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Friday, May 18, 2007
This morning those staying at The Grand Plaza Hotel had a Continental Breakfast at the Hotel. Then the rest of us showed up and we boarded a tour bus. We went for an hour and a half tour of the Branson area to include the Table Rock Dam area.
Then we went to the Veteran's Memorial Museum. It is not a site that is easy to miss on the strip. In front is a full size World War 2 P-51 Mustang Fighter suspended above which looks like it is on a strafing run of the strip.
The museum is composed of 10 different rooms outlaying all the major wars or conflicts since World War One. The unique display of this museum is the wall of names. It is the only place that lists all the names of all the service members who have lost their lives since WW2. It includes over 500,000 names in alphabetical order.
Another land mark display is the world's largest bronze sculpture by Fred Hoppe. The 70 foot long statue features 50 soldiers storming a beach. Each life sized soldier was modeled after a real soldier from each of our 50 states. It is indeed quite an impressive exhibit.
After the tour of the Veteran's Memorial Museum we went back to The Grand Plaza Hotel for lunch at The Plaza View Restaurant.
Might be worth noting that the The Plaza View Restaurant is owned by former major league pitcher Jack Hamilton. Jack pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies 62 -64, the Detroit Tigers 64 - 66, NY Mets 66 - 68, California Angels 68 - 70, Cleveland Indians 70 - 71, and the Chicago White Sox 71 - 72.
Jack was present everywhere. He met us at the lobby elevator and took us up to the 9th floor where The Plaza View Restaurant is located. During our meal he was around helping with the service and he brought me my dessert.
Our entertainment during lunch was provided by Kenny Parrot. Very nice background music why we ate lunch and chatted about Holy Loch.
After lunch we had a short break before heading out again by bus to The Branson Belle Showboat for dinner and a show.
When we arrived they had a Gazebo all setup for us to have a memorial service. Ken Noll acted as Chaplain for the memorial service.
After the memorial service we then went aboard the Branson Belle where we were served dinner and had a show by none other than The Show Stoppers. After dinner we had a short intermission where we went topside and enjoyed the view of Table Rock. I went up to the pilot house and toured around the decks before we were called back to the theater for the main shows.
The evenings main show was again The Show Stoppers and a great display of ballet and gymnastics by a Russian adagio dance team of Andrei Soumiatin and Marina Bolkchakova. Also on hand was the ventriloquist Todd Oliver. He had an unusual show with dogs. Some how using technology he had the dogs mouths appear to move when he talks for them.
All in all a great show well worth the visit. Dinner wasn't bad either.
After we arrived back to port we boarded our tour bus for the trip back to The Grand Plaza Hotel.
Saturday we have a clear morning before the evenings dinner and entertainment.
Then we went to the Veteran's Memorial Museum. It is not a site that is easy to miss on the strip. In front is a full size World War 2 P-51 Mustang Fighter suspended above which looks like it is on a strafing run of the strip.
The museum is composed of 10 different rooms outlaying all the major wars or conflicts since World War One. The unique display of this museum is the wall of names. It is the only place that lists all the names of all the service members who have lost their lives since WW2. It includes over 500,000 names in alphabetical order.
Another land mark display is the world's largest bronze sculpture by Fred Hoppe. The 70 foot long statue features 50 soldiers storming a beach. Each life sized soldier was modeled after a real soldier from each of our 50 states. It is indeed quite an impressive exhibit.
After the tour of the Veteran's Memorial Museum we went back to The Grand Plaza Hotel for lunch at The Plaza View Restaurant.
Might be worth noting that the The Plaza View Restaurant is owned by former major league pitcher Jack Hamilton. Jack pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies 62 -64, the Detroit Tigers 64 - 66, NY Mets 66 - 68, California Angels 68 - 70, Cleveland Indians 70 - 71, and the Chicago White Sox 71 - 72.
Jack was present everywhere. He met us at the lobby elevator and took us up to the 9th floor where The Plaza View Restaurant is located. During our meal he was around helping with the service and he brought me my dessert.
Our entertainment during lunch was provided by Kenny Parrot. Very nice background music why we ate lunch and chatted about Holy Loch.
After lunch we had a short break before heading out again by bus to The Branson Belle Showboat for dinner and a show.
When we arrived they had a Gazebo all setup for us to have a memorial service. Ken Noll acted as Chaplain for the memorial service.
After the memorial service we then went aboard the Branson Belle where we were served dinner and had a show by none other than The Show Stoppers. After dinner we had a short intermission where we went topside and enjoyed the view of Table Rock. I went up to the pilot house and toured around the decks before we were called back to the theater for the main shows.
The evenings main show was again The Show Stoppers and a great display of ballet and gymnastics by a Russian adagio dance team of Andrei Soumiatin and Marina Bolkchakova. Also on hand was the ventriloquist Todd Oliver. He had an unusual show with dogs. Some how using technology he had the dogs mouths appear to move when he talks for them.
All in all a great show well worth the visit. Dinner wasn't bad either.
After we arrived back to port we boarded our tour bus for the trip back to The Grand Plaza Hotel.
Saturday we have a clear morning before the evenings dinner and entertainment.
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