A Tropical Storm, a Wedding, and a Battlefield

...and eight states in five days.  Jill and I headed to West Chester, Pennsylvania on Thursday morning, September 8th to attend the wedding of our friends Julia and Joe at a B&B. The road trip was a little complicated by tropical storm Lee that was stalled over the mid-Atlantic states and causing tremendous flooding. We had great weather as we drove through Missouri and Illinois but it became cloudy in Indiana and we hit our first rain in Ohio. That first day of driving was fine until we hit road construction in Indiana...I guess the stimulus money is helping them redo I-70 but they have a long way to go. The parts of the highway that they were not working on was terrible and the work zones were spaced only a few miles apart. We were planning on staying in Zanesville, Ohio, which would make the second day's drive more manageable. The rain was spotty and it got dark faster than we expected.

Ohio had road construction going on as well but they seemed determined to work 24 hours a day and had guys working in the dark and drizzling rain. The workers were working without bright lights but were wearing reflective coveralls with extra reflective tape sewed on the arms and legs and each worker had a miner's lamp on their head. The traffic was slowed to about 55 mph (in theory) but it was startling to see these guys when you came up on them in the dark. I'm sure that they will probably lose somebody.

When we got to Zanesville we heard that the Pennsylvania Turnpike was closed between Harrisburg and Reading because of flooding from the tropical storm. The detour they wanted us to take would have sent us way up north and then circle around and rejoin the turnpike at Reading...adding lots of miles and a couple hours to our drive. We looked for an alternate route through York and Lancaster but it was partially closed there as well.

On Friday morning the situation had improved and we were able to take the turnpike as we had originally planned. That turned out to be sort of a white-knuckle drive in some spots because of water pouring onto the highway and a few small mudslides. Water was rushing under the bridges with only a foot to spare. From what we could see, this looked like a pretty drive in good weather.

We were impressed with West Chester. It is a pretty town only about a half-hour outside of Philadelphia and fairly close to the Delaware border. It is an old town with lots of classic homes and also the site of West Chester University, a state university with about 14,000 students. From what we could tell on Friday night WCU is a party school but the town seems to be a party town. The old business district is full of restaurants and bars, brewpubs, a wine bar, and bunches of shops. There seems to be a lot of money flowing in.

Faunbrook Inn

The wedding was at the 1860 Faunbrook Inn where many of the guests stayed along with the bride and groom. As you may have guessed, this was a tiny wedding by most peoples' standards and was very laid back...even more so than mine and I thought ours was laid back. This wedding was seemingly planned in advance to be very unstressed but I'm sure there was some stress involved.

The Inn is very impressive. It was the home of a local millionaire (William Baldwin) in the 1860s and then passed to Congressman Smedley Darlington, a local mover and shaker, GOP politician and (of course) oilman. The house is Federal-Italianate with three floors and a large wrap-around porch with ornamental ironwork. There is a large parlor, library, dining room and sitting room/bar on the first floor and bedrooms on the second and third floors.

The rooms were spacious and furnished with antiques. Each room had a private bath. The house was extremely quiet considering that it was 150 years old. Apart from the sound of someone using the stairs you could not hear anything from the rest of the house...not even water running or toilets flushing. People seemed comfortable in the library. The porch was also very inviting since the weather was mild and the first floor windows and doors were open. There were large windows in the parlor that converted into doors so people could drift in and out as they pleased..

The breakfasts were excellent - French Toast strata with apples, berries and cream, apple-flavored sausage, scrambled eggs, juice and coffee...that was day 1. Day 2 was just as good and included an extra sample of the local "Scrapple" which is apparently a Pennsylvania thing -- sort of a sausage made up of butchering leftovers that tasted like bland sausage mixed with sawdust. Must be an acquired taste. We managed to polish it all off. Although the wedding party made up most of the guests, there were two couples who were staying at the inn and attending the local mushroom festival...the area is apparently the capital of mushroom hunting in the US. We seemed to keep them amused.

