St Louis

 

The year Karen and Loren lived in St Louis, Ashlyn was 2 and Bryan was born.  They thought it would be fun to check the area out again, so we met them there.

This is a park near where they lived:

 

And of course, if in St Louis, you need to check out the arch!

 

 

 

The view from the top at sunset was really awesome!  Which is good, because it involves lots of long lines and  crowds to get up there!

 

 

 

Monday was a quick trip to the zoo – and a bit of “King of the Turtle!”

 

We did see a few animals in the zoo, including this Takin.  Funny looking guy I don’t remember seeing before.

 

 

The high point of the zoo when Ashlyn was two, was the Carousel.  So we had to pose by it now.

 

 

In addition to animals, there are many beautiful buildings in the zoo.

 

Here is Cherryl trying to look like Beauty, the “Gruff Grandma!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Branson

 

Then it was on to Branson, where we took in a concert by “Six,” an a cappella group that we really love. (I think this is the fourth time we’ve heard them!)

 

Becky, Kevin, Dayna and Peter joined us at the campground for Silver Dollar City.  Becky brought some yummy food, and we all cooked and added to it.  We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with ten of us in our motorhome!  It was great!

 

Silver Dollar City is a huge park now, themed in the 1880’s.  They have craft demonstrations, many little shops (!), lots of food, and some of the best roller coasters anywhere!

SDC actually grew up around the Marvel Caves, as a way to entertain folks waiting for a cave tour.  The caves are really fascinating, and have a bit of history.  In the early 1800’s someone thought there was marble in the caves, so he called them Marble Caves, sold shares as a mining outfit, and built a little town near the cave to facilitate extracting all that marble.  During the Grand Opening of the establishment, a geologist descended into the cave, and announced that there was no trace of marble there!  The promoter then decided all the minors could extract bat guano, as there were some deposits 40 feet deep!  It took years to “mine” all that *%#@* guano out, and then the town was deserted.  Eventually the name became Marvel Caves, and it became a tourist attraction.

 

So Thanksgiving week in Silver Dollar City was lots of fun, but we definitely had some cold and rainy days!

 

They claim to have over 6,500,000 lights up!

 

Friday night was our own little sing-along, with ukuleles, a dulcimer, and happy voices.

 

And we must include the shot of everyone in their Christmas PJ’s!

 

And maybe an “Old Time” photo just for fun:

 

And one where we let the “women folk” smile a bit…