Took a day of vacation today to have a date with Burl! The weather was absolutely fall-perfect so we left the house early (to avoid our chatty housekeeper who arrives on Friday mornings!), stopped for breakfast and arrived in Branson in time to see the Yakov Smirnoff morning show. We bought a package of Branson tickets at a charity auction last January and had realized that time was running out on them so today we made use of them (including Yakov!). Yakov had a really entertaining show – even though I’d seen him at my Rotary club recently he was still very enjoyable not only as a comedian but also for the semi-serious messages he incorporated into his show. He’s one very talented man – artist as well as entertainer plus has a master’s in psychology – and also very thankful for his adopted country.
Next stop was “Steal Your Dollar Silly” where we had passes from our package purchase – we hadn’t been for over 5 years and agreed that we should go every 5 years whether we need to or not! The National Crafts Festival was going on and we were much more interested in observing the craftsmen in action than purchasing – however, SDC was much more geared to sell to us than to entertain us given the ratio of stores to craftsmen! They did have several exhibitors who are Best of Missouri Hands artists and since daughter Tammy is a member of that juried organization I could appreciate the talent behind the items.
Dear friend Bev met us for lunch and we had a great visit and toured the park for a bit after lunch – we did find a yarn spot among the exhibitors and I got some awesome yarn – have no idea what I’ll make with it but just couldn’t pass it up! I have enough for a hat and scarf so that’s an option. After Bev left we toured Marvel Cave and were just as impressed as we were when we were at Carlsbad last fall.
We’re home for a short break and will soon take off for a movie – plan to see “The Final Season” which opened today. While we’re not huge baseball fans we know the movie is based on the true story of the high school team in Norway, Iowa that won 20 straight state championships. We heard about it last week while on vacation and actually met a guy who played on 2 of the teams – and his dad’s farm is in the movie and a couple of his kids are extras! From what I know it’s probably going to be a rather hokey show but at least it’s one I could take the grandkids to see – shouldn’t be loaded with sex, violence or foul language.
Burl is readying the motorcycle and little cruiser for the parade tomorrow in Mt. Vernon to celebrate Apple Butter Days – and now he’s ready to complete Date Day! Later……..