The Wedding

The wedding was set for 4 PM on Saturday in the garden on a brick patio next to the porch. The garden has a natural look to it but sort of a faded glory feel as if it was there when the inn was built. This gave sort of a laid back atmosphere to the wedding. Since it was a small wedding, only about 15 guests, the garden setting was perfect. Being a destination wedding, a lot of the details had to fall in place at the last minute and it all came off as planned. It couldn't have worked out any better.

The reception was at a local restaurant called Limoncello Ristorante in the town. The food and service were excellent -- this was an 'off the menu' dinner and everyone had different selections. I tried a porcini mushroom stuffed pasta with tomato-cream sauce. Jill had the gnocchi. Julia had mussels in pasta and Anna had a special risotto dish. We ended the dinner with a limoncello toast to the bride and groom and then went back to the Inn for cake and some wine and a few toasts and speeches. We were getting tired but managed to have a game of trivial pursuit before everyone drifted off to bed.

Brandywine Valley -- Baldwin's Book Barn and Victory Brewery...

The Book Barn is a five story barn built in 1822 by the Darlington family (remember Smedley?) that was converted into a book store 75 years ago by William Baldwin (must be the son of the guy that built the Inn). It's only a short distance south of the Faunbrook Inn. A person could spend a weekend just roaming around in the stacks. Books are arranged by categories, more or less, and then shelved by author, more or less. The special first editions and rare books are on the first floor. Apparently they sell books by the foot. You can purchase refurbished leather-bound books at $300 per foot for your executive library...if you have one.  We spent about an hour wandering around. I like Joseph Conrad and got a couple  of his novels.

Victory Brewing Company is in Downingtown a few miles north of West Chester. The brewery is in an old Pepperidge Farm bakery and distributing facility which provided ample room for the brewing operation and a large brewpub. We had lunch and most of the group tried a sample of several beers. I tasted a couple and got a pint of Strangeways Ale -- a cream ale that reminded me of Boddingtons. The brewery is very popular in Philadelphia and they are beginning to market some of their beer outside of the region.

Heading Home -- Gettysburg National Battlefield

Our route home was to include a stop at the Gettysburg National Battlefield. The route took us through Lancaster, Pennsylvania -- a location known as the center of Amish culture...but we didn't see any except for a lot full of horse buggies -- either for sale or being repaired. Lancaster seemed just like every other Pennsylvania town. Driving through town we had to stop briefly on the highway because traffic stopped to allow four ducklings to cross the road -- you don't see that every day.

We got lunch in Gettysburg town. The place is immersed in Civil War stuff. Every block has a shop or two selling antiques or relics from the Civil War. They are flying off the shelf faster than they can make them. Visitors can pick their favorite General and eat at a restaurant named after him. I had a BLT at the Warren Cafe - as in General Warren.

We stopped in briefly at the Gettysburg Battlefield visitors' center. We were visiting on September 11th -- the ten year anniversary of the terror attacks -- and as a result there were very few people visiting. This might also be related to the flooding and bad weather that plagued the area during the week. We roamed through the gift shop and picked up a guide map and planned our visit.

The national cemetery covers much of the area on the north edge of the battlefield close to town. There are hundreds of unknown soldier burials and places where each state's soldiers are buried together. Larger memorials are placed by different states for their own soldiers. As recently as 1997 they were still finding soldiers remains on the battlefield and burying them in the cemetery. The large soldier's monument is the site of Lincoln's Gettysburg address at the dedication of the cemetery.

It is strange how we memorialize battlefields. The Generals get the monuments and the soldiers get the graves. The various monuments were placed on the battlefield in the years after the war and they are positioned as close as possible to where the events took place. There must have been detailed investigations and surveys taken to document the battlefield and troop movements to support placement of the monuments. The monuments are a little intrusive in viewing the battlefield and trying to imagine how it was at the time. 

   

We followed part of the driving tour past the site of Pickett's Charge and "The Angle". There were a few other visitors and an occasional tour bus but it was not crowded. We went past the Peach Orchard and the Wheat Field and climbed to the top of Little Round Top to get a good view of the battlefield and Devils Den just below. The entire battlefield is very large but some of the famous battlefield sites seem very compact and in close proximity. I expected some of them to be larger based on the accounts of the battle. 

