Mac Daddy and the Mini Macs' Mega Trip Report '08

[Mac Daddy]

Featuring: Cedar Point Ohio, Silver Dollar City MO, The Ozarks, Bentonville Ark, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Hershey Park PA, Bird In Hand PA, Gettysburgh, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Leesburg VA, and Washington DC.


Edit: If you are reading this thread for the first time, it is in seven parts. Here are some links to help navigate:

Parts I and II are in this post.

Click Here for Part III ( St. Louis and Cedar Point, Ohio...the "Roller Coaster Capital of the World!")
Click here for Part IV (Hershey, Bird In Hand, New York)
Click here for Part V (New York)
Click here for Part VI (New York and Philadelphia)
Click here for Part VII (Virginia and Washington DC)

Most of the following shots were taken with the Canon G9 as my Nikon was too heavy to schlep around for three weeks.

Part I: Arkansas

So....after three weeks of insanity, we made it home safely last week. After shuffling though some 1500 or so shots of our adventures, I thought I would share a few of them with all of you.

On June 16, the Mini Macs and I took off on our amazing trip through the Eastern half of the US. After shuffling the suitcases to stay under 50 pounds each and going through security at Ontario Airpot, we were off...




We changed planes in Houston, and after boarding one of the smallest aircraft I’ve ever been on, it was off to Northwestern Arkansas. We spent the week with my sister in Bentonville, Arkansas, which is the home of.....the first Walmart!

(Or, more specifically, the first store opened by Sam Walton.)




My brother in law works for a vendor who has a fairly sizeable account with Walmart. A few years back, they were looking for someone to work in the Bentonville office. So they sold their 2000 square foot home in Brea and moved into a 3500 square foot home in Bentonville and put quite a good chunk of money in the bank after the move. When I visited, these 3000+ square foot homes across the street were somewhere in the mid 200’s:



Last year when I visited, I spoke to some of their neighbors who have parents who worked for Walmart in the early days. I was shocked to hear that Walmart took very good care of their employees back in the days before they took over the world. My sister and I drove around and she showed me some of the palatial estates that the current Walmart executives are living in. Quite an eye opener. Also amazing to see the tiny little store in the middle of town where it all began.


Halfway through the week, my sister and I set off to photograph the Solstice moon, which is supposed to appear to be the largest of the year. It was behind clouds for the moonrise, but eventually, it made it's way out...




On another night, we went out to see the Arkansas Naturals. It was really quite an experience. Triple A baseball in the middle of a corn field. Seriously. It was exactly like field of dreams.





So, after a week of watching triple A Baseball, skimming rocks in creeks, long walks in the woods, watching fire flies, reading a few novels on the Kindle, and dodging storms, we were off with my sister and her family to Branson, Missouri.



Part II: Silver Dollar City

Several of the restaurants on our way featured catfish and gizzards...



Just outside of Branson I found one of the most gorgeous theme parks I’ve ever seen. Silver Dollar city doesn’t feature too many rides, but as it is set in the middle of the Ozarks, it really was quite spectacular. But most of you would laugh if comaring it to a Disney park. The transportation vehicles were all circa 1950 and were a fleet of old buses, trams, and tractors pulling trailers, eerily similar to the very first trams that Disneyland was using when it first opened.

The theme of the park is very similar to Knotts Berry Farm except that here you feel like it’s the real thing. These are real folks who live out in the Ozarks and they’re running a theme park. This would be the main entrance area...and yes, everything is that green.




There was exactly ONE person at the ticket windown when we arrived and ONE gate to get in. All the rides had just been shut down due to a passing thunderstorm, but were back up shortly after a horn sounded.

Here is Wildfire, which is quite similar to Batman at Six Flags.....










The view from the deck was incredible...




What makes this ride so amazing is that the mountainside falls away sharply under the ride, and as you flip upsidedown, you are looking at trees that are thousands of feet away in all directions....




The park is literally buried in trees...








The second coaster we went on was Powder Keg, which was actually pretty intense:



And a park like this HAS to have a log ride...




The park is certainly no Magic Mountain, but what it lacks in number of rides, I felt that it made up for it in overall charm. There are dozens of shops throughout the park which feature quilts, furniture, and all manner of crafts.




There were no need for umbrellas as the entire park was in the shade...










But, eventually, we ran out of steam...




and took off for Branson, MO (which can best be described as Reno with Trees) where we spent the night.

Click Here for Part III ( St. Louis and Cedar Point, Ohio...the "Roller Coaster Capital of the World!")

[hollywood1939]

Fantastic pictures! Loved that little theme park!

[pratt55]

Great pictures and reporting from one of my favorite photographers with the added bonus of seeing places I have never been to. Silver Dollar City looks like it would be a lot of fun but at the same time peaceful.

[dsnylndmom]

Wonderful pictures!! I can't wait to read more

[Ride Warrior]

What a healthy set of kids you have, MacDaddy. It's evident by their faces that they were having gioganormous fun time. The original Arkansas Sam Walton store is smaller than I would have expected - but quite stately. Wonder what year Sam started it.

The Ozark's theme park is quite colorful amid all of that natural scenery. Your photography is crisper and sharper than ever.

[IndianaJenn]

Awesome so far! I can't wait to see the rest!

[penguinsoda]

Yes!! What a great start to your report!! I'll be sure to check in and catch the continuing saga!

[scrappydawg]

Wow, Silver Dollar City looks like a beautiful park! Can't wait to see more!

[aashee]

What beautiful country. And a cool looking theme park to boot. Thanks or taking the time to post it!

[Wendygirl]

Wow. Fascinating stuff. Love all those green trees.

I've been to Bird In Hand and Gettysburg and so look forward to those photos.

[Armadillo4]

Hurray! We get wonderful Mac Daddy photos and a trip report too. Silver Dollar City looks really, really cool. I can't imagine visiting a park in such a beautiful setting. It looks amazing! Thanks for starting this report. I'm looking forward to future updates.

[tinkermonkey]

All the trees in Silver Dollar City remind me of one of my favorite Roller Coaster Tycoon parks I created. I was so proud of not having to sell off the trees that I kept what would probably have been too many of them! What I noticed in your pictures was how CLEAN and even new everything was looking.

[b236en]

Nice Pictures looks like you had a lot of fun. Silver Dollar City looks like a very nice park...

[Princess Buttercup]

You have adorable kids! All of your pictures are gorgeous! Those roller coasters look scary! Did you actually go on them with your kids? If so........

[kelly]

love it so far