Summer's End

Summer is over here.  The last day was yesterday.  A cold front moved through last night, bringing clouds and rain behind it.  While it was still somewhat warm today, the frequent downpours and thunder signaled a change in weather.  Tomorrow’s high will struggle into the low 60’s.

It has been a warm, dry few weeks here.  Great for working outside, not so great for the dry trout pools we saw yesterday.

Since it was not a day for outdoor activities, we drove into Branson after a leisurely breakfast.  We took the north route, through Kimberling City and hit a couple thrift stores on the way.  We also stopped at the Old Fashioned Dough Company in Branson West, a place that makes cinnamon rolls and similar delectables.  Deb found this in some of her area research as a highly-rated place to feed our food habit.

We were not disappointed.  My cinnamon roll and Deb’s Pecan roll were delightful and we enjoyed them in the car as the rain thrashed at the windows.

We arrived in Branson and bought tickets to SIX, a group that sings familiar and hit songs using no instruments, just their own harmonization.  The show started at 3pm, it was now 1pm, so we drove to Billy Gail’s Restaurant for lunch.  We wanted to a local icon, not some chain, and this one came out near the top of the reviews we had read.

This restaurant was quite the experience.  It was jammed to the rafters, attesting to is popularity, and it was a 20-minute wait to get in.  Looking around, this was a visual overload of stuff hanging from the walls and ceilings.  Think Cracker Barrel on steroids.  We were finally ushered in to a tiny two-person table in a very crowded dining room, but they appeared to have a system that made everything work well.  They specialize in breakfasts and are known for their five-egg omelettes and “hubcap-sized pancakes”.

The service was good and prompt, in spite of the crowds, and my five-egg pulled pork omelet was delicious.

SIX is a group of six brothers, all from the same family, who started singing as children because they couldn’t afford instruments.  There are actually 10 brothers and no sisters (their poor mother!).  They do everything a cappella, using their voices to harmonize and even mimic percussion sounds.  They were very good, singing songs all the way from the Beatles to Justin Bieber and a lot in between.  Would recommend them as well as the Haygoods for those coming to Branson.

When the show was over, we were not ready for dinner yet, having had a large lunch at nearly 2pm, so we took a walk at nearby Lakeside Forest Wilderness Area.  A trail and a series of over 300 stone steps descended to Lake Taneycomo.  Because of the rain, the trail and steps were wet and somewhat slippery so we had to tread carefully.

We decided that pizza would be our dinner and found a highly-rated pizza joint.  Upon arriving there, the parking lot was empty and a sign on the door said it was closed due to a dining room leak.  Must be from today’s rain.

We found another pizza place, again highly rated, in the direction of the ranch and drove there.  We found the road backed up from people trying to get into the parking lot and the line was streaming out the door.

Strike two.

On the way back to the ranch we found another pizza place.  It was (a) open, and (b) not crowded so we gave it a shot.  Turns out it was in the midst of changing ownership.  We did get a pizza.  The slices were cut at crazy angles and the condiments were mostly clustered on one side. But we actually got a pizza.  It was fair to middling.  So while we didn’t strike out, we only got a base hit and it was nothing to write home about.  We were hoping that our foodie day away would end with a bang, but it ended with more of a whimper.