June 17, 2018

Golfing in Clear Lake, Iowa


Golfing in Clear Lake, Iowa
Todd Swank's Diary Entry for June 17, 2018


Summer always brings us interesting bugs.  I'm guessing this is some sort of moth, but he was pretty massive.


One of our albino squirrel friends stopped by our porch to steal some bird-food.  Our dog, Blue, took special interest in him and really wanted to go outside to say Hi.  We tried to explain to him that we don't want him to chase the white ones, but for some reason he doesn't seem to understand.


We celebrated Father's Day early this year by going to our favorite restaurant, Benihana.  We brought along Grandma Linda because mothers make Father's day all the more special.  It's nice to have my boys home for the summer so we can do this kind of stuff.


On Friday night, we went to Troy and Rhonda's household for another Fogo De Brown meal.   Basically, Troy spoils us with all kinds of delicious meat.


Karl has always been a huge meat fan, so I wasn't surprised to see him jump right in there to lend a hand.


The rest of the family anxiously waited as the meal was prepared.  We were all very excited for the meat we were about to receive and did not leave disappointed.  It was another great meal with the Browns.


On Saturday morning, I drove down to Clear Lake, Iowa to play some golf with my old buddies.  They told me we were going to play 36 holes, but I don't think any of us realized the temperatures were going to climb into the nineties.  So we only made it through 27 holes before deciding to call it a day.


Oak Hills is my favorite course.  I'm sure you can all imagine, my golf game is below average at best.  But I still enjoy getting out there and smacking the ball around.  


I love Oak Hills because it's inevitable I'm going to see old friends of mine like Matt and Chris.  It's always a good thing to see the old gang.


I hadn't seen Curt and Jay in many, many years, so it was great to bump into them as well.  Curt asked me to give a shout-out to Mike Hoil on this week's update.  Consider it done.  Hi, Mike!


After we were done golfing, we headed over to Mason City, Iowa.  We stopped and played pool at Ransom's.  I don't remember if I've ever played here before, but I was very impressed with the history of the place.   It originally opened in 1866 which if my math is correct, makes it more than 150 years old.  There's articles on the wall that talk about the history including how it used to be on a pool hall circuit at one point, so all sorts of world champions and hustlers had played there in the past.  Oh the stories those walls could tell if they talked.


We ended the night at Northwest Steakhouse which the owner told me was once named the "Most Iconic" restaurant in all of Iowa.  I'd have to agree with that sentiment.  It's the best steak I've ever eaten in my life.


On Sunday, Miss Sheri, the boys, and I celebrated Father's Day by going to Dave & Buster's to eat and play some video games.  We had a great time.  

Happy Father's Day to all you awesome dads out there!



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