Monday, December 17, 2018

Ring in the New Year in Branson

Two weeks from today is New Year's Eve. Where did this year go?  The older I get, the more time flies, it seems.

Have you ever thought about ringing in the New Year in Branson?  This year (2018), New Year's Eve is on a Monday so you could take a nice four day trip to Branson to close out the Old Year and bring in the New Year.  Since this is the quiet season, hotel rates are cheaper now. 

Silver Dollar City will still be celebrating an Old Time Christmas until December 30 so if you didn't get to visit SDC during Christmas season, you still have a chance to see all the beautiful Christmas lights and shows.  If you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, there will be after Christmas sales at the outlet malls and other shops.

On New Year's Eve, there are several special New Year's Eve shows for you to choose from.  These shows are listed below, and if you double click on the title of the show, you will be taken to that show's website.  Since New Year's Eve is only 2 weeks away, you may want to call the theater directly to make sure that there are still seats available. Most shows start later in the evening so you can enjoy a New Year's Eve dinner before the show.

Legends in Concert - Send out the Old Year in style with performances from your favorite tribute artists.  Most tickets come with a box lunch and the VIP experience features a steak and lobster meal.

All-Star New Year's Eve Show at the Americana - This show comes with a Big D's BBQ dinner, one of the best BBQ places in Branson.  I couldn't tell from the website who will be performing that night, however. 

Showboat Branson Belle - Cruise on Table Rock Lake on the Showboat Branson Belle and bring in the New Year with a dinner and a show. 

Silver Dollar City New Year's Celebration - SDC rings in the New Year with a radio show production, a dance party and an appearance by the Cleverlys.  Plus, all of the Christmas lights will still be up, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Motown Downtown - Ring out the Old Year and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Motown with this show.  It's over by 9:00 PM, so you could go to another show after this one or go out for a New Year's Eve dinner. 

Hughes Brothers - The Hughes Brothers put on some spectacular shows and New Year's Eve is no exception.  You get your choice of either a box dinner or fine dining. 

Clay Cooper-Haygoods - You get 2 shows for the price of one at this New Year's Eve show, plus snacks and a balloon drop at midnight.  There is also a cash bar for those who would like a little stronger drink. 

Hamners' New Year Eve Fiesta Party - This family-friendly event features the Hamners Unbelievable Variety show and Mexican food to nosh on.  You can't go wrong with that.

Chateau on the Lake New Year's Eve Celebration - For a classy New Year's Eve, visit the Chateau on the Lake's New Year's Eve party with a cocktail party, dinner and dancing, and a champagne toast at midnight, along with fireworks. 

Thanks as always for reading!  I'm wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year (and many trips to Branson!

Diane

Thursday, November 29, 2018

2018 Branson Christmas trip report


We visited Branson during the Christmas season for the first time this year. My husband worked in the retail field, and vacations were verboten during the months of November and December. My husband had to retire for health reasons last year, so this year, we finally got to take a Christmas trip to Branson. We took our trip the weekend before Thanksgiving weekend because we figured that Branson would not be as busy then as it would be after Thanksgiving weekend.

There was a snowstorm in the St. Louis area the day before we were scheduled to leave on vacation. The city we live in received 3.5” of snow. By Friday morning, however, the highways were clear. We ran into some rush hour traffic on Hwy. 270, but Hwy. 44 was easy to drive.

We had lunch at Steak & Shake in Lebanon, MO. It’s right off of Hwy. 44, so it was easy to get back on the highway. We had great service and good food. We stopped at the welcome center outside of Conway to use the restroom and to pick up a Sunny Day Guide and a Best Read Guide, along with other Branson brochures.

Our first stop in Branson was at the Branson Travel Group headquarters at Green Mountain Drive and Wildwood Road to redeem our Groupon for our hotel stay. We used this Groupon last summer for our annual Branson trip. This Groupon was only available in February, so we snapped it up quickly for our Christmas trip. This Groupon came with two tickets to a show at the Jim Stafford Theater and a game of mini-golf for two at Wildwood Miniature Golf. We did have to buy an extra show ticket/mini-golf ticket for our son.

We then proceeded to the Andy Williams Performing Arts Center to redeem our Groupon for that night’s show. The Groupon description said that I needed to redeem the voucher at the ticket office on the day of the show, but the lady at the ticket window said that we could have made advance reservations. I wish I had known that beforehand; I would have called ahead and obtained better seats.