   

This battle must have been a very chaotic event stretched over three days. Some areas of the battlefield were fought over multiple times with each army holding it for a while. Soldiers moving across the battlefield would have encountered bodies of soldiers killed during earlier attacks and probably wondered why they kept fighting over the same piece of a farmer's field. It would take at least a full day to see the whole battlefield and try to get an understanding of what took place and how it all ended.  

From Gettysburg we headed south into Maryland and picked up the interstate near Hagerstown and continued into West Virginia. The mountains in WV were pretty but the weather turned rainy again for a while and then we had to deal with patches of fog. We finally got into Charleston and stopped for supper at a Bob Evans around 9 PM. The highway into Kentucky was almost empty. There was some impressive lightening and we began to get a little worried about more rain but it held off.  We got a little anxious when we passed an electronic sign near Lexington that said that I-64 -- our highway -- was closed ahead.  We finally got to Louisville around 1:30 AM and staggered into our motel and had collapsed in our beds by 2 AM.

We slept late and on checking out of the motel learned that the I-64 bridge over the Ohio River was closed because it was unsafe...even unsafe for pedestrians. We were rerouted around Louisville but eventually reconnected to I-64 and continued through Indiana and Illinois. We had lunch in Mount Vernon and then got home around 5 PM.

Eight states in five days...a tropical storm...a wedding...a battlefield. It was a good trip.

Herding Cats?

This is the year I decided to be more spontaneous. I decided to say "Yes" more often than "No" and I'm quite pleased with the outcome.  Earlier in the summer I was invited to go to the Lake of the Ozarks for a few days with some friends and, since this is the new me, I said "Yes" and then pretty much forgot about it and went on with my summer. I suddenly realized last week that the trip was coming up - this week.

This was a group of twelve (mostly) retired folks and ten of them were related and just finished a family reunion over the weekend. Jeanne and I were the only non-relatives but we fit in okay. I was a little apprehensive. The last time I went on a trip with a large number of people we ended up being stranded in a houseboat on Bull Shoals lake in a three-day rain storm...we stayed inside and watched cooking shows.

This time the weather had been just awful up until the day we left. Temperatures were nearly 100 and the humidity was way too high and heat advisories had been posted for weeks. We had a severe storm on Sunday but the aftermath was cooler temperatures and low humidity -- almost resort weather for our trip. The cool weather lasted all week with only a short rain one night and a couple wandering thunder showers that missed us.

The lake house was very nice and had three floors and three decks. It would sleep about twenty so we had plenty of room. Like most lake-area rentals there were a lot of rules and regulations but nothing too outrageous. It was built into the slope and was shaded by large trees so it was hard to get a good picture of it. The rental expense was in the neighborhood of $2000 but divided up twelve ways it was manageable.

The place also had a very nice dock but we didn't have a boat at our disposal. Sometimes going out on the lake would have been pretty risky if we were not well prepared and experienced. One day there were two small "tug boats" pushing a large dock up toward the back of the cove. Jet skis were everywhere. We were very much at the business end of the lake at mile marker #2 so things were a little crazy at times and as noisy as the interstate.  During the calmer intervals some of us tried to fish off of the dock. I was the only one catching anything and my four little blue gills plus a can of tuna could have made a standard portion of tuna helper. By Wednesday and Thursday the lake was pretty calm and quiet.

So what did we do? Mostly it was talk, drink, eat, talk, eat, talk, drink, drink, talk, talk, sleep -- and then the next day we did it again with some variation. You learn a lot about a group of people in this setting and I enjoyed it all. I don't recall the TV being on much at all. I took my laptop but didn't turn it on. We watched the lake and just visited and relaxed. Some of the group came from Florida and Texas and Kansas so there was a good amount of just catching up with what was going on. Trying to get an agreement on what we were going to do was a challenge just because you had to get every one's attention at the same time. Herding cats was one good description. Meals were casual, especially breakfast, and people wandered in and out at their own pace. Some napped. Some fished. It was really pretty relaxing.

