Wednesday, Oct. 29: We were up by 7 a.m. this morning, and after a breakfast of a choice of quick breads or bagels, with cream cheeses, and fruits, we got ready to go to Grand Village Shops, which houses Missouri's largest Christmas store, Kringles, along with several other specialty stores and art galleries.
The weather was sunny today, and soon warmed into the 70s, making for a very pleasant outing. Kringles, with it's dazzling array of Christmas paraphernalia, was our favorite haunt, of course, but we also enjoyed a specialty store that offered free snack and drink samples. Each of us bought both packaged and bottled ingredients for making dips at home.
At one point along the cobblestone walkway between stores, there is a giant rocking chair. Sis and I climbed into the chair to pose for a snapshot. By this time, it was nearing noon, so we headed back to camp.
After lunch...a choice of pimento cheese, deli turkey, or sliced cold meatloaf for sandwiches, Hubbie, Sis, and I went shopping at the outlet malls. We looked through several clothing shops, but found nothing we wanted. At the kitchen shops, though, we picked up several useful items. As we passed the fudge shop, a young man enticed us in with an offer of free samples from a freshly made batch of the yummy stuff. Hubbie commented that he could eat a quarter pound of of the candy, so the young man gave him a really generous portion, while only giving Sis and me tiny samples. The fudge was so rich, though, that I didn't need a bigger portion, even if I yearned for it.
We returned to camp at 4:30 p.m., where Mother had a supper of hot roast pork sandwiches, with gravy, mashed potatoes, and English peas heated and ready to eat (we'd prepared the meat and potatoes ahead of time to bring to camp). Individual cups of applesauce completed this very satisfying meal.
A little after 7 p.m., we left camp to wend our way down crowded Hwy. 76...Branson's busiest strip...to the God and Country theater for an 8 p.m. show. This time it was Goldwing Express, which is a group made up of a father and his three sons, who perform bluegrass and gospel music. None of us had ever heard of this group, so we didn't have high expectations. I'd gotten the tickets economically through a silent auction and our local radio station.
Apparently, the group is unknown to lots of folks, because there were only 15 of us in the audience, which was an obvious disappointment to the entertainers, who stated that they are used to performing before large audiences. Nevertheless, they gave us a good show, interacting with us between numbers.
At the break, one of the members of the band hurried down to the stage, saying that they needed to cut the break short, because they were to perform several numbers, which would be recorded live tonight, in anticipation of cutting a new CD during the upcoming weekend. They would listen to and choose from tonight's recording the numbers that would be included on the new CD.
So after the break (during which Sis bought the group's bargain CDs...buy one at a reduced price, and get another for $5, plus an autographed poster), the group repeated some of the tunes they'd played earlier, adding some original tunes, written by members of the band. We were told that we could leave if we wanted to, or we could stay and sit in on the session. Since we were all enjoying the group, we chose to stay. At the end of the session, one of the members announced that we could e-mail him for free copies of the recorded portion of the show, which I promptly did upon our return home.
We were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed this show, especially since Hubbie and I are not die-hard fans of bluegrass. Sis is more of a fan of the genre, maybe partly because one of her grandsons, a young teen, is skilled at playing bluegrass on the fiddle.
This group was really very good, and we got a kick out of not only the music, but the humorous jokes and one-liners told by the father. We were amazed, too, by the drawn out train horn sound effects emitted by one of the young men, in accompaniment to the numbers, "Long, Black Train," and "Little Black Train."
Since the audience was so small, several of us commented on how the whole performance felt like attending a jam session in the entertainers' living room. Apparently, the group is very well sought after, judging from a list provided to us of over 100 venues all over the southland where they are scheduled to entertain during the end of 2008, and through 2009.
After the performance, we were back at camp by 10:30 p.m., ready for a light snack before hitting the sack.
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