We then went to the hotel (Stone Castle Hotel and Conference Center) to check in. The lobby was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Check in was quick and easy. We were given a map of the property with our room highlighted. Stone Castle was completely booked on Saturday and Sunday, so breakfast was served in both buildings 1 and 2, and then only in building 2 on Monday and Tuesday of our stay. We enjoy staying at Stone Castle because it has indoor corridors, a great breakfast buffet, and it has a close proximity to all Branson activities. The rooms are clean and there are a refrigerator and an ironing board and iron for guests to use. Plus, I also like that the vanity is located outside the bathroom. It is more efficient to get ready that way.

After unloading and unpacking all our gear, it was time to relax for a while. Dinner on Friday evening was at Florentina’s Italian Restaurant. We had a voucher from KY3/Half Price Ozarks for $20.00 of food for $12.00. Our server was very attentive and brought me a drink refill before I even asked for it. He took our voucher right away too. Our meal was delicious and hubby and I agreed that Florentina’s food is much better than Olive Garden’s.

We went back to the hotel and got ready for the Andy Williams Ozark Mountain Christmas Show. The doors opened at 7:30 PM for the 8:00 show; however, there were a few bus tours there and it took a while to get everyone checked in, get their photo taken, etc. The doors should have opened at 7 PM in order to get everyone seated before the show started.

The show itself was very good. Jimmy Osmond (who now owns the PAC) was the host. He still sings well, even though his jokes were corny. Jimmy dedicated the Christmas version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” to Roy Clark, who had died the previous week. AYO – Voices of Glory was awesome. The young lady who sings with them was excellent. It’s hard to believe she’s only 19 years old.

The Lennon Sisters still sound great after all these years. They had some of their granddaughters on stage with them. And the ice skaters added a wintery touch to the show. There were lots of videos of the Osmonds on the Andy Williams Show in the 1960s.

We stayed after the show so I could get my photo taken with Jimmy. I also purchased a CD of songs by Jimmy to give to my friend Lisa, who’s a huge Osmonds fan. I had Jimmy autograph it for her. I mentioned to Jimmy that she was a big Osmonds fan and he cracked that that made two of them. 

Saturday started with breakfast. Hubby and I left the son at the hotel and ran some errands. We went to the Jim Stafford Theater to pick up our tickets for the 3 PM Taylor Reed show. We then went to Walmart to pick up lunch supplies and some other items we needed. I’m so thankful there are stores we can purchase items at in case we forget or need something.



 After lunch, the son and I headed over to the Tanger Outlet Mall to do some shopping. We dropped off our coupon from Travelhost at the customer service office and received a little red coupon book and some 20% off coupons. I was searching for a new pair of athletic shoes. I wear an 8W and it is really hard to find good shoes in that size at a reasonable price. I figured that since Tanger was an outlet mall, the selection might be better. I went to the Nike store, the ASICS store and Famous Footwear but couldn’t find a pair I liked. I did score a really cute red purse at the Vera Bradley Outlet store. It was on the clearance rack for 70% off and I was able to use one of my 20% off coupons, so I purchased a $98.00 purse for $18.00. Now that’s a deal!

The son and I returned back to the hotel to pick up hubby and we then went to Andy’s for frozen custard. The temperature was 60 degrees on that Saturday, so it was warm enough to eat custard. We then went to the 3 PM Taylor Reed show at the Jim Stafford Theatre. I noticed at the concession stand that they now sell alcohol, probably because of the Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville tribute show there on Friday nights.

We had seen the Taylor Reed show several years ago, but it was the only show at the Jim Stafford Theater that fit our schedule and we didn’t want to waste the free tickets that came with our Groupon deal for the hotel. Taylor has a good rapport with the kids, but he can be a little snarky sometimes. The illusions were very good, however. It wasn’t the worse way to spend a Saturday afternoon.



After the show, we went to McFarland’s Restaurant in the Branson IMAX complex for dinner. The store area/lobby for the movie theater was beautifully decorated with a large Christmas tree and other Christmas lights. We once again had a voucher from KY3/Half Price Ozarks for $20.00 of food for $12.00. Our server was good and the food was great, as it always is. McFarland’s is one of our favorite places to eat in Branson.

