A great place to live, work, play

The Kelly family has found it all at Lake of the Ozarks

Kyle, Randy and Ryan Kelly enjoy a sunny day out on their boat with friends.

Provided photo

The Kelly family is all about the Lake. While they depend on the Lake for their livelihoods, their favorite pastime is spending time on the water aboard their 35-foot Regal 3350 open cockpit and enjoying the unique lifestyle that is part of living at Lake of the Ozarks.
Randy and Jane Kelly moved to the Lake in the spring of 1977 after a stint in the saloon business in Kansas City at Kelly’s Westport Inn. Randy said running the historic saloon, that had been handed down by his father, was great but he had reached a point in his life where the lure of a more laid-back lifestyle was appealing.
For a while, he toyed with the idea of heading to Hawaii but apparently fate had other plans, he said.
A conversation at the bar one day with the guy who used to own the old Gatlin’s Marina at the 7-mile marker on the Gravois Arm was the turning point. Within a month, they made the decision to move to the Lake and they've never looked back.
The bar was turned over to Randy’s brothers, Jane took up real estate and he opened Kelly’s Port Marina. It was a perfect match.
“The Lake has provided us with a lifestyle that would be hard to find  anywhere else,” Randy said. “There's nothing quite like piling in the boat and taking off, cruising the lake and spending time with family and friends. During the boating season, we are out there several times a week. It’s a phenomenal place to raise kids.”
Ryan and Kyle would agree. Although both boys left the area to attend college, once they finished their degrees, they headed back home to the Lake.

“During college I had the opportunity to travel all across the world through various study abroad programs but every time I was there, although I appreciated the individual cultures and learned quite a bit from my travels, I was always thinking about the Lake and the people that were there,” Kyle said. “So it was a natural calling for me to come back to the Lake.”
Over the years, Randy said the family has had the chance to travel across the country and visit other communities. They have come to the conclusion that what Lake of the Ozarks has to offer is a hard package to beat.  
The boat of choice for the Kelly family is the Regal.
The 35-footer provides plenty of room to accommodate 10 to 12 passengers with plenty of space to sit back, relax and enjoy.
It’s a great all around boat that combines style, performance and luxury, Randy said.
It’s large enough to handle choppy water, rough weather, any of the conditions a boater will experience on the lake but maneuvers easily, making it easy to dock in tight places.
Below deck, the 3350 has all the amenities needed to entertain and spend a weekend coving out.