I grew up heading off every summer to spend a month in Missouri with my grandparents. My poor grandfather would spend all day long dragging my cousins and I around the lake behind one of his many boats. We would solemn ski, tandem ski, ride inner tubes, and whatever you could think of. We were water rats and I loved it and I loved the Ozarks, though in full disclosure I did get car sick nearly every time I was in the car. The Ozarks were always a beautiful relaxing destination. Being so close to Branson, we made our way there several times to enjoy the shows and to visit Silver Dollar City. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away when I was only 15 and I have not been back since. I had honestly forgotten about this little gem until the kids and I saw a commercial for Branson not to long ago and it reminded me of all the fun I had and the kids thought it looked like fun also. The seed was planted and 6 weeks later we arrived at the Branson KOA.
The week before Thanksgiving was perfect. Almost no one was in the camp ground and comparatively the strip was not nearly as packed as it is on weekends and closer to the holidays. It gets really busy here. Since there are almost endless options of things to do, we had a family vote on what would do on this visit. We decided on a visit to the Titanic museum, The Dixie Stampede, Branson murder Mystery Dinner, and Silver Dollar City. Christmas starts early in the Ozarks and was in full swing during our visit. Everything was Christmas-y and now that we have just got back it seems weird everything is not decorated here.
The Titanic was awesome! Upon your arrival you are given a boarding pass with your passengers info. As you go through the museum you learn more about your passenger (and the others) and at the end you discover your passengers fate on that dreadful day. The museum is a half scale actual model and really lets you see how the ship was. Basically, they cut the ship in half so all the rooms are full scale, including the beautiful spiral staircase in first class that was made famous in the Titanic movie. The museum is interactive and you can scoop coal into the furnace, stand on deck at the different angles before the ship sank, feel how cold the water in the Atlantic was that night (a balmy 29), and even feel a real iceberg. We spent about 2.5 hours there and it didn't feel like it at all. The kids even stayed interested. I think what helped with that is there was a kid audio tour and an adult. This museum fit beautifully into our history lessons.
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| We were all different passengers. I was Sarah Stap. I survived. Most of the crew did perish. The first life boats were only at most half full. Most thought the ship unsinkable and all would be okay shortly. |
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| Great Trip! Well, I guess not for the original passengers. |
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| Great Museum. Highly Recommend it! |
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| Great Show! Lots of Fun! |
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| Great Photo ops. |
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| Way too much food! |
The Dixie Stampede was fun too, though while we enjoyed it, it did rank last on our list of favorite things this trip. They served way too much food. Dinner included (I kid you not) a whole chicken, half a baked potato, ear of corn, cream of vegetable soup, cheese biscuit, pork loin slice, and an apple turn over. Needless to say, we brought home a lot of left overs. I can't waste food so if you go be prepared to either waste food or bring a lot back. The show was fantastic. They had trick riders, ice skaters (that skated on a 4x6 area), and nativity scene. It was all Christmas themed also. The horses and decorations really put you in the Ole Fashioned Christmas spirit.
The Branson Murder Mystery was unexpectedly a family favorite. It was a buffet, which was nice so you could only get what you would actually eat. The food wasn't that great, but the show more than made up for it. D was given the part of Johnny Deep, the main character who dies in the beginning and whose murder we are trying to solve. He kept forgetting he was "dead" so the actors had to periodically remind him, it was hysterical! It is a corny show, but that made it really fun. I was surprised we liked this so much, but the kids especially loved it.
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| The building for the murder mystery dinner was at least 100 years old. |
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| Even the kids absolutely loved this show. |
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| My parents came with us to Branson to enjoy all the fun! |
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| Being the only kids in a group of 80 year olds has the advantage of being noticed by the actors. |
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| Mr. Johnny Deep, |
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| Mr. Deep's lines before he was "murdered"..........though he was constantly reminded he was dead. |
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| One of our best nights ever! |
Silver Dollar City was, as expected, the favorite. Since, as the kids put it, it was just us and all the old people, we only ran into crowds going to the shows. The park was only open 1-9 and we were there the whole time trying to get as much done as possible. We went to the renowned Christmas Carol that they put on and we were not disappointed. They say it is Broadway style and they mean it. No cost for special effect was spared. It was simply amazing and worth the admission price alone. However, for the price of admission we also were able to tour the cave and ride the rides. Most of the attendees were in their 80's so there was virtually no line for the roller coasters, which made it nice. It took maybe 5 minutes, including being on the coaster, for D and the girls to get off and rejoin T and myself. We also watched the parade, which is not on par with Disney, but was fun all the same. We had such a great time that we are considering getting season passes. It was that fun. I never like going to the same place twice (there is so much to see), but Branson was not only beautiful, but has so many things to do I don't think we ever could do the same thing twice. I am already planning what we will do on our next trip!
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| The descend into Marvel Cave. |
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| A and I in the cave. |
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| About to take off on a the coaster! |
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| T and I watched them do this! |
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| The lights were amazing! |
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| We had so much fun. |
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| Another coaster for the brave! No, T waited with me. |
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| Having leg harnesses can't be good,,,,,at least not for me! |
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| Pics can't do lights justice. So Beautiful! |
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| Amazing. |
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| Simply. Amazing. |
We are literally planning our next trip. We have been a lot of places and always found things to like and dislike about where we go, but we loved Branson so much we ALL want to go back again immediately. Everything was fun and there is hundreds of shows and attractions. It is only 7 hours from us, which makes it a short trip for us. We loved it!
Oh, since I can't have a post without mentioning my chicks. We left a day early because I was worried that they, of course, had knocked over there water and were dying of thirst while tangled in the tarp protecting them from the wind. This was in fact not true. They were fine, though the roosters let me know of their displeasure of being locked up all week by pecking at my ankles. Still no eggs from the girls. Surely, one day we will have eggs.
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