Redirects can be a pain.

I always enter the forum here:

http://sdcfans.com/forums/index.php?action=unread

That's the standard SMF way of displaying new, unread posts. I realize I don't see the main page content at sdcfans.com, but I figure that if there's anything there I need to see, someone will link to it from within the forum. I subscribe to several other SMF-based forums that are wrapped within a website or wiki (and I even own/administrate one), and that's how they work best.

And by the way... thank you, thank you, thank you for choosing SMF instead of phpBB or vBulletin!

Lockers are a great idea for guests' peace of mind, but there's no reason for them to be 50 cents. The mechanism works just as well with a single quarter as with two, and I've been to places (spas in Europe) where they don't take any coins at all -- just turn the key and take it, and your stuff is secure until you return.

Lockers aren't a high-dollar item. They can certainly be covered by the cost of admission.

The tower is definitely strange and out of place. I was reminded of Oral Roberts' "prayer tower".

It's a shame about the road, but it did need to be done. I remember traffic backed up for miles as people tried to turn left, and the local folks with stickers on their front bumpers: "I'm a native, I'll help you turn left! <-----"

Dad had a rule of only turning right except at stoplights (there were only a couple of them back then), which helped a lot. We usually stayed at Kimberling City, so we had a right turn into SDC, then turned right to get to SotH.

From 1970-85(ish), Shepherd of the Hills was just as much a part of our Branson vacation as was SDC. We only missed it once or twice, because of weather. Our routine was to "arrive after 3 (next day free)" at SDC, go to SotH that night, then spend the next full day at SDC.

When I went back in '98, I made sure to take my boys for the tour and the show, using that same routine.

Over the years I fell in love with one Sammy Lane, looked up to (literally) a couple of different Young Matts, booed a few Wash Gibbs, and knew there was only one Old Matt and Shepherd (I really miss those actors from the '70s/'80s, whose voices I can still hear).

And no matter how many times I'd see the show, there was always the threat that Jim Lane was about to finally gun down Gibbs. (With his gun worn cross-draw for the stage, instead of inside his hickory shirt with the missing button, as in the book.)

When we went in '98, the actors were of course quite different, but also good. The only disappointment was Ollie, who was just too much of a caricature.

How many others here are fans of SotH?

I still think of Branson as SDC and SotH, with a side trip to the museum at School of the Ozarks/College of the Ozarks (they changed the name). The only music shows we ever saw were Baldknobbers (once, I think), the Presley Family, and another local family show whose name escapes me. I don't care about Branson for outlet malls, or Vegas/Nashville reviews. I've never been on a lake cruise, but I wouldn't object if I had enough time and money.

I think we went one time to Whitewater. Maybe caught a few go-karts and putt-putts. We seldom went that far east on 76, because for us "Branson" started at Kimberling City (where we usually stayed, when "Branson West" was just an empty crossroads) and ended at Shepherd of the Hills.

We admired that the two attractions bought up all the land between them. As an objectivist/libertarian/free-marketeer, I still admire that: ownership is the ultimate form of zoning. Better to own it, than demand the government restrict other owners.

Anyhoo, I only mentioned that, to mention this: do you remember the Shepherd of the Hills bookstore that was in the middle of nothing between SDC and SotH, on the north side of 76? When I was a kid, there was an elderly widow who owned the place, which was a fascinating bookstore. When I visited in '98, I could see the old building, which looked like it had fallen in.

Sorry for the rambling. SotH: big fan, or not?

Kevin

I was confused when you said "home page", then I figured out you meant the sdcfans.com home page, not the forum home. 

Direct link:

http://sdcfans.com/usrArt-entry.php?id=3

I liked your "why we keep coming back" editorial, too.

I do remember the logroll.

The "don't look in this hole" features are great, and quirky. I always loved the girl in the bathtub, who's not quite what she seems.