WHAT DIVOS WOULD DO IN YOUR AREA?

WHAT DIVOS WOULD DO IN YOUR AREA

The Party Cove exists. The descriptions in quotations are from one of the websites about it. I know about it, I live close to it; I do NOT go there!

“In the beginning, the Lake of the Ozarks was a calm and peaceful body of water. Then in the mid 1980’s, the Party Cove was born.”

As Sebastien read on, his eyes got wider and wider. “Hey guys, you know we were wondering what to do those two extra days in Missouri? I think I’ve found it!”

The trip to Missouri was to have been one day and an overnight in St. Louis. At least they had heard of St. Louis; it was even named for a French king—his statue was there and everything! They were to perform at the Fox Theater. Due to a scheduling snafu, they were getting to the state two days early. Some information about the city had been provided to them and they decided it would be interesting to see the Old Cathedral and Soulard Market, tour the brewery to sample the products and see the world famous Clydesdales, go to Forest Park for the zoo and art museum and see some of the active nightlife.

Then Seb had surfed the net. There was the Party Cove! Right in the middle of the state. Not Branson, the other lake! It had been visited by people from all over the world—it had even been written about in the New York Times! He read aloud from the screen to the other three, “On each of the holiday weekends during the summer, literally thousands of people get together for this three day long party. It is one of the longest running parties in existence today….”

He had caught their interest—this was an American holiday weekend—Fourth of July. They moved closer as he continued, “On each holiday weekend the boats would tie up to each other until there were sometimes nearly eighty boats forming a solid line…. Soon afterward, the Party Cove grew from a few hundred boats to several hundred boats and thousands of wild naked bodies. The loud music, heavy drinking and an abundance of nudity….”

“I want to see this place,” said Carlos. “WoooHooo,” said David. Urs smiled and thought of displaying the results of his many hours in the gym.

They did not even leave Lambert Field until they had rented a car and were soon headed west on I 70! Less than three hours later, they arrived at Osage Beach. There was no problem whatsoever finding directions to the Party Cove.

The problem was, every boat at every marina had been rented! There was not even a personal watercraft to be had. They were at what appeared to be their last chance and had received the same negative reply when a forty-something woman who, unnoticed by them had been staring in their direction, stepped over to them and said, “Excuse me, I don’t have a boat to rent, but I have a boat. I have a summer place here. If you will allow, I would be glad to show you around. It would be a shame to have come so far and not get to see the place.” She smiled a small secret smile.

“That’s very kind of you, ‘mam…” David began.

“You will have to cut the ‘mam, crap, David if you want to get on my boat.” His jaw dropped in surprise; the other three, while also surprised, grinned at David’s teasing rebuke. “Yes, I know who you are. I assume you don’t want that announced to the whole world today. My name is Marie and I will be your guide.” Giving them a wide grin, she gave an exaggerated show of doffing an imaginary cap.

She led them down the steps to her boat—quite a large impressive one. As they came closer to their destination, she told them, “You might want to watch yourselves just a bit because there are always people shooting pictures and video. They are for sale on the internet—you probably do not want to turn up as the stars on one of those.”

She told them about how the party had started at the six mile mark, had become a nuisance to the home owners and moved to millionaires’ cove. Within three years they had worn out their welcome there so they “packed up their coolers, grabbed their mates and clothes, started their engines and moved…”

“So where are we now?” Sebastien was as fascinated with this place as he had thought he would be.

“We’re at Anderson’s Hollow Cove.” Seb nodded as though that meant something to him!

“There’s a floating pizza place!” Urs was amazed.

“Yep, some enterprising businessman figured out that a lot of these people brought plenty of booze but forgot about enough food. He has made a fortune with this place.”

The four enjoyed the sights, the tasty lunch Marie fixed in the galley, and her ample supply of cold beer was perfect for the hot summer day. She had insisted they use the extra sunscreen she had onboard. “Can’t have you looking like ripe tomatoes for your performance!” She took great pleasure in slathering it on the four backs personally. By the end of the day, they all chatted like old friends but all good things must come to an end so reluctantly, the four decided they really had to go.

“Too bad you can’t stay the night—I’d take you to Pickled Pete’s—karaoke there is Simon Cowell’s worst nightmare come true!” All agreed that a return trip for that experience might be fun. “I’ll teach you line dancing, too!” David had at least heard of it!

On the parking lot, they walked her to her car where each gave her a hug and a kiss. David said, “We’ll leave tickets for you at the box office for the show.”

She smiled, “I’ve got front row seats—ordered the tickets the minute they went on sale! But I wouldn’t say no to a drink after the show.”

“You got it!” They chorused. “By the way,” Urs asked, “do you ever go on the Forum on our website?”

“Sure do,” smiled Marie. “You might want to check out the fan-fictions—look for “humphrey.”

Marie grinned all the way to her condo. She wondered if Urs would be using his “labtop” anytime soon!

The guys, tired but well versed on and experienced in the Party Cove headed toward the city. It had been quite an experience, and in the middle of Missouri—who the hell would have thought it!