I won't describe the decision process but we decided to get into several cars and go to a couple wineries. Seven Springs Winery is west on US 54 near Linn Creek. We enjoyed the selection that they had for tasting ($7 for 10 samples plus the wine glass) and several bottles of wine were bought. This seems to be a new place and it caters to the lake visitors. There was a nice picnic area and a covered patio and a restaurant --and apparently some ambitious plans.  They have some grapes planted but the vines seem to be about a year old.

We also went to Casa de Loco Winery, located west of Camdenton and not too far from Hahatonka State Park. In fact, the original building was a hunting lodge built in the 1920s and was part of the original "Castle" estate. The place went through a few hands and eventually became a state mental health group home and then came into private hands as a winery. It is on a bluff overlooking the Niangua River and very hard to find...get directions and follow them because you will be tempted to turn back...but don't.

The owner/vintner has this Missouri winery and some local vineyards but he also has at least one winery in California (near Drytown in the Gold mine area). His wines are from Missouri and from California and some are mixed. He doesn't charge for tasting and seemed happy to let us have samples of everything we wanted. His wines were very good -- I can't recall any that I didn't like -- but his Kona Port was excellent. He also had a sparkling white wine that was good on it's own but was even better if you added apricot nectar to it -- like a Mimosa. His Sangiovese was also very good. He sells other wines as well and had a good selection.

The guy is very laid back and seems pleased to have folks visit and learn about his wine and the winery. It is on the national historic register and he has quite an operation. He has several motel units... very plush but inexpensive. He also has a canoe outfitting business on the river. We ordered a couple wood-fired pizzas and had a light lunch.

There was another excursion that took part of the group to do some shopping at Yankee Peddler and other shops. It didn't seem like much was purchased -- we didn't need what they had for sale. 

We all went out for supper on Wednesday night and had plans to play miniature golf but the evening got away from us and miniature golf will have to wait for another time. We did rock out...literally...to some oldies music at the restaurant while we were waiting for our table. It was quite a scene and Elvis and Roy Orbison were big hits. We tried to watch the Perseid meteor shower but the moon was too bright and then it got cloudy. We were too tired anyway.

Since we didn't mess the place up very much, moving out was fairly easy and we all said our goodbyes and were on the road by 10 AM on Thursday. Seems like a good time was had by all.

Branson Day 6: Time to go

I still had a couple days left on the condo but I have pretty much seen everything I really wanted to and got a good day of fishing in. I was thinking about maybe staying until Saturday and drive home before it got too hot...but it is always too hot. So anyway, I can be hot at home and it's cheaper there -- so I decided to pack up and get on the road.

I needed to make one last errand -- back to the New Balance store to get my shoes. They are expensive but feel good and I need a good pair of walking shoes that will last. I haven't spent this much on shoes in a long time. The process of buying the shoes turned out to be an adventure (seems like everything is an adventure). New Balance must be a subsidiary of Brown Shoe Company so I had to get an account set up with all of my details and what I bought...apparently we are going to have a close relationship. They will send me birthday greetings and, with this purchase, I earned three "Brownie Points" that I can use on something in the future if I get a bunch more. Wow...official Brownie Points.

To my amazement it started to rain before I got back to the condo. It was still sunny and hot as a furnace but there was a little black cloud trying to rain on us. I noticed an odd phenomenon -- it smells funny when it rains after days of 100+ degree heat. It smelled like funky cooked spinach -- like all the grass and other vegetation that was dying in the heat exhaled all at once. The rain lasted about two minutes and the pavement was dry in five and then the smell went away.

Checking out of the condo was easy...cleaning it up to get ready to check out wasn't. I managed to get it organized and I was packed and on my way by about 2:30.

I had two of Jill's rocks that I needed to stash somewhere. She writes messages on rocks and then stashes them at strategic places or has someone do it for her. I know...don't try to figure it out -- just go with it. It is kind of cool based on what she has written and the selected locations. I stopped off at Yakov Smirnoff's and deposited one there and then headed for home. I dropped the other rock off at Hahatonka State Park up near the castle ruins. After that it was a short trip home and I was in the driveway before 6:30.