We went back to the hotel to get ready for the Tony Orlando Great American Christmas show. Tony only had two Christmas shows scheduled in Branson this year (for the first time in 5 years) and as luck would have it, they were both on the weekend that we were there, so of course, we had to go. These tickets are the only ones I paid full price for, because I wanted to make sure we actually could get tickets to the show (since there were only two of them) and because I wanted to select specific seats, because of my husband’s knee problems. I went to the Mansion’s website and bought our tickets there.

In all the years we have been visiting Branson, we had never been to a show at the Mansion Theater. The theater is very big and beautifully appointed. The concession area needs some work, however. It needs to be bigger and there needs to be more than one. The line at the concession stand was long, although it moved fairly quickly. The seats are probably the original ones too – they were faded, narrow, and the seat was lumpy. I have lots of junk in the trunk, but the seat was still uncomfortable. The handicapped ramp to the lower level needs to be better marked as well.

The show was excellent. Even our 22-year-old son enjoyed it. It was an hour and a half long, with no intermission. Tony started with a few Christmas songs. Then he sang some of his hits from the 1970s. Finally, Santa showed up on the stage. Santa scolded Tony for not having a Nativity scene on stage. Tony and Santa talked about Tony’s childhood and about the true meaning of Christmas. There was a series of songs from 1950’s artists played by actors with large plastic heads that represented each artist. I think this segment of the show could have been cut and replaced with something else and no one would have probably missed it.

Tony’s band was excellent – you could tell they had played together for quite some time. At the end of the show, Tony introduced Mickey Gilley and Barbara Fairchild, who were in the audience. Tony’s show really emphasized the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. It really helped put me in the Christmas spirit. We took a wrong turn coming out of the Mansion parking lot, however. We drove on Shepherd of the Hills Expressway by Sight and Sound Theater and got a great view of the Branson Gift of Lights drive-through light show. We ended up on Roark Valley Road (the blue route) which we followed to Hwy. 76. All roads in Branson lead somewhere; you just have to follow the road until you get to another road and then you’ll get your bearings. That’s what I told my hubby, although I don’t think he believed me.



Stone Castle offered a special Christmas story with guest readers from the Clay Cooper Theater and other shows on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights at 10:15 PM in the lobby of building 3. Hot wassail and Christmas cookies were served; sadly, however, we didn’t get back home from either weekend show in time to participate.

Sunday was the day we went to Silver Dollar City (and my birthday). In the morning, we watched our church’s Sunday morning worship service on a live stream. We ate an early lunch and headed out to SDC.



The park opens at 12 PM, but the chains at the main square that lead to the other parts of the parks didn’t come down until 1 PM. It was a cold, rainy day that Sunday, but there were lots of people in the park. We admired the huge Christmas tree in the town square. We nosed around in the general store and sat in the Wilderness Chapel to warm up until the chains were removed.

We decided we wanted to see the 2:00 PM showing of “Dickens’ A Christmas Carol” at the Opera House, and so did a lot of other people. The line snaked all the way back to the entrance to Wildfire. 

The production of “Dickens’ A Christmas Carol” was excellent. It contained many songs from the Kelsey Grammar version of “A Christmas Carol” and the “Thank You Very Much” song from Albert Finney’s “Scrooge.” I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house when Tiny Tim sang.

We were hoping to catch the 3 PM showing of the saloon Christmas show, but when we got there at 2:45 PM, the sign was up stating that the theater was full. We never did get back to see the saloon show. The saloon show will be our first stop the next time we make a trip to Silver Dollar City during the Christmas season.



We went to the Carousel Barn and saw Rudolph, Clarice and the Bumble, and some elves. You could have your photo taken with the characters (for a fee). There were t-shirts and souvenirs available for purchase.

We made our way to the Riverfront Playhouse to see the Living Nativity show. By this time, the son and I were pretty cold, so we went to a nearby vendor and used our refillable mugs to buy hot chocolate and a pretzel to eat while we waited to enter the theater. The Living Nativity show was narrated by an angel. It was only about 15 minutes long. The acting was good and there were a few musical numbers.

The hubby wanted to eat an early dinner (like at 4 PM), so we headed to the Lucky Silver Mine Christmas Buffet to eat dinner. Our waitress used our refillable mugs for drinks. When I mentioned to our waitress that it was my birthday, she wished me a happy birthday and told me I should go to the General Store and tell them that it was my birthday. I would then get a list of special deals for my birthday.  We went back to the general store to look around some more, but I forgot about speaking to someone about my birthday specials.



