July in Missouri = HOT!!! A trip report . . . COMPLETED 9/20!!! About This Page:

[SuperKate]

Sarah we totally should have gotten together. There is SOOO much to do in Branson, though it's not everyone's cup of tea. I it. I guess if you have never been there, you don't really know what there is. Sorry FIL wasn't being very fun!!

ETA: We did have a really hot summer, the humidity is alot different here too. Looking forward to more.

[schroadmol]

Glad you liked the area. And yes, hot doesn't begin to describe the weather conditions here during the summer. I refuse to go to the STL Zoo at all during the summer, most of our trips to the zoo happen in late fall to spring- and we are there right when it opens at 8am.
And Sarah, you were right near where we live in Illinois.
Thanks for the report, I am enjoying reading it.

[GoofyMom]

Bummer you didn't get to go to Chicago like you wanted. And what's up with the kids upstairs???! Yeesh! Sounds like you made the most of a not-quite ideal time in Branson though!

[DreaminDizney1002]

I was so excited to find your newest TR, Sarah! Loved the zoo pictures! Lookin' forward to more!

[christiejay]

I'm enjoying your trip report and pictures.

Your condo in Branson looks nice, wish it had been quieter for you.

Thanks for mentioning the Disney store, I'll try to make it there on our next trip. Also the Duck trip, I hope we can do that when we're there for Thanksgiving. Maybe I should take a change of clothes with me just in case ...

[loobyoxlip]

Whoa, nice deal on that snowglobe and pj's. And your new dishes are lovely.

That duck tour sounds fun, even though you ended up getting soaked That would be just my luck, too!

[mom2my4dwarfs]

Great report so far. Sorry we missed you in St. Louis, but that heat was horrible. Loved the pictures of the zoo since we didn't see much of it.

[DopeyGirl]

OK . . . so when last you left us, we had taken a Duck boat tour. I was drenched thanks to our “Dukes of Hazzard” style launch into Table Rock Lake . . . my nice WHITE capris were in need of bleaching thanks to the lake water . . . and we actually all managed to get a halfway decent night of sleep even though the kids upstairs NEVER slept!!!

We were up at 7:30am the next morning (Wednesday, July 27th) and Mike and I took turns taking showers while Emilie S-L-O-W-L-Y ate her breakfast. I was in a MUCH better mood this morning . . . and not in such a funk about the overruling of my Chicago trip. I think it helped that the first thing I saw when I got out of bed were all of my purchases from the outlet malls!!!

We sort of took our time getting ready then around 9:30am, we drove out towards Silver Dollar City. Of course, I found myself going “I am going to a theme park . . . and it isn’t owned by Disney. This is weird.” We parked in the “D” Lot . . . the lots really weren’t all that large, though. We had to walk from the “D” Lot through the “C” Lot to get to the parking lot tram stop . . . and what a JOKE getting on the tram was!!! There were lines, but when that tram came, there was more pushing and shoving than a freakin’ NFL game!!! It was WORSE than trying to get on the parking lot tram at the Magic Kingdom!!! We missed 2 trams due to being pushed out of the way . . . then a 3rd came and I told everybody to latch on to my jacket, don’t let go and put their elbows up!!! I managed to get to the tram with everyone in tow (carrying Emilie) and we started to load on to the tram. There were 2 ladies and 4 kids already sitting in the row we piled into . . . and the kids had spread out across one whole seat until one of the ladies told them to scoot down. I held Emilie on my lap, DMIL was able to sit on the same side as I was and DFIL sat across from her . . . the ladies refused to move down because they had someone else coming to sit by them (who never showed up). Mike was left standing beside the tram and right as the driver asked him to step back and said “No further boarding”, the one lady said “Oh, I guess I could have held her on my lap and let him on, but oh well . . . it’s too late now, I guess.” My in-laws almost got to hear my potty mouth at that point . . . but there were too many little kid ears in the vicinity, so I just snapped the lady a nasty look or two along the way.

We arrived to the front of the park and got off of the tram . . . then proceeded to stand at the tram stop and wait for Mike for another 10 minutes!!! When he FINALLY got there, we asked him what took so long and he said “People were pushing and running and I got left behind twice again!” He said one lady got pushed so hard by someone that she fell down!!! These people obviously thought that if they didn’t push and get on that tram they would NEVER get to the park!!! Well, at least he got there!!!

