Carol's & Alan's Branson Adventure (Even More Than You May Care To Know).

AwayWeGo · Dec 7, 2006

Notice: The views expressed below are not necessarily those of The Management & are subject to correction and/or revision at any time without notice by The Chief Of Staff.

We just got back last Saturday night (December 2, 2006) after a fun week in Branson MO, seeing the shows & generally goofing off. One show we wanted to see (John Tweed) was canceled because of sleety-snowy weather Thursday & Friday; so it goes. But we still got to go to...

Les Brown & His Band Of Renown
Yakov Smirnoff
The Duttons
The Six [Knudson Brothers]
Mannheim Steamroller
Shoji Tabuchi

...all of which were outstanding -- & good entertainment values for the money (specially in comparison with the Las Vegas shows we've seen). Not only are the ticket prices lower than Las Vegas, generally speaking, but the performers put more into their shows -- 2 full acts separated by intermission. And whereas the Las Vegas shows all have cocktail bars in the theater lobbies, the Branson shows we went to all had snack bars with pepsi & popcorn & fudge in the theater lobbies.

Les Brown's band had 3 trombones, 3 trumpets, 5 saxophones (doubling on clarinets, bass clarinet, & flutes), piano, bass, drums. Les Brown Jr. stood up in front, did some vocals, & told some stories. I love big band music, so this Branson show was a highlight of the week for me. The Chief Of Staff enjoyed Les Brown OK, but her Branson favorites were Shoji Tabuchi & Yakov Smirnoff. We both greatly enjoyed The Duttons & The Six Knudson Brothers. Ditto Mannheim Steamroller, but that show was higher on my list than on The Chief Of Staff’s.

Mannheim Steamroller had 4 main performers in front (violin, keyboards, guitar/bass, drum set) plus a back-up ensemble consisting of 4 more violins, cello, viola, oboe & English horn, trumpet & piccolo-trumpet, horn, & 1 extra percussionist. Plus, the guitar/bass guy & the main drum-set guy also played recorders of various sizes, krummhorn, etc. Also, from the sound of the show I'd say they also had a bunch of recorded tracks going.

Shoji Tabuchi's back-up ensemble included 1 saxophone, 1 trombone (doubling on bass trombone & tuba), & 1 trumpet, plus electric guitars, electric bass, electric keyboards, etc. Shoji himself plays fiddle. The theater is a glitzy showplace, right down to the restrooms off the lobby. The men’s room has a full-size pool table, leather chairs, black fixtures with gold handles, & I don’t know what-all -- more like what I’d expect to see at The Gaslight Club than at a Branson show theater.

In The Duttons show, 1 keyboardist doubled on flute. Otherwise it was all fiddles, guitars, fiddles, banjos, fiddles, a cello, & more fiddles -- not that there's anything wrong with that.

All our show tickets were timeshare-tour freebies, timeshare-tour discounts, or 2-for-1 tickets from that outlet right there on the main drag kitty-corner across the intersection from The Titanic museum. We didn’t get to the French Quarter timeshare tour -- maybe next time -- but we did go to the Surrey Grand Crown timeshare tour, also the Festiva Stormy Point timeshare tour. (Didn’t buy.)

The show we didn’t see -- John Tweed -- was canceled because of sleet & snow that blanketed the area Thursday afternoon & overnight. Tickets for Thursday were supposed to be good for Friday, but the Friday show was canceled, too, so we went back to the ticket outlet for a refund.

When we got back to our timeshare after an evening out seeing shows, the message light on the phone was blinking. I phoned the front desk to get the message. The desk clerk said something had been delivered for me. I said, "I’ll be right down." The front desk person handed me a Branson discount coupon book that had been hand-delivered by the timeshare-tour headhunter who signed us up for the Surrey Grand Crown tour. It was full of BOGO coupons for Branson eateries & snackeries -- more than we could possibly use. We had 2 for 1 cobbler & ice cream at Penelope’s restaurant, BOGO "original" sandwiches at Schlotzsky's, & the 2 for 1 dinner special at Baldknobbers. Penelope’s was OK. Schlotsky’s was so good we went back for more with no coupon. Baldknobbers . . . well, the less said about that the better.

The timeshare where we stayed is The Colonnade -- on RCI Last Call. I’d been wanting to go to The Colonnade ever since I discovered (via TUG reviews, I think) that the place features free breakfast every day for everybody staying there. Free breakfast was still served every day during our stay. It was OK -- pretty good actually -- but not much variety. It was an augmented continental breakfast -- doughnuts, cold cereals, instant oatmeal, biscuits with or without gravy, English muffins, plain bagels, toast, waffles & syrup, bananas, milk, coffee, orange juice, tea, cocoa mix, peanut butter, jelly, cream cheese, margarine, etc.. On a smaller table next to the serving table are toasters for heating up the bagels, waffles, English muffins. A microwave was available for warming up the cold biscuits. The self-service gravy was in a crock-pot. After 7 days of that, The Chief Of Staff & I were both ready for some French toast or scrambled eggs.

