To Branson, Missouri and back

Friday/Saturday, September 12-13, 2008- Branson, MO with Mike and Linda McCauley

On Thursday evening I drove from Denison to Plano. I wanted to leave my SportTrac for Dallin so he could drive it to the bird show in Fort Worth on Saturday. On Friday morning Carma and I drove from Plano to Denison in Carma's Corolla, where we met up with Mike and Linda McCauley. We hopped in the Debonair and flew to Branson, landing at Point Lookout, M. Clark Graham Airport. We drove into town and checked into our luxury suites as the Comfort Inn on Wildwood Drive, then without even pausing to go up to the rooms, we hustled over the the Hard Luck Cafe to grab a quick lunch.

(This was our waitress, Dana Lynn Bell, who has an album that we bought to support her. Great voice, and great food and service)

We caught an afternoon matinee called "Legends," featuring some impersonators of famous stars--Tina Turner, George Strait, The Blues Brothers, Liza Minnelli, and Elvis Presley. Tina didn't quite have the spark. I'm not sure about George--I snoozed through that one. Liza needed some gin or something to make it more authentic (and she was horribly off pitch, all the time). Elvis sparkled. He was pretty good. The Blues Brothers were the hit of the show, better than the original brothers (who weren't brothers at all.)

Then we ate dinner at McFarlins Restaurant, then down the street a little to catch Shoji Tabuchi's fabulous production. What a show! Lights, scenes, scrims, costumes, drums, instruments, and lots of sequins and sizzle! Imagine a Japanese violinist with a blond bombshell daughter in the show! http://www.shoji.com/

(These pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the theater. The bathrooms are amazing!)


On Saturday morning we elected to delay our departure, despite the approaching storm, in order to take in the Brett Family matinee. Very entertaining! In addition to Tom and Andrea, two of their three children participated--Briahna and Garon. Besides their very entertaining and uplifting musical and dance numbers, they had Mike Bliss doing variety--audience warm-up, magic, juggling, etc. He had his 8 and 9 year old sons help out, and they did a dazzling job! The 9 year old juggled flawlessly and interacted with his father to everyone's delight. The band was exceptional too. The guitarist pouted when the keyboard guy stole his solo, then they got into a bit of a musical dual. It was a real hit. After the final curtain, we caught up on old times with Tom and Andrea Brett. They probably spent about a half hour with us, posed for lots of photos, and spent some time chatting, sharing family stories, successes, challenges, etc. It was a genuine pleasure to visit with them.

Around 12:30 p.m. we loaded into the rent car headed to the airport. The storm was coming, but it was losing strength. Winds at Grayson County were predicted to be about 20 to 30 knots out of the north--essentially right down the runway. So we launched and climbed to 8,000 feet and cruised through the clouds and haze and light rain back to Texas. I made an instrument approach into the airport, flying the southbound ILS until we broke out of the clouds about 500 feet above the ground, then I circled to land on runway 35 to the north, into the wind. We taxied to the hangar, shut down, and unloaded the airplane in a light but steady drizzle.

Carma and I waved goodbye to the McCauleys and headed home. Dallin came by after the bird show and joined us for dinner and switched vehicles. Carma and I sunk into easy chairs, exhausted from all our leisure!