It was a good trip. I generally have had bad experiences in Branson and expected not to have a good time. The place is too congested and traffic is terrible. Fishing in the lake turned out to be a bust but I had another option that worked out fine. I admit that I had a reasonably good time. The location of the condo and its proximity to the Branson Landing mall which had some decent - not Ozark hillbilly - stuff to do made a big difference. There are a couple things that I would do if I go back again but that will be another time.

Unfortunatly, I learned that Branson (actually Hollister, the little town across the bridge) will have a 65,000 seat NASCAR race track in the not too distant future. The permits and public hearings are taking place now so they will have to squeeze another 65,000 people in before too long.  I won't be doing that.

Branson Day 5: Go Fish

I got up reasonably early and decided that I would go fishing somewhere. I ended up driving about an hour and twenty minutes over to Roaring River State Park. This is one of Missouri's four "trout parks" where they put fish in the stream and the fishermen take them out...a put-and-take fishing operation is usually for people who want to catch fish for eating. They always have an area set aside for catch and release fisherman where the fish are usually bigger and are survivors so they are a little harder to catch and fisherman can't keep the fish but have to release them unharmed back into the water. That's the kind of fishing I usually do for a couple reasons that I won't go into.

The last time I was at Roaring River State Park was about 1978. Joanne and I, along with our dog, Oliver, were on our way to Eureka Springs and we stopped just to look around. I never had a chance to fish this park so this was a first for me. The drive from Branson was OK and I was there by about 9 AM (very late for trout fishing, actually) and got my tag so I could fish legally. Trout parks are often crowded with people standing close to each other and flailing the water and tangling lines. The catch and release water is very uncrowded and today there was only one fisherman on the water besides me. That's great -- there were plenty of fish active in the water. I fished for about 45 minutes and had some good strikes but didn't land any fish. That's when the swimmers started to appear looking for a good swimming hole. It was about 95 degrees so I don't blame them, I was wading and pretty much in the shade so I was doing OK. Pretty soon they were lusting after my fishing spot. I was able to protect my territory for an hour or so but I could tell that this was going to be a losing battle.   

My area started shrinking and I moved a few yards downstream. I figured before long I'd be trying to fish between pods of six-year-olds in water wings. Surprisingly the fish didn't seem to be alarmed...even when the bathers started lobbing rocks into the water where I was fishing. I pretended not to notice and (for shame!) I was getting some evil enjoyment out of the situation.

Eventually I decided it was time for lunch and surrendered my spot.  I ate a ham sandwich and relaxed in the shade at a picnic table for a while trying to decide what to do.  By noon the other fishing areas are often less crowded so I headed there and found a nice spot with only about three or four other fishermen in the area. It was shady but still hot...my car told me it was 104 degrees on the parking lot. I fished for a few minutes -- trying a few different fly patterns as usual. Nobody was catching anything but the fish were visible and active. Finally I caught a Rainbow on a "Hare's Ear Beadhead" that I suspended about eleven inches from a strike indicator float. That first fish broke loose and got away but I soon landed another one so I figured "what the hell...it's supper".

So I was done fishing for the day and was now thinking about cooking. But I needed to get home and keep the fish cold...now properly cleaned. They think of everything at the little park store...so I got some ice and was on my way home trying to concoct a menu for supper. 

Well, the fish was caught at 2 PM and was in the pan a little after 4 PM.  That might be my personal best. I sauteed it in butter with leeks and some white wine. I chopped up an apple and sauteed it in butter with some more of that white wine and a little bit of sugar. It all was done in about ten minutes. I drizzled the surplus buttery apple/wine sauce over the fish and leeks. I had a glass of wine and some Pringles (hey...I only have a partial kitchen -- pretend those are scalloped potatoes). It was all very good but gone too soon.

Supper's over. The night was still young. What to do? What to do?

By now my personal walking recreation has been to go to the nearby mall -- Branson Landing -- and just walk. That usually leads to a couple beers but who's counting. Anyway...I'm usually there in the heat of the afternoon so I decided to go in the evening.

