showtime

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You sure wouldn’t think we were having an economic crisis and high fuel prices looking around Branson. People are everywhere and traffic is bumper to bumper. The show I went to last night (Six) was packed and there were large crowds at the other shows where the KOA shuttle dropped folks off before I got to my theater.

The decision to leave Ike at home is working out ok early in the journey. The KOA has a shuttle service and I’ve taken full advantage of it. Not only will they book tickets to shows (and get great seats - I was 8 rows from the stage last night), but you can arrange for a shuttle to other attractions around town.

Friday I went to The Butterfly Palace (they had me there when it opened at 9 am), called them about noon and they picked me up and dropped me off at Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Grille, theater, and 57 Heaven. After lunch there I spent several hours in the wonderful museum ’57 Heaven and came back for dinner before my show.

I’m taking in two shows today - Yakov in the afternoon and Pierce Arrow tonight. Six are brothers who sing and do their own ‘band’ with just their incredible voice talents. It was a great show.

Butterflies are difficult to photograph but I managed to come away with a couple of images. It was a good opportunity to practice some macro tips and techniques I learned from my photography friend Gary last month.

57 Heaven is a GREAT museum. Not only does it have the world’s largest collection of 1957 automobiles, but it has lots of 50s memorabilia, too. It was definitely a walk down memory lane for me - as you will see from some of the images included here.

I got to see a 57 Plymouth Belvedere in the museum that is a twin to the one I saw last summer (you can look back and see entries from that trip if you’d like) in Tulsa. Turns out the one here in Branson was there and I probably took a photo or two of it then. It was used by the company to check out weights and balance before they removed the one buried in a time capsule.

Hope you enjoy the images from the day.

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Photos

Paper Kite on orchicd
This was one of the butterflies who remained still long enough for me to capture. I used my 70-200 lens, an extension tube, and my new monopod to capture this. Gary, I think your focusing techniques are finally sinking in. Thanks!

57 Plymouth
Here's a shot of the 57 Plymouth. Look at the photo in the background and you will see the one dug up from the time capsule last year in Tulsa.

NASCAR early days
They had a 57 Ford, Chevy, and Pontiac from the NASCAR early days. "Fireball" Roberts (who drove the 22) was one of my favorite drivers when I was growing up. Also I found it interesting to see they had a photo from the Asheville Weaverville Speedway (taken in 1957 with Fireball's car leading the pack to the green flag) on the wall in the background.

Trust the Texaco Star
Here was one of several walks down memory lane for me at the museum. I pumped a lot of Texaco gas, washed windshields, and checked tire pressure at my Dad's Texaco station!

57 Pontiac
I guess you know you are getting older when you see cars in museums that you drove! In 1969 I got my driver's license. When my Dad took me to get my learner's permit, we took his 1957 Pontiac (it was a hardtop, not convertible as these are) which I got to proudly drive down the main street in town on the way home. Oh what memories...

mirror images
I like to find different perspectives and like this one which empasizes color as the mirrors distorted some of the cars.