Branson, MO

Michelle and Mike (Steve’s sister) have a condo time share and one of the places they can visit is Branson -  so that is where they were last week.  They rented a second unit and invited our family to come down for two days.  Sadly, only Steve and I could go.  And that is what we did on Wednesday and Thursday.  The condo was fabulous. 

 

 This is the view from our balcony.  

 Branson was packed with tourists (and their cars) and it is commercialized to the hilt but anything is enjoyable when you are with fun people and Mike and Michelle are great.  Wednesday night, they treated us to dinner and a show at the Dixie Stampede.  It is owned by Dolly Parton (but, of course, she wasn’t actually there) and I guess I can best describe it as a modern wild west show.  It is held in a huge barn-like theater with guests eating and watching from several levels of long, narrow tables and bench seats circling three of the four walls facing a large arena.  Our meal was efficiently served assembly-line like and it was all delicious.  Instead of the soup and roll, I got an enormous plate of gluten-free steamed veggies. (memories of my apple-on-a-plate desserts in Austria!)  We all got a small, whole baked chicken, half a baked potato, a half cob of corn.  Dessert for everyone but me was an apple turnover.  I got an Udi’s snickerdoodle (hey - a whole lot better than an apple)  All the food was eaten without utensils.  Thankfully, lots of hand wipes were available.  And, while we ate, we watched the show that featured lots of fancy horseback riding, singing, and humor.  It was very enjoyable.

 

 Steve, Michelle and Mike before going into the show

 

 Guests got to walk past all the stables on their way into the Dixie Stampede.  

 Before we entered the arena, we watched a pre-show that featured an amazing juggler.  I Googled him afterwards and then was REALLY impressed.  He is the YoYo Ma of juggling.  It is sad that his kind of talent has been relegated to opening acts in Branson because he truly comes from a gifted show-business family and he really knows his craft. 

Thursday, after sleeping in, we spent the day visiting antique and vintage shops.  This is one of Michelle and Mike’s favorite things to do and Steve and I were more than happy to join them.   

 

 Michelle and Steve (they got the striped shirt memo) at one of the antique malls 

 lifesized nutcracker!  Only $350.00, Steven.....

These cute robot banks made me think of Noah.  

 

 Steve fell in love with this antique Babe Ruth door stop.

And so he bought it along with a photo of an autographed photo of Babe Ruth.  Get what I mean?  It is not an original signed photo, just a picture of one. But it is nicely done, don't you think?  The book was a baseball story by western author Zane Gray with a copyright of 1914.  And, it is not really clear but that is a hickory walking stick with a compass imbedded in the top.  

 

 Here are my treasures - all three totaled less than $10.00.  The basket chest was irresistible even though I really don't need it.  The little chest of drawers is made of cedar (mmmm, smells nice) and the creamer was just so cute.  Below is a better shot of it.  

 

 This is a photo of The Landing in Branson.  They have an hourly water show that we sat and watched.   We said farewell Thursday evening and were back in Columbia by 10:45 pm.  It was a lovely mini-vacation.

The rest of the week, I have been working on finishing a Renaissance dress for Sarah (started last winter!) and making a pioneer apron for me.  And, of course, I watched movies as I worked.  Steve and I saw “Jack the Giant Slayer” – a pretty good story.  We finished the Tolkein trilogy by watching “Return of the King” Friday and Saturday nights (the extended version is over four hours long!). How I love that movie.   And, I watched “Epic” and found it delightful. 

We had a clean-the-meetinghouse assignment Saturday morning and, in the afternoon, we drove up to Moberly to attend a NEMO (Northeast Missouri music educators) picnic.  It was not really well attended but those of us who were there had great food and there were some nice door prizes.  I got a lovely conductor’s baton! Plus, the weather was just perfect.  Humidity was lower than usual and it had warmed up from the unseasonably cool temperatures during the week (who ever dreamed it would not be warm enough to swim in July????) 

 

 Here is a photo of just the teachers who came to the picnic.  You can spot me, but Kirsti and Sarah, can you find Sweeny?  He is the current NEMO president.

This continues to be the BEST SUMMER EVER!