Seems like everyone has the same idea and the place has become the Branson version of Corso Vannucci in Perugia where everyone comes out and strolls the Corso in the evening, meeting and greeting, stopping for an ice cream or dessert or a drink...very European...except (insert head-slap here) this is Branson. Okay...if you hold your head at a little angle and squint...and try to ignore the lakefront fountain that is shooting water jets and plumes of fire into the air...you can keep the illusion for a minute or two before  someone walks by in an ill-fitting halter top and shorts that are way too small and flip-flops and has a mouth like a sailor. That pretty much ended it for me. So I headed back home for the evening.

Branson Day 4: The Show Must Go On

Picture this. August in Missouri. Nat King Cole is singing on the car radio. He's a big hit and it was still a few years before he got sick. The car has no air conditioning and it is hot - really hot. We are heading down Highway 66. The windows are all open and the hot wind swirls through the car. Dad is driving, as always. Mom is riding shotgun. In the back seat are two sweaty boys and a collie dog. The dog is shedding and drooling. The boys are sleepy since we left home at 4 AM. They are also covered in dog hair and drool. We are on our vacation. Usually the dog had a window seat and her head was hanging out the window. Sometimes she would climb up and lie on the shelf by the back window, which she filled to capacity, blocking the view from Dad's rear view mirror...he didn't seem to notice. Sometimes the dog got carsick. Sometimes I got carsick. My brother endured it all.

After many hours on the road we made it to our destination... Rockaway Beach. We would pull up at some house or office and my dad would pick up the keys to our rented "beach" house...usually a small cottage with a screened porch and some tall shade trees facing the lake just across the road. Those were good times and good memories...except for the last day of the trip when Mom would make us eat all the leftovers...or else. The "else" was that she would slap it on bread and we would have to eat it on the road.

Today I decided to make the fifteen-minute drive over to Rockaway Beach to see what was left. Some of it is still recognizable. Rockaway Beach is on Lake Taneycomo and went through some big changes and we were there when they were just starting. Table Rock Dam was completed in 1958 and the arrival of the cold water was not welcomed by the town. It was a lake resort with lots of bass fishing, water skiing and kids swimming at the beach. There were Skee-ball arcades and sort of a carnival flavor to the place back then. Cold water would change all that. Later it became sort of a rowdy place with lots of bikers and a few very memorable holiday weekends with near riots. There was a push for a casino a few years back but the voters said 'no'.

Today it is still there next to the lake. Even the old cabins and cottages are there and some of the arcades are there but converted or empty. There are still resorts and marinas but these are mostly for trout fisherman and not for beach-going families.  So much for memory lane.

Today was very hot and I was too after my short trip to Rockaway Beach and then a short foray on 'old' Branson's Main Street. After a quick lunch, I headed back to my condo to cool off for my next adventure.

My third show of the week was a chuck-wagon dinner show by The Sons of the Pioneers. I am not much of a country music fan but I like western music. Somehow "Western" was removed from the old category of "Country and Western" and things went downhill in my view. Western music still goes on...sometimes called Western Swing (or maybe Texas Swing) and it is enjoyable and sometimes funny or clever and it goes back a long way. The Sons of the Pioneers have been around since the 1930s and are in their 77th year. They were founded by a guy named Roy Rogers and have only had 33 musicians in all that time. One of the current members has been playing with the group for 44 years (Since Johnson was President -- "Which one?" they asked.)

The chuck-wagon dinner began at 4:15 and show started at 5 PM --- all in an outdoor covered pavilion in 98 degree heat. Being in the shade was nice and there was a nice breeze but it was still hot. I drank a gallon of lemonade by myself. The food was smoked brisket, chicken, potatoes, pinto beans, corn on the cob, biscuit and apple cobbler... a lot of food. This was a small crowd...maybe fifty people in the audience... but the show started on time after some corny jokes and cowboy poetry offered by the cook.