I then went into the Christmas in Midtown area to take lots of photos. I have never seen so many Christmas lights in one place in my life! After I was done taking photos, I met up with hubby and son.

We decided to wait for Rudolph’s Holly Jolly Christmas Parade. Tracy Heaston played piano in the gazebo before the parade started. Despite the fact that it was cold and damp, Tracy played magnificently, even without gloves. There’s no way I could play piano outside in the cold and damp.



We found a good place to stand right at the edge of the marked strip for the parade. Rudolph led the way in a lit up car. There were nine floats, which included Santa and Mrs. Claus, and finally, a stained glass Nativity float. The parade was about 15 minutes long.

I asked hubby if perhaps we could try to catch the saloon show or the “It’s a Wonderful Life,” but he said that his knee was hurting badly and we needed to go back to the hotel. We stopped in the Hospitality House and we each bought a sweatshirt. We then caught the bus back to the parking lot and drove back to the hotel. The next time that we visit SDC during Christmas season, hopefully, hubby’s knee will be better and we can stay at the park longer. We also missed going on the train.

On Monday morning, we went to Branson Landing. The shops don’t open until 10 AM, but the 5 and 10 cents store next to Bass Pro Shops opens at 9:30 AM. So we looked around in that store to warm up until Bass Pro opened. Hubby bought a hooded sweatshirt, but I could not find one in my size, so I settled for a new plastic coffee mug with a lid.

We then looked around several of the stores at the Landing. We bought some things at the Cardinals Clubhouse since they had a great sale of buy 2, get one 1 free (of equal or lesser value). We then went to Branson’s Festival of Trees, which was located in a store across from H & M, to see all of the beautiful Christmas trees and wreaths. There was even a tree decorated like the Bumble.



We went back to the hotel to eat lunch. After lunch, we went to the Grand Village shopping center. I was on the hunt for a commemorative Christmas tree ornament to mark our first visit to Branson during Christmas season. I couldn’t find anything suitable at Silver Dollar City, or maybe I just didn’t look in the right place. I found some ornaments at Dickens’ Christmas Store that could be personalized, so I bought one with three figures in a car and had the lady at Dickens personalize it for us.

We went to dinner that night at Montana Mike’s, with yet another voucher from KY3/Half Price Ozarks for $20.00 of food for $12.00. The waitress was very sweet and very efficient. Our food was served quickly and it was hot. My steak was done just the way I ordered it. It was an enjoyable meal. 



It was dark by the time we were finished with our dinner, so we went to our last activity, the Let There Be Lights drive-thru trail at Promised Land Zoo. We had vouchers from KY3/Half Price Ozarks for $5.00 each (the deal is still available as of this writing). There were lots of lovely animated lights, including a lighted up version of the 12 Days of Christmas. Some of the real animals were still outside and we could see them in the fenced areas. At the end of the trail, you could get out of your vehicle and have hot chocolate and visit with Santa.

Hubby’s knee was bothering him again, so we decided to just drive back to the hotel. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hotel room and packing our suitcases so we could leave the next morning.



If you have never been to Branson during the Christmas season, I highly recommend it. There is Christmas all around in Branson – the lights, the shows, the Christmas trees. And the real reason for the season – the birth of Jesus Christ – is emphasized. Thanks as always for reading and I wish for you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Diane

Sunday, July 15, 2018

Branson trip report 2018

We made our annual summer trip to Branson the first week in July.  We did some new things this year and revisited some favorites as well. Click on the links to be taken to that website. 

We left home on Sunday morning.  Traffic on Hwy. 44 was light, probably because it was a Sunday.  We stopped in Pacific for breakfast sandwiches, since we ate a light breakfast to avoid doing dishes.  We stopped in Lebanon for lunch at Burger King, which is close to the interstate exit.

I used the GasBuddy app on my phone to report gas prices and to check on gas prices. This is a very handy app to have whether you're on vacation or not. Thanks to the wonderful gas mileage that my new vehicle gets, we didn't need to fill up the gas tank until we got to Casey's in Ozark.

We stopped at the nice rest stop outside of Conway.  There is a room in the rest stop with brochures, catalogs, etc. and a lady that tries to steer you to a timeshare place in Branson to purchase show tickets, but it was closed since it was Sunday.  It must have been one of ex-Governor Greitens' budget cuts.

