Staying Cool at Silver Dollar City

Dean  (the husband)
Shalane  (the wife  :o)

How can anyone enjoy a hot and humid day in southern Missouri at a outdoor amusement park?   This is a question that I asked myself as we headed to Silver Dollar City yesterday.  However, we had a great time and always seemed to be able to find a way to cool off whenever we needed too, thanks to a deep cave and some fun water rides. 

There have been a few changes since we were last at the park more than five years.  One of the best new rides was a floating boat armed with water guns called Riverblast.  It is not a wild ride where you get flipped over.  It is merely a way to get drenched in cold water.  The lines were always short, which also won big points in my book.  Best of all, we didn’t even have to get on the ride to get soaked.  All along the path of the river are places where you can man water cannons to spray the boats coming through.  As you are dialing in on the sailors on the boat, they are unleashing there full armament at you.  It didn’t take long to get completely covered in water.  A welcomed event on a day where the temperature soared into the 100’s and the humidity was very high.  It's funny how certain things can turn us all into kids again.  I have never seen so many grown men laughing and playing like children.  Dean was running around with the energy of a ten year old firing squirt guns!  I enjoyed it as well, but my favorite part was watching my husband having the time of his life.

In the  hottest part of the day we spent about two hours in a cave at about 60 degrees.  As you first enter the park there is an area where people leave to go on an impressive hour long tour of some of the most unbelievable caverns I have ever seen.  As soon as you go into the main chamber of the cave the temperature drops 40 degrees.  This is a good thing, because there are a number of steps. Over 600! Fortunately, most of them go down, as there is a tram that takes everyone back up to the top at the end of the tour.  Now some of you may notice that I mentioned it was an hour long tour, but I said that we had spent two hours in there.  It seems that someone in the tour ahead of us got injured somehow.  All tours in the cave were suspended right where they were until the person could be removed by EMT’s.  Trust me when I say that an extra hour in the cool temperatures was a blessing.  We had no complaints.  Because of the delay, the guide was able to share with us a lot of extra interesting facts about the cave that we wouldn’t have been able to hear on the “normal” tour.  We highly recommend that you enjoy the Marvel Cave tour, especially on a hot day!

At the conclusion of the day was a great country music show in a wonderful amphitheater.  The singers were all great as soloist, but when they sang together, it sounded almost angelic. The harmonies were incredible.  It was a fantastic way to close out the day. They did a fantastic "old country" medley, but my favorite part was the gospel music.  I LOVE country gospel!  I listen to it almost every Sunday as I get ready for church.  The singers did a fabulous job sharing their love of the Savior with the audience!  :o)

Today, as I crawled out of bed, I realized once again that I am not as young as I used to be.  We had so much fun yesterday that we thought about going back to Silver Dollar City again today.  However, I think that we will stick to our original plan of Whitewater.  They have a lazy river.  I can’t wait to lay back on my inner-tube and just float for the entire day! Until tomorrow, Happy Trails!