June 15 Branson entertains us

Branson reportedly has well over 100 different shows to pick from so there is no way a person could ever get bored here. It is actually difficult to pick whether you want more pickin' or more grinnin' (really catchin' onto this southern lingo).

We started out with an IMAX presentation of Lewis and Clark. It was an excellent production and the IMAX images were stunning. Quite appropriate in this anniversary year of their expedition.

After that we stopped for some southern cookin' at Wendy's : - ))

From there we proceeded to one of the music halls for a family show by "The Duttons". It is totally run by their "family". Mom and Dad Dutton were married in 1969 and within 9 years they had 7 children. Dad was an economist and taught at a university. He had played a bit of guitar in his school days but never dreamed of being a professional performer. Mom had never had a music lesson in her life. As the kids told it, their parents wanted to start them out at a young age in something that required discipline and hard work (to train them in those life skills) so they each started taking classical violin lessons at early ages. As they got older they branched out into more bluegrass and a variety of instruments. Soon they were performing publicly. Finally they persuaded Dad to dust off his guitar and join them. At age 47, Mom took her first music lesson.

Subsequently, they have toured internationally and now purchased their music hall to give them a home base and room for family. There are now 15 grandkids (6 were born within 6 months of each other...must have been a good "season"). Part of the show today included children right down to their two month old newest addition. What a treat to be able to bring the kids to "work" and include them. You could see the babies getting used to the bright lights and hamming it up for the crowd. Evidently when they are first born, they make it a point to put a guitar in their crib to get them used to their heritage and start developing their talents at an early age. I particularly liked the finale with a 2 year old holding his tiny violin (not having a clue how to play it yet) and a 3 year old trying to point out to his dad that one of the strings had come loose on his violin.

In addition, the Duttons have decided to share their life with orphans from other countries and adopted a number of sibling groups of children from such locations as Russia and Bosnia. I lost count at that point but they have the theatre, a restaurant, a motel and sell their own produced candies and baked goods. What an enterprise! and so neat that they are sharing it with others!

Of course, like everywhere we go this week, they did a military tribute and had all the veterans stand up for recognition...lots of clapping and acolades.

After this heartwarming performance, our friends insisted that we accompany them to the Dutton restaurant next door to sample the ice cream and share pictures from out Vietnam trip.

A good time was had by all. Now if I can figure out how to "work off" all that good ice cream...

Linda