Festivus 2006 Big Spring Park, Missouri

Will if float? Day 1: Well here we go again... With the arrival of our Madison crowd we were at full capacity. Booty (aka Bootsie, Booty Britches, or dog) was jumping with joy. No really, I saw her. Anyhoo, Saturday began with a leisurely brunch at the rustic Big Spring Lodge. Ummm ... fried eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, grits, cereal, fruit, biscuits and gravy - and piping hot coffee! We enjoyed (I'm quoting from their web page) "a fine dining experience overlooking the beautiful Current River". Was it the historic buildings, the ambience of the moment, or the pleasure of being in great company that led to our Festivus theme this year? Or was it the beer? Who knows (maybe Tator Salad does)? But from then on we were each obsessed with one question... Will it float?

We later embarked on a quest to answer this question. All we needed was beer and water. We decided to test the question using the area's famous waterway - Current River. All loaded up (and beered up) everyone was in a tissy fit to get to the water to conduct some pure science! Oops - forgot the test kegger - all 1.32 gallons. Oh well, we then decided to conduct the test using many estimates of smaller 12 ounce cans. Everyone was in agreement that we could account for the flotation variability and more accurately answer the burning question (also reduces bias). After randomly drawing a beer from one of three coolers, each person was to see if the beer would float. Seems like habit kicked in - each time a beer was withdrawn it was immediately opened. Oh well. After taking a few stops to botanize and lament the standings of plant nomenclature, everyone washed up on the beaches at The Landing. Yes, it really did take six hours. By that time what started out as a happy little group turned into a hungry pack of wolves. Someone mentioned Jolly Cone and it was like a herd of zombies - yeah, zombie wolves - straight to our cars and straight to Jolly Cone. No ifs, ands, or buts. Well, a lot of butts. But anyhoo, once fed with a snack and ice cream everyone seemed pacified and we all made it back to the cabin. With everyone snuggled around the mighty roaring campfire (ok it was charcoals) we awaited a treat of homemade brats and all the fixins - including more beer! Once replete and with eyes drooping and heads nodding each made their way to a snuggly spot and went to Dreamland. Read on to see what happened on day 2!