Apart from the free breakfast, the place was comfortable, pleasant, and conveniently located off the main drag but pretty much in the middle of everything. We buzzed around town in the rental car we picked up at the airport in Tulsa -- driving 215 miles from TUL to Branson because we couldn’t find any bargain tickets for flights into Springfield MO, which is lots closer. So it goes.

The night before check-out, we gave the Colonnade front desk lady the Branson coupon book we got from the timeshare tour sign-up guy. The coupons are good through March 2007 & all of’m were still in the book except the 3 we tore out for meals & snacks.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

libraria99 · Dec 7, 2006

Dear Alan and Carol,

Welcome to the Branson world! So nice to read your review and that you enjoyed yourself here in mid America. I was in Branson a few days before Thanksgiving and also saw the Duttons. Shoji is my favorite Branson show.

Come in the summer and join us at J & J's dock.

JLB · Dec 8, 2006

Wow! What can I say, except for here that would be referred to as caddywhompus.

Here's a note Sandi will appreciate: Dobyn's Restaurant at College of the Ozarks is still available through restaurant.com, and this month Shorty Small's has been added. Both of my meals at Dobyn's were excellent, my Cajun catfish the night we were there with Sandi and John and Sandi's leftover steak the next night.

AwayWeGo said:
All our show tickets were timeshare-tour freebies, timeshare-tour discounts, or 2-for-1 tickets from that outlet right there on the main drag kitty-corner across the intersection from The Titanic museum.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
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dschaefe · Dec 8, 2006

I think caddywhompus must be an Iowa thing.

Don S.

JLB · Dec 8, 2006

I don't remember talking that corny up there. I was fairly literate until I moved here.

- - - - - -

Say, Don, do you know how they compliment a pretty girl in Arkansas?
- - - - - -

We went to the Landing and through Branson today, eating and shopping, and things were busy.

We spent all day and all we bought was a pair of ladies boots, and they are for me! Those guys at the Red Wing Store were sure giving me the eye. When I went to pay, the guy taking my money said, "And did those fit OK, sir?" Maybe I'm just sensitive, but it seemed like he put too much emphasis on the Sir.

:doh:

dschaefe said:
I think caddywhompus must be an Iowa thing.

Don S.

JLB · Dec 8, 2006

I confess to misspelling cattywampus, but if you'll check out this link, you will see that it is one of the few fancy words I don't misuse, in that it means what I meant, diagonal, or--another new word--cater-corner.

Oh yeah, it says it is a Midland or Southern expression.

Jenny's from here in the sticks and she says she's heard cattywampus all her life, and also catty-corner, but never kitty-corner. But, then, where she's from if you are really busy, you are covered over.

(bad link deleted)

dschaefe · Dec 8, 2006

I've always heard catty-cornered in Arkansas. Right along with light'nen bugs.

Don S.

AwayWeGo · Dec 8, 2006

Stowe's Mill.

A glaring omission in my account of our Branson adventure is Stowe's Mill on Shepherd Of The Hills Expressway right near the IMAX Theater.

We were lured there for supper 1 night by a coupon good for a discount on their barbecue platter, which we enjoyed so much we went back another night for more, without a coupon. While we were studying the menu board, a guy behind the counter said, "Pssst! Here's a coupon good for $2 off on dinners." So we had their barbecue platter again, discounted, same as before except with different side dishes. Yum.

It's self-service. Customers tell the folks behind the counter what they want, the serving people dish it up & hand it over on a tray, & then the customers pay a cashier & carry their trays to a table. We like that for 2 main reasons: (1) fast service, & (2) no tipping.

The place was extremely uncrowded both times we were there, which we found surprising in view of their tasty meals & modest prices -- e.g., $7.99 for 1/3 slab of ribs (4 ribs) plus 2 side dishes & cornbread. For 1/2 slab (6 ribs), it's $10.99 -- $19.99 for a full slab (13 ribs). Side dishes are pit beans, sweet slaw, crunchy slaw, side salad, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, potato salad, corn, baked potato, green beans, & chips.

Adjoining the eatery, right in the same building, is a shop offering gifts, souvenirs, women's clothing, T-shirts, ball caps, novelties, & I don't know what-all. The Chief Of Staff bought an attractive shirt-style blouse as a gift for an old friend we'll be seeing over Christmas.

BTW -- My parents & grandparents said catterwampus to describe something disordered or misaligned -- e.g., "The screen door got bent. Now it's all catterwampus & it won't close right." For emphasis, sometimes they said it catterdeewampus. They were from Indiana. My late father-in-law, who was from New Jersey, said squeejee to describe approximately the same condition -- e.g., "This window glass was cut squeejee & it won't fit square into the frame."

