View from the top

Saturday

Here we are starting our first full day in Branson (OK, our only full day in Branson). This is the view from the restaurant of the hotel we're staying in. Unlike other hotels, their idea of a continental breakfast is biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage, waffle, fresh fruit, danish, bagels, toast, cereal, coffee, tea, juice, milk -- you get the idea. Anyway, the little silver car in the center of the picture is the Cruiser -- to the left you can see the a HD Road King that belonged to a nice older couple from Louisiana -- on the other side of the large van to the right is the SUV than belonged to the young African American boy I was talking to as we both looked down at a view of our cars we seldom see...

The first place we went to this day was the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum (it was cheaper than the Titanic Museum). The building is built to look like it's falling apart (hence the strange looking window beside these "Junk Statues").

Alex doesn't quite fit in this helmet (surprising for a kid with a noggin as big as his...)

OK, this exhibit struck me as a wonderful example of supreme irony. See, when I was in Navy boot camp, one of the most important historical events we were told about was the fire on the U.S.S. Forestal (a.k.a. the U.S.S. Forestfire). It was the worst peacetime ship board fire in the history of the US Navy. And inside the glass case is a model of the U.S.S. Forestal made of match sticks...

This was the tallest man ever. Clearly, Laura is nowhere close...

Here is the Titanic Museum we didn't go through. It's also a better picture than the one I got last time we were here...

After meeting with the time share guy (who didn't get us to buy anything, but he at least explained to us how their setup works and how we use it) we got tickets for the Kirby Von Burch show, and decided to go visit Celebration City.

This was an interesting stone, the base it sits in has a pump in it that forces water under the stone, which makes a real nice fluid bearing that allows even children to get it spinning pretty fast. I looked at it and thought it would be a real nice place for Isildur's heir to summon the army of the dead to fulfill their oath.

If you like to talk to tomatoes, if a squash can make you smile...

And that's the truth! Thphhhht. Or at least that's what Lilly Tomlin use to say when in the giant rocking chair...

Catching a painted pony on the Spinning Wheel ride...

For Laura, the merry-go-round just isn't exciting enough -- she has to try to spin herself silly.

Here's a shot of Alex on the Biplane ride, while Laura and I where on the Ferris Wheel.

Celebration City is something Silver Dollar City came up with to appeal to the younger folks coming to Branson. Let's face it, many of the acts in Branson don't interest folks under 55, so this give the kids a chance for fun. It's only open from 3:00pm to 10:00pm, which is kind of strange -- but it's not a real big place. 3 roller coasters, 1 log flume type ride, 5 or 6 kids rides, and at least 3 rides that also are part of the carnival our town has each year at the start of fall. It's a short walk from the parking lot, priced fair (even including a meal deal with your ticket). It's a nice way to spend some of your time in Branson. It also was Alex's first roller coaster -- it wasn't his favorite ride...

After leaving the amusement park, we dashed across town to Kirby Von Burch's theater for the magic show. It was a good show, although Alex had a few moments, especially when it was more talking than magic. It took me a while to figure out who he was reminding me of, then it hit me. He was doing a dead on Willy Wonka (as done by Johnny Depp). He did the usual stuff, sawed a couple of girls in half, and switched thier legs -- turned his wife into a white tiger -- made a helicopter appear on stage -- the usual stuff. The show was over 2 hours long, so we definately got our money's worth. But we were tired and ready to go to bed.