Show Me Missouri: Osage Beach (6.16.24)

Dave and I went to church on June 16, 2024, in Osage Beach, near our condo.  We asked one of the members if this is a good place for missionary work.  He said, "It's the Bible Belt."  I think that means, 'No.'"  As always when we visit wards away from Utah, it was inspiring to see people from areas and cultures different from ours, who are enjoying all of the pleasures of the Gospel.  It is also comforting, when we are away from home, to sing familiar hymns and hear familiar themes and stories in the Sacrament Meeting talks.
 

The town of Osage Beach is on the beach of Lake of the Ozarks.  Our condo development, as well, was right on the beach, with a boat landing dock down the road from our unit.  We ate Sunday brunch at Redhead Lakeside Grill.  I thought of Jonny's comment that, "Ginger is the new blond."

Osage Beach is a resort area, with golf, boats of all kinds, and jeeps and golf carts.

As we ate, we watched boats leaving and returning to the dock.

The best of intentions can go awry.  I ordered a slimming dinner of baked salmon.  The waitress returned to say that, "We're all out of the salmon, but I highly recommend the mac'n'cheese.  It's the favorite here."  A huge bowl of mac'n'cheese arrived, heaped with fried chicken! Delicious, yes, but calories enough for four people.

Missouri is built on limestone, through which water has seeped for millenia.  It is known as the "Cave State."  Dave and I decided to visit one, but just one, of the dozens of widely advertised caves.  We chose Jacob's Cave.

Jacob's Cave was a charming place.  It was family-owned, with just two owners since it was discovered in the 1930s.  It was not too big or two commercialized, but it had a nice selection of stalagtites, stalagmites, and other formations.  

We were just sorry to miss the swap meet, also sponsored by Jacob's Cave!

Lake of the Ozarks was created, like Lake Mead and Lake Powell in the West, when a huge dam was built in the 1930s.

The Depression era construction project created a playground for all types of water sports, as well as electricity for the area.

On the evening of June 16, we took a cruise from Bagnell Dam partway down the Lake of the Ozarks and back.

We passed elegant summer homes, large condo developments, and boaters zipping by, wearing their bikinis and sunglasses.  I asked Dave if he wanted to rent a boat for a few hours, but he said that is not his thing.