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

JLB · Dec 9, 2006

That's exactly why I looked up cattywampus, to see if I was misusing it, thinking it might mean in disarry, as in things were strewn around all cattywampus. But it meant what I thought, diagonal.

Has anyone ever been to place where when the light turns to Walk at an intersection, that you can go in all directions, including cattywampus?

AwayWeGo said:
BTW -- My parents & grandparents said catterwampus to describe something disordered or misaligned -- e.g., "The screen door got bent. Now it's all catterwampus & it won't close right." For emphasis, sometimes they said it catterdeewampus. They were from Indiana. My late father-in-law, who was from New Jersey, said squeejee to describe approximately the same condition -- e.g., "This window glass was cut squeejee & it won't fit square into the frame."

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

AwayWeGo · Dec 10, 2006

Not To Mention Glow Worms.

dschaefe said:
Right along with light'nen bugs.

Fireflies & lightning bugs -- 2 different names for the same thing? Or 2 different kinds of light-up critters?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

dschaefe · Dec 10, 2006

Those traffic lights that allow you to go all directions at the same time were first called Denver lights because the man who first used them was the traffic manager in Denver. Early 1950s. Baltimore hired him after that and I was in his house once because my cousin was dating his son. The man had a fabulous HO model train layout. Enough trivia for now.

But you could walk cattey-cornered at those lights.

Don S.

Rose Pink · Dec 10, 2006

JLB Has anyone ever been to place where when the light turns to Walk at an intersection said:
Jackson, Wyoming

JLB · Dec 10, 2006

I believe in the last firefly/lightnin bug discussions we decided they were the same critters. That, too, was in a Branson discussion, someone wanting to come here to see pretty leaves, Christmas Lights and lightnin bugs at the same time.

We decided, in Meatloaf's words, "Two outta three ain't bad."

But it had me checking outside at night about this time last month, to see if we had any hearty lightnin bugs. I believe we also decided that since they light because they are in the mood and are asking if any other lightnin bugs are in the mood, that maybe there just weren't any in the mood those nights.

I also discovered that there are no lightnin bugs west of Kansas and no one knows why.
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And yeah, Denver's where I had in mind, and, of course, Estes Park copied them. You really feel like an idiot when you don't cross cattywampus, just out of habit, and then the light changes and you have to wait to do the other cross. :doh:

AwayWeGo said:
Fireflies & lightning bugs -- 2 different names for the same thing? Or 2 different kinds of light-up critters?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

tuc · Dec 12, 2006

cattywampus

JLB said:
I confess to misspelling cattywampus, but if you'll check out this link, you will see that it is one of the few fancy words I don't misuse, in that it means what I meant, diagonal

Your URL on reference.com didn't work for me, but the top three google links for cattywampus support the askew meaning, including this one.

btw, this is the first I've heard of that word, though apparently some of my grandparents used it. I would say neither cattywampus nor kitty-corner, but catercorner (which is pronounced as if it had two Ts).

JLB · Dec 13, 2006

Wow, that was a bad link. I tried it and it crashed my computer. I think dictionary.reference.com is having a problem.

I played around too and found most references giving the meaning askew, but I found another one giving diagonal, sorta:

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1260109&lastnode_id=0

Adjective meaning lopsided or out of place. It can also imply a diagonal direction ("Jose's house is cattywampus to Akira's" or "Stevie walked cattywampus across the intersection"). Probably derived from cater-cornered.

CharlesS · Dec 13, 2006

Barnes Dance

JLB said:
Has anyone ever been to place where when the light turns to Walk at an intersection, that you can go in all directions, including cattywampus?

Yes, but I have always called it doing the "Barnes Dance" (after Henry Barnes). According to the wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramble_crossing

it started in Kansas City and Vancouver in the late 1940s and later was adopted in Denver, etc.

Charles

PS. Alan, good report on Branson. Makes me want to return.

AwayWeGo · Dec 17, 2006

Colonnade Timeshare Review.

As promised, a more detailed account of our week-long stay at The Colonnade, Branson MO, is up in the TUG Resort Reviews section.

Short version: We had a nice time, we enjoyed the free breakfasts, & we would happily stay at The Colonnade again some time.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

Timeshare Von · Jun 23, 2007

JLB said:
. . . restaurant.com, and this month Shorty Small's has been added.

DELETED to repost question as it is probably buried too deep here to be found & read.

Carol's & Alan's Branson Adventure (Even More Than You May Care To Know).

AwayWeGo

TUG Review Crew: Elite

libraria99

JLB

dschaefe

JLB

JLB

dschaefe

AwayWeGo

TUG Review Crew: Elite

JLB

AwayWeGo

TUG Review Crew: Elite

dschaefe

Rose Pink

JLB

tuc

JLB

CharlesS

AwayWeGo

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