Flying Bread and music history

Isn't it interesting that 15 people can be served the same meal, and some just hate it and others think it's really good. Our choices for supper were a rib eye steak, fried catfish, chicken fried steak, or brisket. The majority of our group had fish or steak. Some wouldn't eat it because it was "not crispy, too greasy, not cooked right,". Those were the comments I heard. My steak was really good and medium is how I like it. (Not that I needed another large meal, but.....) N had fish, and ate it. And seemed to like it. The "entertainment" in this restaurant were the big guys throwing rolls. They had a very large basket of really hot rolls and they walked between tables and gently tossed them to the customers.




Then they went upstairs on the balcony and chunked them down to specific people who waved that they wanted one. Their aim was amazing. The service was efficient and we were kept entertained by flying bread. Oh, did I mention, the rolls were really good and felt as if they had just come out of the oven.

One chore of this trip is loading and unloading from the bus. Not a fast process. And N is becoming adept at helping the two folks who need the lift. He's a good guy and them seem to appreciate his help.

Got to the Welk Theatre--that name should have given us a hint, but no one seemed to realize that we were there to see the Lennon sisters and Tony Orlando. All we were told was a Christmas Spectacular. We had about 45-50 minutes of Lennon sister history and music, with pictures from the L. Welk show dating back 54 years, when the eldest was 16--you do the math. They sang and told us about their family. This went over well with most of our group, however I only watched that t.v. show when my grandmother MADE me, so I was not as emotionally tied to the history as most seemed to be. The music was very, very good.

Oh, if you are one of the fans, I should mention that of the original 4 sisters who performed, we saw two and a younger sister, who filled in for the others when they were unable to be on the L. Welk, Andy Williams, Jimmy Durante shows. The others have retired now and the group is permanently a trio.
The second half of the production was made up of every hit Tony Orlando ever had. We heard "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" in about 4 different incarnations, ending w/ Rap ( YUCK) There was a patriotic portion of the program which was touching, but awfully schmaltzy. His band was very good and had a notable song/jingle writer on keyboard. She has written some "famous" commercials notable the "Meow, meow, meow" for the cat food as well as the "I'm a pepper, she's a pepper" commercial for Dr. Pepper. When we finally got to some Christmas music, he sang "Mary do you know" and RUINED it. In my opinion his arrangement was way overblown and just awful.
The show was LONG (2 1/2 hrs) and was a trot down memory lane. While others in the audience LOVED the show, it was not my favorite.

Last night as we were waiting for the show to begin, the folks behind us asked the stock question "Do you live in Brownwood?" (We have been asked that at least 5-8 times a day- yep sometimes by the same people) When we responded "yes, for about 9 years", they responded "where in Bwd?" When we said "Oak Park Drive", they said "NO", It seems they live on the other end of Oak Park. They were embarrassed, not sure why.

Today we hear the Platters and shop downtown Branson. I'm wearing layers, it'll be cold in downtown. See ya.....