Search

[eagle1]

Sounds good Parson, will get one "made" for Caleb! 

[Parson B Ready]

 

[KBCraig]

my oldest son and I watched Ray Johnson do a knife demo.  That was cool. He basically insulted us (in a funny way) the whole time he did the demo.

He's been doing that for 30+ years, funny or not, to anyone who understands actual bladesmithing versus what he does.

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. I've hung around a lot of ABS Master Smiths and upper-level Journeyman Smiths for a long time, and the community is almost universally humble. Ray has presented himself as the best and most unique long before he had any credibility as a "bladesmith".

Disclaimer: It's been several years since I've seen him work. Perhaps his skill and attitude have both changed. I'll give more latitude on his skill changing, than his attitude.

[rubedugans]

I have stopped by and been playfully insulted by Ray on one or two occasions, and it has been one or two too many, I rarely stop anymore. I have found that his jokes often involve making someone the butt of one of his jokes about stupidity/ ignorance. I don't mind joking (I am a very fun/ and even sarcastic guy, but he (it seems) uses this tactic to make his stories/ himself look better. Imagine a cranky cocky late night talk show host.... He makes a good product, and they can sell from anywhere between $350-$2,000. But Shad Heller (Who I have childhood memories of watching and listening to) he is not. It is not just you!

In his defense- He does make a great product. I have talked with Ray outside of SDC-I ran into him in Jeff. City one afternoon a few years ago during the fall - he was at first a bit short with me/ and a bit sarcastic(very dry humor-dry as tha Sahara)- but he did have more of a humble quality as we talked, we talked about family, and jobs, and it was much better than the character "Ray" which he plays at SDC.

[saloongal]

Friday, April 22, 2011- We had 12 people in our group.  We left Jefferson City around 6, made a few stops and parked at 9:40.  We did season pass preferred parking and were very close to the beginning of that parking area.  Went on into the park (which by the time I get the stroller out and all the other stuff together was already open) and headed directly to HDH.  And let me say here, THANK YOU SDC FOR ALL OF THE CHANGES TO HDH!  I don't know if some of it was not completed (LS observation) at opening weekend or if it was modified since that time, but all of the changes are wonderful!  The area is much friendlier now.  No part was unchanged (unless it was the sand play area which we have not explored yet) and we kept pointing out ways it had been improved.  While DS played there, DD went for her first ride on TNT.  And she is in love.  PK was out of operation all day because it had been struck by lightning.  After a couple rounds on TNT and more than a couple rounds through HDH, then a train ride and FM we headed to GE for the measuring station and the Teacups.  Then we did a round on the coaster and elephants.  Took a break for a snack (and another reminder to be thankful that SDC allows coolers, snacks and drinks to be brought in), went back to TNT and HDH, then went over to FITH.  This is the "biggest" ride the DS can do and we did it twice rather quickly.  After total count we rode TNT 8 times!  Lines were short, weather was great, everyone was friendly in the park.  Everything is still clean and fresh.  Not sure when we will be back but we try to go at least once a month.  After leaving the park we went into town and ate at Landry's.  I thought it was just okay, several in our group really enjoyed it.  Then we hit the road and pulled back into the driveway at 7:45.  Not too bad of a day!
Kinda wish that the egg hunt had been on Friday as well because my kids loved it last year. 

For the most part this was a wonderful trip.

[sanddunerider]

Great review!

On the other topic, I have wondered all that about ray,  thought it was just me.  And i would hate to jump to conclusions and bad mouth a honored and well loved citizen...... but if the shoe fits......?  or in this case, if the knife is sharp

[Parson B Ready]

Regarding Ray....as a real life Parson, I have to learn to get a long with a lot of different personalities, so Ray didn't bother me.  He was actually rather friendly with us.  The next day my son and I were sitting down by the Frisco Barn eating an Apple Dumplin'.  Ray walked by and said "Hey, I just saw two people that looked just like you."  He didn't have to say anything to us. We were surprised that he remembered us.

[KBCraig]

Oh, one more thing about Ray: the SDC website lists him as a "Master Bladesmith" (capitalized). I'm curious where that designation originates.

