Michael² and the Soggy Silver Dollar
I didn’t sleep much last night, which is usual for a stay away from home. I stir at the first peek of light from the sun through the curtains, and from there it’s go-time. The breakfast at Branson’s Best Motel was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, Michael and I had miscommunicated our breakfast plans, so we each ended up going down separately to eat. Then it was on to the park.
We parked and waited for the bus for a while, but then decided to walk up the hill to the park. Out of shape as I am, I must have shed about 20 pounds in sweat. Once we got into the park, it felt pretty awesome. I’d never been, and didn’t realize how much tree coverage there was. Everywhere you went, you had shade and the cool breeze over water fixtures. I had always been told that it was mostly gift shops, but it really didn’t seem out of line from what I would expect in any theme park.
The sky cleared up enough for us to stop by Andy’s Frozen Custard where we had a couple delicious strawberry and blackberry shortcakes. As we sat there, a couple missionary-type guys stopped by to quiz us on spirituality. Given the conversations Michael and I had been having, I took the bait and had a fair conversation with strangers. They had us pick out pictures that could represent how we felt about different things, and I expected there to be some sort of story attached to them, but they insisted it was just there as a conversation starter. When it was all said and done, I ended up feeling about the same way I expected. They were there to stir up conversations about faith, and remained grounded in righteous vindication. I could only hope to inspire them to think freely and to challenge everything.
By then, it was time to come home. We tried to stop by Mack’s Pines for dinner, but ultimately ended up at CJ’s Butcher Boy Burgers back in town. I had a grilled cheese, which was surprisingly good considering it was cheese between two inside-out hamburger buns. Once back home, Michael came in to check out my home theater experience. I think he left impressed.
Yeah they was dancin’ and singin’ and movin’ to the groovin’.
Today was a pretty busy day at work. We spent most of the morning cleaning out lab computers, and then transported some laptop carts to my elementary for summer school. We got to leave a bit early, which gave me a bit of extra time to prepare for Branson.
Michael picked me up in his bright red Corvette, and we headed up Highway 7 through some spectacular weather. It was hot all day, but after a short rain, the air was perfect, and the mountains made it even better. On the way, we got onto the subject of religion, and were able to have a looong but civil conversation. We ended up talking on the subject on into the night over cobbler in the motel lobby.
Today was relatively relaxed for me, which was a little surprising. I had quite a bit of time to myself to complete a project at work, and they fed us leftover “heavy hors d’oeuvres” from a farewell party for our superintendent last week. After work was when the real fun began.
We stopped by MarketPlace Grill for dinner on the way back, and had an awesome “angry s’mores fudge dip” for dessert. The shrimp street tacos were good, but the salted caramel graham crackers really stole the show. I may have had to pay a $3 upcharge, but the inspiration to make this at home was priceless. It really was delectable.