We headed to the ticket windows and DH asked about a military discount . . . we expected just his ticket to be discounted, but it actually ended up that ALL of the adult tickets were slightly discounted and Emilie’s was completely FREE ----- AND they were all 2 day tickets!!!

We rented a stroller, then headed on in through the turnstiles . . . and through a gift shop. Maybe we made a wrong turn, but I could SWEAR that the entrance leads you through a gift shop . . . that’s SMART!!! We just wandered right on through though and I made a mental note to stop in on the way out!

We headed out into the Main Street area (yep, there’s one there too! ) and I spotted a sign that said Brown’s Candy Factory . . . um, candy . . . I’m hungry . . . and it’s homemade and FRESH . . . let’s go in!!! So, we popped in and first did the walk through of the “factory”. There were two ladies making peanut brittle and peanut butter chocolate fudge . . . as they finished a batch, they put out samples. Oh . . . my . . . goodness . . . the fudge was warm and it just melted in your mouth . . . Is it any wonder I picked up a couple of packages to take home? They also sold whole fresh roasted, lightly salted cashews, so I snatched up some of those!!! At 99 cents per 1/3 cup, how could I not? They were very warm . . . and I was in heaven!!!

It had rained a bit that morning and it was starting to sprinkle a bit more, so we ducked into the glass blowing demonstration area to see what they were making. The blowers were just preparing their supplies for the next project as we got there, so we had good timing!!! Only one blower worked on the project was we watched . . . he was making a small vase (which, when finished, would be sold in the adjacent shop). He started out with clear glass and added colored swirls and a colored base . . . it was going to be very elaborate for something so small . . . but when he went to take it off of the pole after 20 minutes of working on it, it broke!!! He said that during the course of a day, they usually break about 1-2 per hour.)


Emilie wasn’t really too much into the whole glass blowing thing . . . but at least it was dry . . . and, from where we were standing we could see the (very short) parade come by!!!

After the glass broke, and we noticed that it was no longer drizzling, we headed out . . . we saw that we were right near Thunderation, so Mike and his dad went to ride. Being the ride weenie that I am, I told Mike that he had to ride it first then tell me about it when he got off so that I could decide if I could handle it!!! He told me it was “kind of like Big Thunder Mountain, but some people rode backwards, it was much shorter and there were a couple of BIG drops.” OK . . . so that’s out!!! They were able to walk right on to the ride . . . he said they honestly walked through the queue area and onto a train . . . it was about 5 minutes from the time they walked into the queue until they came walking out!!!

From Thunderation, we headed over to the Frisco Silver Dollar Line Steam Train and took the 20 minute ride. It was a normal “tour” train, but it had a funny story line along with it. The train actually was stopped about halfway through the ride by “train robbers” . . . but they were the DUMBEST train robbers EVER!!! They started telling a story about their “Ma” being on the train and when the conductor asked them where their “Ma” was . . . wouldn’t you know, they walked right up to DMIL, who was sitting on the end of our row!!! They asked her where she’d been since she got out of jail and without skipping a beat she said “Saloon” The guys played along and they were SO funny!!! (We saw them around the park later and they said “Hey Ma!” to DMIL and talked to us for a bit . . . both in and out of character! ) Once we had returned on the train, we decided we’d go look around thorough some shops. We dipped some candles in one shop . . . I got some earrings in another shop . . . and DMIL and I held tight to our wallets as we walked through the Christmas shop!!! I tell you . . . I could have done some SERIOUS damage to the checkbook in that store!!!

We then went on Flooded Mine . . . basically, it was Buzz Lightyear in Pirates of the Caribbean boats!!! Emilie was a little scared, but she ended up shooting pretty well (3200)!!! I think the main reason she was a little frightened was that the ride was about the mine being flooded and you have to catch the escaped prisoners . . . it was VERY VERY dark in there and the workers were all wearing prisoner uniforms, but she said they looked like ghosts. The targets were all pretty small, so I started out REALLY trying to aim, but after a while, I just kind of said “Screw it!” and just pointed the gun “wherever” . . . I ended up getting 8000 points (which was fairly OK . . . the guy in the boat ahead of us got over 15000 )


Before queuing up for Flooded Mine, Emilie was taken prisoner and put in the stocks!!!

Next, we moved on to Tom Sawyer’s Landing . . . is anyone else seeing a little “similarity” to some OTHER theme park here? I mean, Main Street, Tom Sawyer, rides like BTMRR and Buzz/Pirates . . . there was more too . . . I just haven’t got there yet!!!