There is only one accrediting organization that awards that title, the American Bladesmith Society (despite the name, it's a worldwide organization, with extremely high standards for awarding both Journeyman and Master status).

There are currently 110 ABS Master Bladesmiths. Ray is not listed among them.

[spgoad]

Well my wife and I made our trip over to visit World Fest this last weekend. We knew it probably wouldn't be ideal because of the one day weekend (SDC closed Easter), and the forecast (rain, rain, and more rain)... but it was the only weekend during World Fest we could get away so we headed over anyway. I wondered how it would go when we were driving into Springfield Friday night and our radio went nuts with Tornado warnings south of Ozark on 65. Thought I might have to delay our drive a bit for some storms, but thankfully they cleared and we drove straight through. Stayed with some friends in Branson Friday night, then got to SDC a bit after 9am on Saturday morning. It was of course raining, and it seemed we were among a few brave souls out in spite of the weather. Thankfully we got on a bus so we stayed nice and dry up to the gates. Even though it rained off and on all day, it really didn't bother us too much. It rained most of the morning (which of course closed all the outdoor rides), cleared up for a few hours in the afternoon (rides opened for about an hour), then rained till closing. We probably would have been disappointed if we were going to ride the rides, but we were there for the World Fest shows and good so it didn't bother us to have the major rides closed. First thing we did was notice the half dozen kids getting ready for the Easter Egg hunt... didn't seem to be too popular of an event on a rainy day. Then because the shows didn't start till 10:30 we stopped in a few shops, got some Peanut Brittle and watching the glassblowers for a while. Then we hit up one of our favorite rides, the Flooded Mine. We rode this basically anytime during the day when we didn't know what to do next. :-)

So, World Fest. The shows were awesome. We didn't get to see the Gazebo shows because they canceled most of the day due to rain, but we saw basically every other show. First was the Austrian Yodeler... very impressed with his talent to play Alp Horn and Zither. I was slightly disappointed the Austrian Yodeler was really from Wyoming, but still, his talent made for a very enjoyable show. I've spent about a year of my life in Austria and German speaking Europe, so that culture is special to me. It was fun to translate his German songs for my wife. :-) Also impressed with Irish Eyes are Smiling, very good show. I felt it wasn't described well in the schedule at all, I really wasn't expecting a show like that. The India show grated on our nerves because of the sound of the instruments, so we didn't stay very long. Trinidad Footprints was enjoyable, though I wish they had played more steel pan music to balance out all the drumming. Now then, most impressive show we saw, hands down, was Canadian Powerhouse. I was extremely impressed with their skill and their chemistry in working with each other. They looked like they were having a blast up there, which meant the audience was able to have a blast with them. Some very talented folks in there. Last show we saw was the Russian circus... very unusual. It was impressive, especially the gravity wheel, but of course some of it left you scratching your head wondering what just happened. So, in short, we really enjoyed the shows and they were definitely worth the trip and the little rain to walk from venue to venue. Now, the food was the downer part of our trip. This was a bummer for us, because like I mentioned before, I feel like we go just for the food. For lunch around 11:45 I got Irish Stew which was great, a good start. My wife tried to order Naples Nachos, but they were out of the pasta chips (which is what made the thing unique) so they offered her regular chips. She got it, but it was all cold and really not very good. Also I should note that the rain forced the outdoor booths (mexican food and potato twists) to close, so that eliminated some of my options right there. Later on we came back for dessert, ordered Spaghetti Ice Cream (my big food item I wanted that really first got me thinking about World Fest), and the lady told us they weren't delivered any ice cream that day. Not they had some and ran out, just that they never got any. This wasn't on a sign anywhere, in fact the ice cream sign was the big large one at the Dessert station. So we left disappointed, came back later to get an Apple Strudel/Dumpling, and they were out of them. Understandable, they were having to back more. So we said we'd come back. Came back later, now they had strudel, but they were out of the cinnamon ice cream and wouldn't be getting more. Plus, they were still charging the same price for the strudel as if it had the ice cream. And we aren't talking a tiny scoop here, we saw them serving it up earlier and it was good size chunks of ice cream. They were also out of gingerbread torte which would have been my next choice. So, we arrived thinking we'd eat tons of food and possible 3 desserts, and we left without eating one dessert and just two things for lunch. By park close we were fed up with the food service and so much of it being closed or out of food, so we left and ate dinner at Mel's Hard Luck diner in town instead of eating in the park. Mel's was great as always, if you've never been there, check it out sometime. My wife had an awesome bacon cheeseburger and I had their excellent chili, perfect for a rainy day. We topped it off with a old fashion Strawberry Soda. Mmm. :-) So, food was a bit disappointing for us. I don't know if it was because it was rainy they didn't stock up on food like they needed to or what, it was really weird to keep ordering things and keep hearing "we are out of that."

