Clear Lake is OPEN for visitors!

BY: RACHEL WUMKES

Celebrated each year during the first week of May, Travel & Tourism Week is an annual tradition for the United States travel community.  During this time, travel and tourism professionals far and wide unite to celebrate the value travel holds for our economy, businesses, communities and personal well-being.

We might be still experiencing the rainy season of April showers, but we have officially entered the gateway to tourist season here in Clear Lake.

Imagine our Tourism Director, Libbey Hohn, standing in the bandshell at City Park announcing, “Visitors, start your engines!” And then doing everything in her power to get them to drive on over to Clear Lake.  I mean, we are the coolest little tourist town in all the Midwest!  You can spend a day on the water, grab dinner at one of our magnificent restaurants, watch the sun go down over the lake from the seawall, visit a piece of rock ‘n’ roll history at the Surf Ballroom, or shop ’til you drop at our incredible line-up of stores!

Our seasonal businesses and attractions are opening back up for the season, our events calendar is filling up with all kinds of fun, and we are excited to welcome FOUR new businesses this summer! 173 Craft Distillery is set to open the weekend of May 21, and a week later over Memorial Day Weekend the Surfside Hospitality Group is opening two brand-new restaurants: The Surfside and The Legacy Grill, and Pritchards will offer golf cart and scooter rentals at their new location at the corner of 8th & Main!

It’s time to get out and do all the things!  Hooray!

Along with all our signature events planned for the summer months, we’ve got a new, exciting endeavor planned for you as well.  Clear Lake Tourism has entered the realm of geocaching!  This family friendly game became a popular endeavor in the early 2000’s.  It is a type of global treasure hunt of people looking for caches, or hidden stashes of objects using GPS. Geocaching is a real world, outdoor adventure! While some caches are traditional “stop and grab,” some are mystery caches where hiders provide online clues for seekers.

And we’ve got a doozy of a mystery geocache right here in Clear Lake!

Download the geocaching.org app and start exploring. Our first cache, “Welcome to Lake Life!” is live and features a custom postcard beautifully designed by 2020 Creative that cachers can take as a memento. We will be releasing more Clear Lake Tourism caches around town as we prepare to welcome the Iowa Geocachers Association’s Hike & Seek fall event.  There are many caches in North Iowa, we invite you to get out and explore!  If you are new to geocaching, NIACC Continuing Education will be holding 2 sessions this summer! It is a free, family-fun activity that gets you outdoors and exploring!