We decided that we wanted to stay on Indian Point this year.  It had been 10 years since we had stayed on the Point, due to financial issues.  We chose to stay at Golden Arrow Resort.  It had lots of great reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp.  And the price was right - we reserved online and only had to pay the first night's rent as a deposit.  July 4th week is one of the most popular summer weeks to vacation in Branson, so I like to get our reservations in early.  I made our reservations in February.

We arrived at Golden Arrow at 1 PM, which was earlier than the normal check-in time.  There was a phone set up on the porch with a number to call to check in.  The owner's wife came when I called and she checked us in.  She went over the resort rules and gave us the wi-fi ID and password.  We had real door keys since this is an older resort.

We were in unit 116, which was the end room.  We stayed in a studio kitchenette with 2 queen size beds.  It had an electric stovetop, a full sized refrigerator, and a microwave.  It was one big room with a sliding glass door and a small deck on the back.  After we got all of our luggage inside, hubby and I made a trip to the Walmart in Branson West for food and other supplies.

We put everything away and although there were some plates and pots and pans, I realized we had forgotten to purchase plastic silverware.  There was also no serving utensils, such as spatulas and serving spoons.  I told hubby that we needed plastic silverware and he said that he didn't want to drive back to Walmart.  There are a couple of convenience marts on the Point.  The closest one was at the Cottage Resort, but they were out of plastic silverware.  So I drove up to the Deer Run convenience store. Thankfully, they had plastic silverware.  There were also 2 dogs behind the counter, which I found interesting.  Since I had no serving utensils, I improvised by using two plastic knives to turn the bratwurst patties I was cooking for supper.

Monday was our day to pick up tickets/vouchers for tickets and make some other stops.  I had made reservations for the Presleys a couple of weeks before, so we stopped there first to pick up our tickets.  Our next stop was the Walmart on Hwy. 76 to pick up serving utensils and a plastic measuring cup so I could make mac and cheese.

Our next stop was Branson 2 for 1 Tickets to pick up vouchers for Pierce Arrow Decades.  After that, we went to Branson Landing.  We went to Bass Pro Shops and several of the other stores.  We ate lunch at Garfield's.


Our last stop at Branson Landing was at Parakeet Pete's Steampunk Balloon.  I found a great Groupon deal for the balloon - $11.00 for 2 people.  The son and I rode in the balloon - hubby is afraid of heights.  It was a slow ride to the top and the balloon made a 360-degree turn, which led to some spectacular views.  There was a nice breeze up that high, which cooled us off some. The ride lasted only about 10 minutes, so I'm glad I didn't pay more than I did for it. The son and I were the only ones riding on the balloon.

Our next stop was the Pierce Arrow Theatre to get tickets for Wednesday afternoon's show.  After that, we went back to Golden Arrow to cool off and rest for the rest of the day.

On Tuesday, we stayed at Golden Arrow until after lunch.  We had a Groupon deal for Wild Wood Miniature Golf.  We played there for about an hour.  It looks like an easy course, but it wasn't.  Wild Wood is an indoor golf course, so it was a good way to keep cool.

We had an hour to kill until we could go to the Branson Famous Theater to see Reza: Edge of Illusion, so we went to the Grand Village shopping center.  We visited several stores, but the one we enjoyed the most was the Dickens Christmas Store.

Reza's show was very enjoyable.  He was very down to earth and performed some spectacular illusions.  He was friendly and worked well with the children selected to perform with him.  This was our first visit to the Branson Famous Theater but it was obvious that it was an older theater.  The seats are narrow and not very comfortable.  The theater was about half full for a Tuesday afternoon, probably due to the KY3 deal (which we used) and the Groupon deal.  When we came out of the theater, we discovered that it was raining, with some pea size hail.  After we left the theater, we went back to Golden Arrow for the evening.  I went to the pool and the hot tub to relax after supper.


After lunch on Wednesday, we went to a place that I had wanted to go for a long time, the Shrine of the Holy Spirit.  It is located right next door to the Mansion Theater on Expressway Lane.  There is a chapel in the middle (which was locked when we visited), a gift shop and a bookstore (which was also closed).  The chapel is surrounded by a large wall with panels that had Scriptures engraved on them.  We stopped in the gift shop and chatted with the cashier.  I purchased a few items, including a refrigerator magnet, my favorite souvenir.

After we left the Shrine, we visited Andy's Frozen Custard for some yummy frozen custard.  We then walked over to the Tracks, where we went to the arcade and blew $30.  All we had to show from all of our tickets was a travel dominos game.  I think that was the last time we will visit the arcade for a while.