The "Sons" are six guys that play several instruments and sing. They all have a fairly long history with the group and a couple are pretty old. They started off with "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and a couple other songs. About fifteen minutes into the performance one of the older players was overwhelmed by the heat and staggered off stage to the alarm and consternation of the rest of the guys who played on but kept looking around for their missing guy. They had a short break while they figured out what happened and then started up again singing "Streets of Laredo" and another ominous song about the "gold mine in the sky". Then the ambulance arrived. They played on but were obviously out of synch and had to discuss what song to do next. The audience was also anxious and distracted by the ambulance. The sick guy was eventually taken away to the hospital and after the intermission they drafted the souvenir seller and had him join the group to fill in for the missing performer.

The second half of the show was a little slap-happy with some ad libs and spontaneous jokes along with the music. Shucks, what more could go wrong? It turns out that the sick performer is trying to recover from pancreatic cancer and is still pretty weak. He had to leave the show the previous day as well but won't stop performing.  In spite of the distraction it was a good show and I enjoyed it. I really didn't need to eat all that food.

After being out in the heat for almost five hours I went back home to stay cool for the evening.

Branson Day 3 - Mr. Entertainment

I slept late and dilly-dallied around for too long in the morning. I finally wandered out into the heat and headed over to see the dam and fish hatchery and check out any fishing options.  The road curves and winds it's way through the hills to finally approach the Table Rock Dam and the state park.

There is a scenic overlook that perches on a bluff hanging over Lake Taneycomo that offers a nice view of the lake and the face of the dam. From that vantage point you can see a few people fishing and view the dam and the incredible sprawl from Branson. I had no idea that development had spread as far as it has.

Lake Taneycomo is more like a river than a lake because it is narrow and has a swift current. It's a lake because it is trapped between two dams. It's water is about 50 degrees all the time because it flows out of the depths of Table Rock Lake through the power generators. That temperature makes it ideal for trout and the upper stretches of Lake Taneycomo are pretty famous for trophy trout. The water level and speed of the current will change according to the amount of power generation going on at any given time. 

There is a large state fish hatchery situated below the dam with rearing tanks holding thousands of trout. That might be as close as I get to a trout unless I can get the fishing figured out. There is so much water coming through the power generators that it is really too deep and too strong of a current to wade and the overhanging trees make shore fishing nearly impossible. There are a few boats on the water but they are fighting the current more than fishing. I saw a few people trying to fish and also found a few places where I could get down to the water and fish -- there aren't many people fishing. Actually the breeze coming off the 50 degree water is very pleasant and brings the air temperature down to the 70s if you are right by the water.

My lunch was at an Irish pub. I was pretty thirsty after bushwhacking through the underbrush looking for fishing spots on the lake. They had Bass Ale, one of my favorites (it has nothing to do with fishing), and they make a pretty good Reuben sandwich. The TV over the bar was showing highlights from the women's World Cup game so I got to see that again...and had another beer to drown my sorrow.

In the evening I had yet another show to see... just call me Mr. Entertainment. I expected this one to be a little less dangerous than the Elvis show. This was The Haygoods -- a musical family of six brothers and one sister sort of like the Jacksons or Osmonds but younger and maybe more country. The youngest was 16 and they went up to probably 30 or so and they all play 4 or 5 instruments and sing and dance. They started performing as preschoolers in 1988 around San Antonio but have been in Branson since 1993 so they are pretty much locals now. 

They put on a good show, beginning with stuff from the 1950s (Doo-wop) and then up to the 1970s and a good mix of music. They did some Jackson Five and Beatles music and a sort of Tap Dogs routine and some country and Motown.   What they don't have in talent and precision they make up with showmanship and they had the audience rocking out. The dad sells trinkets and souvenirs and mom hangs out backstage. I don't know how you keep a family group like this together for so many years without somone rebelling or just hating the family business. They have been doing this for 23 year

I associate Branson shows with hillbilly country music, religious themes or flag waving but I was happy that there wasn't much of that in either of the two shows I've seen so far...I have one more show left to see. I've also come to appreciate the amount of technical stage work that takes place. There must be a small army of folks trained in theatrical lighting, sound, set making and costumes plus a bunch of supporting musicians.

I've been happy, too, with my ability to get around town without always being in a traffic jam. The lady at the condo front desk showed me some routes to take and that has made a big difference. It helps that I'm based downtown and near a round-about that gets me pointed in the right direction when I go somewhere.