The first thing we did was head to the merry-go-round. Emilie is a merry-go-round freak . . . but the things make me TOTALLY dizzy!!! So, her dad is the lucky merry-go-round rider most times!!! They loaded right on and she found a nice looking horse to ride.



Once the ride had stopped, the worker (I don’t know what else to call them ) said “You may either get off of the ride or stay on!” So, of course, Emilie wanted to stay on . . . and they moved to a chariot/coach thingy . . . and once that ride started, she wasn’t happy! She said “HEY! This one doesn’t move!!!” Well, duh!!! She picked it out though . . . and you can’t switch seats after the ride starts, so she just hammed it up instead!!!



We wandered over to Aunt Polly’s () and got some lunch. DFIL and I had fried chicken and taters and gravy, Emilie had a PB & J with a fruit cup, while Mike and DMIL had the meatloaf sandwich. All were very tasty!!! We then grabbed a couple of cups of homemade ice cream (we watched it being churned as we ate!) and headed over to Huck Finn’s Hideaway (treehouse), stopping to put Emilie in jail again along the way.



Now, Emilie was really wanting to go up into the Hideaway . . . and she did fine going up the ladder/staircase thingy . . . but once she saw she’d have to go across a sort of suspension bridge, she was NOT happy!!! She is DEATHLY afraid of heights!!! She immediately dropped to her knees and started whimpering . . . Mike went up with her and got on his knees with her and crawled backwards in front of her as she crawled across the bridge. I don’t think they spent too much time inside the hideaway, because they came out the back door and down the steps after just a couple of minutes . . . and Emilie was till pretty wound up from the bridge.


Crawling across the bridge into Huck Finn’s Hideaway

Mike was itching to get on some of the “big” rides, so we headed towards Wildfire, which is a suspended coaster on a hillside with something like 5 inversions. Mike went to ride it alone, while DMIL, Emilie and I sat and watched people get SOAKED on American Plunge (think Splash Mountain WITHOUT the themeing). FIL got lost somewhere along the way and ended up calling DMIL’s cell phone to find out where WE walked off to!!! After about 10 minutes, Mike came walking back from Wildfire and told us that he wanted to go again and that there was a big observation deck on the back of the building. So we walked back up to the ride area with him . . . he got in line and we headed thorough the gift shop (SURPRISE SURPRISE!!! ) and out onto the observation deck. We only waited about 10 minutes and then here came Mike on the ride . . .


Wildfire . . . looking out into the Ozarks and onto Table Rock Lake . . .


Mike’s the doofus waving . . . in the blue and white striped shirt . . .

See the arms dangling in the very back row? That’s Mike . . . this was the point where the on-ride photo was taken also . . . we ended up buying it, it was SO funny!!! He looked like his eyes were rolled back in his head!!! It was only $9.50 . . . and not the best quality, but it was going straight into my scrapbook!!!


CONTINUED IN NEXT POST!!!

[DopeyGirl]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST . . .


It was warm out, but none of us really wanted to be wet, so we passed on American Plunge . . . instead we headed towards Silver Dollar City’s newest coaster, Powder Keg. When we got up there, though, the ride was down and they weren’t sure when (or if) it was going to be reopening that day, so Mike headed across to ride Fire in the Hole. He said that it was the ONLY thing about SDC that he remembered from when he used to go there as a kid!!! The rest of us sat and waited . . . and I had a soda and a “Mountain Sized” chocolate chip cookie. HOLY MACKERAL, you guys, this cookie was exactly the size of a regular (read: cheapo) paper plate!!! NO LIE!!! The thing was ENORMOUS!!! (Hence the name MOUNTAIN sized, I guess! ) And it was FRESH from the oven!!!

As we waited, a little girl (around age 7) came out of the ride with her mom and brother (maybe age 4) . . . she was wet and crying HYSTERICALLY!!! The mother told the grandma, who was waiting, that the seats only sat 2 and the boy had to sit with her, which meant the girl had to sit alone. The ride operator said he’d find a single adult to sit with her, but never did find anyone and sent the ride along with her sitting alone. The ride is in (mostly) pitch black with VERY sudden drops . . . and it TERRIFIED this little girl!!! Emilie took one look at that girl, turned around and looked at me and as serious as I have ever seen her, said “That’s IT! I am NOT going on that ride!”

