A couple of things changed this year with the Shootout parade of boats on the Dam for 2018. Firstly, the boats were lined up on the sides of the strip allowing the crowds a center aisle to move about. This really made things much easier for everyone to get around and see all of the boats. I'm sure some of the bar owners felt it obstructed line of site of their establishment but from what I could tell it had little impact on the amount of business they were getting. Casablanca, High Noon, Lucky's and all the others were very busy last night.
The center lane was used for pedestrian traffic with boats on each side.
Which brings me to the second welcome change for the parade, open containers. No glass of course, but for the first time since I've been going to the event, you could walk around with a beer in a cup. I know that sounds like an unimportant thing but relaxing open container laws for an event such as this has a rather dramatic effect in general. First of all, people get out and see the boats, not being confined to have their drink in an establishment. Secondly, being able to take your drink away, leaves room for others to come purchase one for themselves, providing for a nice steady flow for business. Win, win. The police were out in full force, polite and professional, but certainly there to make sure things didn't get out of hand. I drove through the strip on the way to work this morning and saw a surprisingly small amount of litter, so everyone did their part to keep things clean. Thanks to the City of Lake Ozark for the welcome changes that made for a great night for all.
More pics!
Things started off a bit slow
On the deck of the recently opened High Noon
Now we got a crowd!
A lot of boat for two people!
People from one end to the other on the strip
Console boats are getting more popular
This boat was the Belle of the ball if you ask me
Power to spare
awesome lighting
Winding down for the night.
Lake TV has a nice two and half minute long video with some cool drone footage mixed in.
