Pam & I spent the day at Silver Dollar City this past Friday. This is SDC's 50th anniversary, and anyone born in 1960 gets a free season pass. That would include Pam! I got my season pass also. They were expecting storms Friday, but the day turned out to be just great. It was pretty windy, and overcast most of the day (and we did get caught in a downpour at around 4:00) but other than that the day was just fine. We rode all of the roller coasters... my favorite was the Powderkeg. We saw the Chinese Acrobats show (World-Fest was still going on) and took the cave tour. I don't think I've ever been to SDC and
not done the cave tour. It hasn't changed much over the 40 years or so we've been going there, and that's what I like about it. That park has grown so much, but it's nice to know that there (hopefully) will always be parts of "the City" that never change.
The day was capped off by a very enjoyabe concert by the
Ozark Mountain Daredevils at Echo Hollow Amphitheatre.
The stage lineup included Nick Sibley, Ruell Chappell, John Dillon, Steve Cash, Michael 'Supe' Granda, Dave Painter, Ron Gremp and Kelly Brown. Larry Lee and Randle Chowning were conspicuously absent. They weren't even in the promo picture. It would have been nice to have them there, but it was still a good show. Not perfect by any stretch... but you know, that's what you get with any live concert experience. It's in the moment, and that's fine.
Despite the churning clouds overhead, Echo Hollow Amphitheatre was fairly packed for the evening's festivities. The Dares took the stage and set the evening off right with Standing On The Rock. The show included Black Sky, Homemade Wine, Country Girl, Chicken Train (of course), You Made It Right, and Jackie Blue... with lead vocals by Ruell Chappell (in the absence of Larry Lee). They even pulled off A Satisfied Mind, which was a nice treat. Supe brought out a couple of his solo tunes, including Ode To Mel Bay, which went over very well with the crowd. They finished off the concert with If You Wanna Get To Heaven, and then came back, just as the rain started coming down, with a wonderful version of It'll Shine When It Shines. It was a very enjoyable evening of music, after a great day at Silver Dollar City.