Mike came out of the ride a little damp too, so I guess there was some sort of water effect . . . I don’t know . . . I chickened out!!!

As we waited for Mike, Emilie did ask if we could go back to Tom Sawyer’s Landing for a few rides, and no one else had anything they wanted to do, so back to TSL we went . . . of course, Emilie had to get in 2 rides on the merry-go-round. DMIL and FIL wanted more homemade ice cream, so they bought some more while Mike, Emilie and I rode on the Skychase Balloons. I told Mike they were just like Flik’s Flyers at California Adventure . . . and I learned my lesson on which side of the car to sit on the HARD way on FF (I ended up riding backwards and feeling sick! ) So I made a point of getting in first and claiming my “forward flying” seat on our balloon!!! Mike sat by Emilie, we got buckled in, and off we flew. Emilie had a great time . . .



We stopped in to “Grandfather’s Mansion” and I thought I was going to go nuts. It’s a walk through . . . it starts out calm enough, then things start getting weird. By the end, everything is distorted and on a giant slant . . . and I swear you WILL come out SERIOUSLY dizzy, if not sick to your stomach!!! I was working up a serious case of vertigo, myself!!! It got to the point where, in the last room, I couldn’t even walk without thinking I was going to fall down, so I made Mike hold my hand and make sure I didn’t fall . . . it was either that or I was going to sit down right where I stood and scootch down the hallway on my butt!!!

We had nothing we particularly HAD to see (except for the light of day OUTSIDE that house) after that so we wandered a bit, got some fresh kettle corn and fresh squeezed lemonade and then hit the gift shop. I got some postcards and a magnet for myself . . . and, of course, a t-shirt for Emilie! We then turned in our stroller and headed out to the tram stop. Getting on the tram at the front of the park was SO MUCH better than that morning!!! There was no shoving and everyone in our party was able to board at the same time!!! We got to the car and headed back to the condo. I went into the bedroom and laid out all of the fresh goodies I had purchased that day . . . the kettle corn, fudge, cashews . . . I kind of wished I could get that kind of good stuff ALL the time!!! Instead, it was back to reality . . . and day old kettle corn and hardened fudge . . .

We discussed where to go for dinner and Mike, of course, suggested “some place with all you can eat crab legs!” (The man is OBSESSED with all you can eat crab legs!!! ) and kept talking about this place called Starvin’ Marvin’s But we settled on the Uptown Café, which was a 50’s style diner. It was so cool . . . the milkshakes were great, the burgers were awesome and I spent most of dinner singing songs from the 50’s & early 60's to Emilie (she liked "I Only Have Eyes for You" the best )!!! By far, the best meal we had all trip!!! I thought it was really cute that there was an older couple in a booth near us that told the waitress they only wanted one milkshake and 2 straws . . . they were “on a date”. The waitress said “All right . . . are you sure?” The man, said “We did it 50 years ago, why can’t we now?”

We had a pretty boring evening around the condo . . . the guys watched baseball on TV out on the back roasting room . . . er, I mean . . . porch. Emilie passed out in my bed and DMIL and I just kind of sat there doing NOTHING! I did take a few minutes to sort of throw things back in the suitcase since we’d be leaving in the morning, but other than that, we did a whole lot of NOTHING!!! I was asleep by 11:30 . . . not too much noise from the kids above us, but the dad came down to apologize earlier in the evening and said that his older son (maybe 14 y/o) had been jumping around off the beds earlier that day and ended up breaking his leg . . . Well, no DUH . . . I could have told you 2 days ago he was liable to do that!!! Stupid. This actually ended up being the best night’s sleep I got the ENTIRE time I visited my in-laws!!! I still can’t figure out why!!!

We were up bright and early the next morning, packed up our stuff and the cars then FIL called the clubhouse to check us out. We headed towards the Belgian Waffle and Pancake House for breakfast . . . I had been craving waffles for 4 days . . . FINALLY, someone found me a waffle place!!! The bad thing about this place is that they accepted cash only . . . Mike and I had planned on picking up the check for breakfast, but we had zero cash on us, so, once again, the in-laws picked up the tab! The food was really tasty . . . and it was fairly priced as well. I think, altogether with tip, our total was around $22!!! Not bad for 5 people!!!

After breakfast, we headed back to St. Louis . . . we didn’t stop for lunch along the way, since we had such a filling breakfast. Once we got back we just kind of hung out and did nothing!!!