All in all, fun day at the park. It was worth the trip no matter the food issues. A bad day in the park is better than a day at home doing laundry anytime, and this was really a pretty good day in the park. :-) The crowds were light all day, which made it quiet and calm alot of the day. Different kind of atmosphere than you get in the park some days. On Sunday we went to church and then went to Famous Dave's at the Landing for lunch. It was pouring down rain Sunday and the landing was starting to flood when we were there (though it wasn't as bad as some of the video I've seen since then). Consequently, Famous Dave's was practically empty. It was us and about 3 other tables worth of people. The food was excellent as always. The drive home afterwards was tough, it rained basically the whole 5 hours... I was exhausted from concentrating so hard to see when we got home. Great weekend though, definitely enjoyed it and hope to check out World Fest again in the future!

[sanddunerider]

nice review, glad u had a good trip.  perfect way to end up a weekend is dinner at the landing!

[Parson B Ready]

We tried the Spaghetti Ice Cream while we were down there....IMHO...you didn't miss much.  They put two scoops of plain (vanilla?), white Gelato in a small spaghetti press and it dispenses into your bowl where it looks like spaghetti.  Then they put a thick strawberry syrup on it (this looks like spaghetti sauce) and grate some white chocolate (parmesan cheese) on top of it .  It sounds delicious....but it tasted very generic.  The Apple Dumplin' was much better. They were also out of Gingerbread Torte and Baked Alaska when we were there on Thursday.  Mind you, there were only 3,000 people on park that day.  It's sad to say but the food quality at SDC has become really hit-or-miss these past few years (especially during the festivals).

[spgoad]

Ok, good to know that I didn't miss much with the spaghetti ice cream. I've had it before in Europe and it was really good, but you've got to make it right. Bummed I missed out on the dumplin though. Any chance they'll bring it back for harvest fest?

[sanddunerider]

oh man!  I love harvest festival!  Great food..

[Parson B Ready]

Ok, good to know that I didn't miss much with the spaghetti ice cream. I've had it before in Europe and it was really good, but you've got to make it right. Bummed I missed out on the dumplin though. Any chance they'll bring it back for harvest fest?

They have apple dumpling stands set up during Old Time Christmas.  I was also told by a SDC citizen that the small refreshment stand next to the exit of FITH sell Apple Dumplins there YEAR-ROUND! So, I'd check there first the next time your in town.

[okiebluegrass]

Drove down Friday night and stayed at Eagle's Lodge. Paige took wonderful care of us, even when I set off the car alarm at 1 AM. She brought us a rollaway bed in the middle of the night.

We got to SDC yesterday morning before the ropes dropped.
I rode powder keg and FITH wth my 14 yo son and 6 yo daughter (she's so brave)
Then rode the train and the mine ride
Next was GE. Rode electospin, the swings, Pirate ship and regatta
Went to go eat. tater patch for the kids, and spaghetti.
For dessert apple dumplings (which were amazing) and spaghetti ice cream (which was good but put too shame by the apple dumpling.) On to water rides, Lost river, THRB (twice), and the American Plunge. Took my poncho on all but AP, and of course got nailed by it right in the face. Had an awesome time as always. Look forward to being back very soon.

Lowlight of the trip was Sadie's on the strip. The kids had the buffet and it wasn't very good. The wife an I ordered sandwiches. The sandwiches were ok but the fries were gross.
My son picked up a plate to get a refil and there was food on the bottom of it. I will not be going back there ever.