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.....

The Landing

We loaded up the bus and headed for "The Landing" --95 acres of shopping with over 100 specialty stores and restaurants. 2 1/2 hours hardly seems time to do it justice. We walked the length of the stores (maybe 6-7 blocks long) and browsed at Bass Pro Shop. Nick was disappointed that it was the smallest BPS he had seen. But we were able to spend 30 minutes looking. We had barbecue lunch (okay- not great) at Famous Dave's and looked some more. Found the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory and each had a dark choc. almond cluster. (You do realize that dark chocolate is GOOD for you!) Then we happened by The Big Popper for some specialty popcorn. We'll probably save it for the trip back. Went into Brookstone and found a gift we were hoping to buy while here.

Met the bus and are back in the room "kicking back" for a couple of hours. Tonite is a Christmas Spectacular Show (no one here seems to care that Thanksgiving is still more than a week away) , but first we eat at the Fall Creek Steak and Catfish House. Their motto is "all the rolls you can catch and eat". Okay, we'll see.............Should be another late night-----talk to you in the morning.

Let the MUSIC begin!

After finding our rooms in the Windmill Inn, getting settled, and trying to figure out the heater/ac, we rested a bit, changed clothes and were ready to go to supper.

In the meantime, the thoughtful bus driver had repaired the very needed walker, so all is well in that area, sort of.

The bus driver does his driving well--parking in close places, turning the coach around in small areas--it's his personal skills that need work. He yells lots. (another day another story)

We were taken to Golden Corral (I can hear Nki saying Euw) but not like any other G C you have ever visited. Billed as the world's largest (can't say for sure, since we were kinda stuck in one room), IT HAD A DINNER SHOW. Yep, A DINNER SHOW. First of all, tour groups (about 6 or 8) are treated a little differently at Branson Golden Corral. We go in a different door, tell a young lady if we want chicken, beef or ham and then sit at our designated tables. Salad and dessert, tea and water are already on the tables and we are brought our meal (which was described to us by a tour guide person before we left the bus- so as to make a good choice). Service was fast and efficient. About the time we were finishing our red velvet cake, the "show" began. A gentleman was introduced and he sang and sang. Very "lounge singer" style of entertainment--t.v. screens showed us pictures of his family (4 girls and a baby boy) and his patter continued with him eventually introducing his mother who moved mike stands and generally assisted. We were told that she runs the gift shop there. (I know--a gift shop in G C !) There was no "fee" for the show, "just put what you want in the jar on the table, remember I have 4 weddings to pay for". Way, cheesy.

We moved from Golden Corral to the Mickey Gilley Theatre. Wow, are there lots of theatres, here. Several on each block it seems.

This one was large, about half full for the show and comfortable. The show began w/ information about Mickey Gilley on video screens--3 huge ones on either side and at the back of the stage. It was like having the entertainers in your lap. The music was very much to my liking and the comedy was well timed, a tad off color, but not too much. And most of the humor was directed at the "star" of the show. There was discussion during the show about Mickey Gilley's famous cousins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart. His piano playing style is VERY like JL Lewis, just not as exuberant. All in all a really engaging and entertaining evening. I enjoyed it so much, I bought a cd. I think that will be encouraged at each show we attend and I probably won't buy from each one, but we'll see. The show began at 8 and we got back to the room about 10:45. The traffic in "downtown" Branson is really slow because the whole town is out and around in private cars and coaches and everything moves at a snail's pace.

The room heater is tricky - turn it on high heat, and you get cool air, put it on low heat and you do indeed receive warm air. At least that's a good lesson to know, since we'll be here for 3 more nights and there is a real chill in the air after dark.

Breakfast in awhile and on to the Yakov Smirnoff Show and then shopping at The Landing -- there is a Bass Pro Shop--am I excited?

First half day in Branson

We're here--in Branson and ready for the shows and shopping. It's a little cooler than I expected, but I have sweaters and my wool cape from Scotland, so I'm ready for that too.