The next day, we went shopping for soccer cleats for the tiny footed child of mine . . . found ‘em!!! Thank goodness!!! We couldn’t find anything near her size around here!!! Emilie went with DMIL and FIL to a pond to feed the ducks that evening!!! Real exciting stuff, huh?

The last full day that we were to be in St. Louis, we headed down to Crown Candy Kitchen for lunch. This place is SO cool!!! It’s been open since 1913 (in its original form . . . I don’t think it has been remodeled!!!) It is a sandwich/malt/candy shop and the food and milkshakes are SO good!!! We had to wait quite a while in line for a table (then smash 5 of us into a small booth) but we eventually got one!!! I ordered a turkey club sandwich . . . SO good!!! It isn’t in the best part of town but it sure was good . . . and I sure will have to go back sometime in the future!!!


Emilie . . . almost passed out in the car . . .


. . . on our way to Crown Candy Kitchen. You can see the top of the Gateway Arch in this photo We were just getting ready to get off of the Interstate at St. Louis Avenue when I took this pic (STL Ave. is where CCK is located).

Again . . . the rest of the day was pretty boring!!! All I did was pack and try to figure out which things I could get in the suitcase and which things Mike would need to being home with him when he came back from Chicago. I hate packing . . .
We also talked to our friend Bill, who was supposed to pick me up from the airport . . . he found out that day that he had to stand watch, so he would not be able to pick me up. We called around to everyone we knew for a ride for me, but no one was able to do it (one guy even said “My wife won’t let me . . . if it were you, it’d be fine, but another dude’s wife, she draws the line!” (Thanks, by the way, jerk . . . I don’t like her anyways!) So, it came down to having to get a taxi home . . . no big deal though!!!

I got up on the morning of the 30th and got my stuff together . . . we grabbed some early lunch at White Castle ( White Castle, I do!) then headed to the airport. We got up to the ticketing area and I waited in line for a skycap . . . I had already checked Emilie and I in, so I just needed to check the luggage. As we were standing there, I looked at the departure monitor and it showed my first flight (into Atlanta) as being cancelled!!! So, I freaked out for a couple of minutes, then we headed inside where I got in line to see what they could do for me. When I approached the counter, the look on my face must have given away what I needed to the agent because he said “Need to be rerouted from the Atlanta flight?” He said that there was room on a flight 4 hours later (my original flight was around 1pm, arriving in Pensacola at about 8pm . . . the next one was around 5:30, and the new flights would get me into Pensacola around 11:30pm!), so he checked our baggage, gave us our boarding passes and told us we were all set. So, we went back to the house with Mike and his parents and Emilie took a nap while I relaxed for a couple of hours!!! When we went back to the airport, there were no cancellations . . . we walked right through security without any problems and went to our gate, where Emilie had a meltdown over missing her daddy. She didn’t stop for over an hour . . . she was THAT upset!!! Once we got moving on the plane, she was better though! We got to Atlanta and headed to our departure gate . . . we had not been assigned seats for this flight in St. Louis, so I checked in at the podium. As soon as I handed the gate agent my seat request cards, she handed me boarding passes!!! She had just printed them. Thank goodness we were on our way!!!

We took off from Atlanta a few minutes late, so we arrived back in Pensacola a few minutes late as well . . . our luggage came right off of the carousel and I grabbed it all up then headed out to find a cab. There wasn’t much looking involved though . . . there were 2 sitting directly outside the door!!! One of the drivers grabbed my stuff and tossed it in the back, then we hopped in and off we went. 15 minutes and $30 (tip included) later, we were home . . . with NO plans on going ANYWHERE else for a while!!!

And that, my friends, is the conclusion to my VERY busy summer vacation!!!

Hope you enjoyed reading my ramblings!!!

[Tara O'Hara]

Great trip report Sarah!! It sounds like you guys had terrific time!!

[DawnDenise]

It sounds like you had a great time Sarah!! I always enjoy reading your reports!! Thank you so much for sharing your busy busy summer with us!!

[katspjs]

Great report and pictures Sarah. Sorry you weren't able to get to Chicago. Sounds like you were able to make the most of going to Branson. Thanks for sharing.

[lauren-roxy]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us Sarah!! You write really funny ones, and they are such a joy to read!! This one was so hilarious, glad you guys had a good time too!!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great report Sarah Thanks for sharing it with us Great pictures too

[2princessmom]

Great report! Hopefully the next time you are up in the STL area we will be able to hook up if we are there at the same time!