ozarks?
Over the years, we’ve keep in really good touch with Carly’s neighbors from her childhood home, Steve and Aimee, and one of our favorite things to do when we lived in Oklahoma was to visit them at the lake. Then, we would only make the short journey to Grand Lake, Oklahoma, but now they have a place on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. We’ve been talking about going to visit them for a while now, and with things starting to open up, decided we would go ahead and book it. This was also my first trip to really put the GoPro to use and see what I could come up with. If you notice this post has much fewer pictures than normal, that’s really because I was focused on the filming!
Starting the Long Road Trip
We would be making the long 12 hour drive from Colorado to Missouri, which doesn’t sound so bad, until you realize most of that is through the state of Kansas. If you’ve never done it before, let me tell you, there isn’t much to look at driving through Kansas. Not wanting to arrive tired for an action packed weekend, and also getting a late start with me working, we broke up the drive and stopped in Topeka, KS our first night. This made things a little more manageable on the way there. In Topeka, we found a small burger joint in a strip mall, The Burger Stand. It was one of the few places that was still open when we arrived so late, but it was surprisingly good. Or maybe that was just the cold beer talking!
Finishing the Drive and First Day at Lake of the Ozarks
Eager to arrive and wanting to have as much time at the lake as possible, we woke up early to finish the 4 hours or so we had left on our drive. The rest of the drive, like the day before, was fairly uneventful, as is the case most of the time driving through that part of the country. When we finally arrived, Steve and Aimee were waiting to greet us in the driveway. It was good to see them again! The couple that share the house with Steve and Aimee, Mark and Jennifer, came shortly thereafter, and the crew was complete and ready for adventure.
Even though it was alternating between sprinkling and raining, we quickly unpacked and got ourselves ready to spend the rest of the day on the lake. Our first stop was Lakehouse 13, which was only a short boat ride away. We didn’t care that it was raining, as the bar and restaurant was totally our vibe! It had a covered, outdoor bar and patio, with enough space for us, but also not huge either. People must have been staying away because of the rain, as it wasn’t crowded at all. After dinner, we made our way back to the dock, and spent the rest of the night hanging out and having way too much fun watching some hockey and eating s’mores.
Finally Some Sun on Day 3 of Our Trip
As we woke up on day 3, we found a way to pull ourselves out of bed after our long night of fun, and made our way down to the dock. We sipped our coffee and tossed a line into the lake, trying to wake up for the day ahead. I only had a few bites while I was fishing, but Carly ended up catching a little guy! I apologize that I don’t have any good pictures of it, but definitely check out the video above to see Carly’s catch!
Franky & Louie’s
Around lunchtime, we set out in the boat to get some good food in us before we really started the party. We were following the direction of our hosts, since they knew the lake well, and they took us to a place called Franky & Louie’s. When we pulled in, the first thing I noticed was the sandy beach full of people leading into the lake. That was an interesting feature that I don’t think I had seen at a lake bar/restaurant before. The restaurant was big and it was busy already by lunchtime. The food and drinks were excellent, and we were off to a fast start to our day!
Backwater Jack’s
From there, we made our way around the lake, checking out the giant houses along the way, to Backwater Jack’s. We were forewarned that this place was a bit different and more of a party scene. We heard the DJ as we pulled in, and saw the swarms of people in the massive pool, and knew they were right. It was hard to believe this was just another weekend at a lake bar here at Lake of the Ozarks. We hung out here for most of the rest of the day, as the people watching and the drinks were both amazing. I’m sure there were other places that we would have enjoyed if we had checked them out too, but neither of us were complaining about hanging out here either!
Fateful Sunset Cruise on the Jet Ski
Back at the house, Steve convinced Carly and I both that it was a good idea to get out on the jet ski to really see the sunset well. We willingly hopped on and set out, not necessarily knowing what adventures were in store for us. If I wasn’t foreshadowing enough, let’s just say that all 3 of us ended up in the water despite zero plans to do so! Good thing I had the GoPro going to capture the spill. This was all it took for us to hop back on and cruise back to the house as quickly as possible. We hung out on the dock a little while longer, but it was getting late and we had been on the lake all day. I think we were all ready for bed at this point.
Trying to Take it Easy on Day 4 before Our Trip Home
The goal on Sunday, was to try to take it easy so that we weren’t super tired for our drive home the next day. I’m not sure that we necessarily accomplished it, but that was the goal. We got up fairly early by lake standards, headed down to the dock with our coffee again, and got some of the lake toys out. We each took our turns with the jet ski, before hopping on the paddleboards together to cruise around the cove. Although neither one of us felt super comfortable standing up on the paddleboard for our first time, it was a relaxing activity that both of us really enjoyed. I could see us doing it again soon.
Tap & Grill Brew Haus
Even though we were trying to have a more relaxing day, we knew there was no way that we wouldn’t make it back out on the lake to check out a couple last spots on our last day on Lake of the Ozarks. Our first stop was Tap & Grill Brew Haus which was honestly one of my favorite places. It was certainly much more laid back than Backwater Jack’s, and was refined compared to the other places we went. As is becoming a theme, the food was great and their house made craft beers were a welcome change, too. We had lunch and then headed over to the pool bar, which had plenty of TVs to catch some sports. It also wasn’t overly crowded, which was nice. I could see us making a return voyage to this place on our next trip.
With the trip starting to come to a very quick close, we made one last stop on our way back to the house. Docknocker’s was a very low-key bar, but was honestly just as nice as some of the others we went to that had a lot more going on. Steve brought us there specifically for the boiled shrimp that were seriously amazing. I would’ve been happy hanging out there all day drinking cocktails and eating shrimp! Our stop here was quick and we made our way back to the boat to head to the house.
Saying Goodbye to Lake of the Ozarks on Day 5
On our return to Colorado, we didn’t have any stops planned to break up the trip, and would be completing all 12 hours in one day. This meant waking up as early as we could get ourselves out of bed, packing up the car, and heading out. It was bittersweet leaving our friends after having such a great weekend, but we knew that we would be back for more adventures as soon as we could.
All in all, we accomplished what we wanted to when we set out on our trip to Lake of the Ozarks. Our goals were to catch up with old friends, explore the lake and all it had to offer, and come back with stories to tell. We definitely achieved those and much, much more. Until the next time we make it back there, we’ll have plenty of memories to relive. We arrived back at home exhausted, but fulfilled!