Blogs from Branson, Missouri, United States, North America

We had a last visit and hugs with the kids. As we finished getting ready to get on the road they drove out to take one more hike before heading back in the direction of home. Shortly after they left, we pulled out of camp (a little after 10:00) going towards Branson, MO. Apparently we had fried our shore electric cord the other day when we blew a breaker while trying to run too many high power things at one—a word to the wise—that is NOT a good idea!! Luckily we had purchased a new one several years ago, so we are good to go. On our way out, we stopped once again at Petit Jean’s Gravesite and overlook so we could take in that magnificent view once again. From there, we headed northward up and ... read more

My first show in Branson was The Dublin Tenors and Celtic Ladies. It was a great concert with both groups performing on their own and then together. The Dublin Tenors entertained everyone with some great step dancing. I went to see the Oak Ridge Boys in a really impressive venue called The Mansion. I had seen them probably over 30 years ago and they still put on an incredible show. Joe Bonsall still has the energy and moves from years ago. William Golden still has his signature long beard and hair and can still bring a tear to your eye when he sings a favorite Gospel song. Richard Sterban still impresses with his bass solo in Elvira and Duane Allen still does amazing as the lead vocal of the group. A group of senior citizens that ... read more

Up quite late around 9.30 today and my back is improving a lot. As we got upgraded to a suite we will do all the washing today. Cloudy start to the day only about 16 degrees and a sight drizzle around. It is supposed to reach 21 later and get a bit windy but we will see. We went to Farmhouse Restaurant for breakfast at 2PM ! Kerry had 2 Pancakes with Pecans and I had 3 Pancakes with Blueberry. Simply delicious. Then we went to the famous Dicks 5 & Dime souvenir store and got the licence plate for the Bali Hut (and a cake of soap). We were lucky to find the licence plate as we walked up and down every aisle and we got blocked at the end of an aisle by a ... read more

Breakfast was a classic B & B feast. No idea what we had. It was explained but too hard to remember sorry ! We had breakfast at 8.30am sharp with a couple from Conway, Arkansas and chatted with them for a while. They were staying in the adjoining carriage house so we actually had the whole B & B building to ourselves. The owners of this place have had it since 1993 and their granddaughter was serving us today. She said the place has been on the market for US $1.2M for 5 years which I reckon is a bargain for something that has such historical value and is ranked in USA top 10 B & B by some magazines. They bought the place for $150,000- and it needed a massive restoration to be done. I ... read more

With Ian and Sandra’s visit rapidly drawing to a close, Fiona and I decided to take them to one of the ‘must-see’ places of America’s Mid-west is Branson, Missouri. Branson is often branded as the ‘Vegas of the Mid-west’ due to the vast amount of ‘manufactured’ tourist attractions and specialty shows which line the main road through the town. Nestled within the beautiful ‘Lake of the Ozarks’ region of southern Missouri, Branson does very little to leverage it’s amazing natural beauty and instead promotes kitschy cover shows, theme parks and other family entertainment. We loaded up the car (The Golden Girl, cause she's both old and gold!) and literally just managed to squeeze our luggage and six passengers in. Whilst it can seat six passengers, the third row of seating is really limited in space, so ... read more