What to do on a bus for an inordinate number of hours? Some folks just chatted. Some played cards (Skip Bo and something else I'd never heard of) Some snacked the whole time. Some napped and I read. I'm re-reading a series that I began about 15 years ago. Several new volumes have been written since I read the 3 books and I figured it had been so long since reading the first ones, I should start over and read all 6 (or is it 7?) in the series. Today I finished #1 and began #2. The books are long and I am thinking I may finish #2 while here and I have #3 waiting in the suitcase for the trip back.

Driving through towns sometimes give the traveler no clue to "where you are". There are Starbucks, Subways, Home Depots and absolutely nothing on the main street to give any idea as to the name of the town. With no commentary from the driver or anyone else, the traveler is at a loss---unless following a map and watching the roadways. Anyway, with my nose in the book, I couldn't tell anyone how we got here.

The bus has a wheelchair lift which is used for two of our folks. They sit on their walker seats as the lift takes them up and down. A wheel broke on one of the walkers and the gentleman who needs it, NEEDS IT. The hotel got him a loaner wheel chair, but he has no one to push it. Looks like we may be doing that.

We're getting ready for supper and then our first show, so----- more later.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

A travel day---we loaded the bus at 8 this morning and rode and rode and rode. Stopping in Weatherford for a snack/bathroom break, we then rode some more to Sherman for lunch. No pressure, no "get back to the bus at a special time" there is a leisurely sort of "whenever" attitude. Then we rode and rode some more stopping for one more break somewhere in Oklahoma--I'd been napping, so not really sure where we were. Roads were really rough, but the bus driver told us that this was the best Ok had to offer. We're in Ft. Smith, Arkansas now and not very hungry (what with all the snack breaks), so N and I have decided to forfeit "supper" and just kick back. He's reading USA Today and you know what I'm doing.

Can't say much about Ft. Smith--it's dark. altho' it seems to be a sizeable place. The hotel has free internet- always a plus and the signs telling you which hall to go down are WRONG. Yep, lots of folks in varying physical conditions -carrying luggage- trouping down the wrong way just to have to turn around and go back. Nope, signs are not to be trusted in Ft. Smith. There are 34 of us on this venture, a very few folks I know, most I don't. A couple of folks from other bank trips are here along w/ my sweet friend Pauline from church. I'm sure we'll get to know each other much better over the next week.

That's all for now from Arkansas.

Branson

We have another trip planned for the week before Thanksgiving. Our favorite travel agent, Citizens Bank, has a group going to Branson, Missouri for a week. We'll travel by bus for more than a day- see lots of shows, and go shopping, hopefully see leaves turning and return to Bwd by bus.

I'll be taking the laptop and plan to do a little blogging about what we see and do. Stay tuned for more info.

Just checked (online) on our lodging place in Branson--weird--they offer high speed internet in the lobby (that's normal) AND IN THE CORRIDORS AND ELEVATOR. Visualize me riding up and down the elevator blogging. Should be interesting. Maybe internet is available in the rooms also, but they aren't bragging about it if it is there.

Oliver’s quick trip to Round Rock

It seems strange to “celebrate” a problem with a vehicle, but it’s solution was sooooo unusually COOL, that I wanted to share with you.

Oliver, my little blue SmartCar, was parked at the Family Services Center while I did my tutoring thing on Tuesday Oct 14th. I went out to drive from there to the hospital to deliver Meals on Wheels, when I couldn’t get him out of park. I called N. for assistance and his comment was, “I’ve been reading about that problem”. It seems that the first 300 or so SmartCars made for the U.S. have exhibited the problem of too little lubrication having been put into the gear shift housing.

Anyway, Brownwood has no SmartCar repair facility, so we called the “1-800” assistance number and were amazed at their response. The original difficulty happened about 10:00 am and we got the car home about noon by forcing the gearshift lever- hoping not to break it. The warranty people sent a truck and flatbed trailer from Cisco which arrived at 1:30 pm at our house to pick Oliver up. The truck took him to Round Rock for repair and returned him by 8:30 pm THE SAME DAY. We continued to receive update phone calls from the receptionist at the Smart Center in Round Rock telling us the progress of the trip and repair. Oliver is fine, with no more gear shift problems and we paid NOTHING for this whole process. This wonderful warranty is good for 2 years and we purchased an additional 2 years. YEA! For Mercedes Warranties.