Silver Dollar Overload

Saturday, November 26, 2022

Silver Dollar Overload

Setting off on the latest post-holiday adventure, our crew landed in Silver Dollar City without incident. The remainder of the day would remain in question. The mass of people joining this expedition proved astounding. Later inspection of statistics outlined an amusement park at 97% capacity. It was too much.

From the moment of entry, the masses insisted on forward movement. It did not matter in which direction, so long as it was away from the front gates. Resistance proved futile. We persevered though, riding rode the crest to discover the most welcoming place of sustenance that did not already host an hour or more wait.

We plunged back into the fray, satisfied and in a better frame of mind to handle the obtuse situation. Inspecting the variety of offerings brought no real sense of joy. Silver Dollar City has long since sold out to commercialism. Very little is actually made there any longer. Most items are directly imported from China. There are a few exceptions; very few.

Shopping proved relatively easy. Otherwise, lines were awful in every direction, boasting a wait time of an hour or longer for even the simplest things. Waiting for the night parade to begin, one man returned with hot chocolate for his family, proudly declaring he had waited in line for one hour to obtain the substance.

A portion of the expedition chose to ride the "Time Traveler" roller coaster prior to the start of the parade. They did not return in time; instead, standing in line for more than an hour. The parade came and went, much to their disappointment. Those of our crew remaining, enjoyed the show, excepting the interference of angry woman. She decided to chastise us for choosing to sit where she was clearly reserving six spaces on a rock wall. Her moose intervened, but decided to forgo any sort of sustained confrontation, after hearing of her blatantly rude and antagonistic opening remarks to the situation.

In contrast, the crowd was mostly jovial throughout the day, and our crew all seemed to have a good time of it. It was that evening hour that things began to deteriorate. In addition to the aforementioned situation, parents appeared drained, and the protests of children echoed in every hollow. One woman passed, dragging her child along, insisting they were going to have fun, as the child howled in response, "I don't want to have fun!"

Our clan had reached a pinnacle of excitement as well, but took a little time to wonder at the millions of lights adorning nearly every building, tree, and orifice of the front third of the amusement complex. A man doing repairs earlier in the day had indicated there were over 6 million lights on display there. He followed that up with the fact that they were all torn down after Christmas and tossed to the side for someone else to figure out. That seemed a bit of a waste, and not entirely representative of the "hillbilly" ideal, where nothing is ever really thrown out; rather, repurposed.

The following day, thoughts turned towards looking about Branson a short while. That was quickly shut down, as the town roared to life after breakfast, seeking in earnest to reproduce the population encountered the previous day. The road home suddenly took on the luster of a well-polished diamond.

This turned out the best decision all around. and offered up the chance to wander about a bit of memory lane in Warsaw. Some of our crew found more exceptional opportunities for shopping in that little town, along with quiet sustenance and a unique little light display at Drake Harbor. Lesson learned. Stick with the simple things.

The road home was mostly uneventful. Rain greeted our expedition as we neared the city, just after stopping at a traditional spot for a little ice cream from the home state. The blackberry cobbler is truly delicious and the price, much more satisfying than buying it at the local market for five times the same amount.