After our visit to the Tracks, we had some time to kill before the show, so we went to Tanger Outlet Mall.  There are a lot of stores in that mall.  You could probably spend a whole day shopping there.  We visited several of the stores and then left for the Pierce Arrow Theater.

The show we attended that afternoon was Pierce Arrow Decades.  It was an excellent show, covering music from the 1960s through the 1980s.  You could tell that this quartet had sung together for a long time - their voices blended very well and they had a great chemistry.  The comedian, James Sibley, was hilarious. Our son (age 21) was one of the youngest at the show and Sibley had a great time picking on him, but the son was a good sport about it and shook his hand after the show.  It was a well-paced show.  We are discussing seeing the regular Pierce Arrow show next year. The Pierce Arrow Theater is a very nice theater with comfortable seats and very nice restrooms.

After the show, we went to McFarland's Family Restaurant in the Branson IMAX complex for dinner.  We had 2 $10 certificates from Half Price Ozarks and surprisingly, they took both of the vouchers.  That cut some money off our bill.  We had great food and great service. We then visited a couple of shops in the IMAX complex and then went back to Golden Arrow.

We were hoping to see the fireworks display at Chateau on the Lake from Golden Arrow.  There was a small clearing facing Table Rock Lake across from our room, so after it got dark, we carried our lawn chairs over to it and saw not only the Chateau on the Lake display but the Hughes Brothers' display, the Hollister display, and (I think) the Branson Belle or the Top of the Rock display as well.  And we didn't have to fight traffic either.  We met our Golden Arrow neighbors and found out they were Kansas City Royals fans, so we discussed baseball for a while.  Here was our view, daytime version (ignore the large sign, this was taken from across the street):



On Thursday morning, we went to the IMAX theater to see "Ozarks Legacy and Legend" for free using a coupon I picked up at Branson 2 for 1 Tickets. The theater was nice and cool and the seats were comfy, which made me sleepy.  The movie was okay, for a freebie.  It was shown in the IMAX theater, and I remarked that Jurassic World would have looked really scary on that big screen.  After the movie, we went to Steak 'n Shake for lunch, at the location near what used to be Celebration City.  We had great service and got our food and shakes promptly, unlike the service we've received at other Steak 'n Shakes as of late. 

After our lunch, we visited Curling Vine Winery for the wine tasting.  We went to the wine tasting there several years ago (when it was Stone Hill Winery), but our son wasn't old enough for wine tasting.  He is now, so we decided it was time to revisit.  The films at the beginning were dated - in fact, they were the same ones we saw the last time we were there.  We then went into the wine tasting room.  The young man in charge of the wine tasting was very knowledgeable, however, and was able to answer any questions asked of him.  After the tour, we went back to the cabin to rest up and refresh ourselves for the evening's activities. 

We went to dinner at Montana Mike's.  There was a photographer there who wanted to take our photo, but we told her no.  The restaurant is much bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside.  The service was prompt and the food was great. We had $20 certificates from Half Price Ozarks and like at McFarland's, both certificates were accepted. We would come here again. 

We drove around the parking lot of the Best Western next door to get turned around to go back on Hwy/ 76 and I noticed that there were two parking spots where you could plug in an electric car to charge it up.  This was the first time that I have seen electric vehicle charging spots in Branson. I'm sure there are more. If you know where are vehicle charging parking spots in Branson, please comment below. 

Our show for Thursday evening was Presleys' Country Jubilee.  We saw this show 2 years ago and really enjoyed it, so we thought we'd see it again.  I found no ticket deals for the Presleys, but their prices are reasonable.  We went to the 7:15 PM singalong with Clayton, which is held in the balcony upstairs.  Clayton is an excellent pianist and he knows how to work a crowd.

The Presleys' show is a great mix of music and comedy.  The musicians and vocalists are extremely talented and the music is great without being slick.  Herkimer and Cecil were hilarious, as always.  It started to rain and storm heavily during a Herkimer/Cecil routine and Cecil said, "I didn't call for any sound effects!" He didn't miss a beat.  The house was packed for a Thursday evening. We enjoyed the show and were glad we went.

After the show, we went back to Golden Arrow and caught some of the Cardinals game on TV while packing up some of our belongings for the trip home the next day.

We left Golden Arrow for home on Friday morning.  I left behind the serving utensils for the next guests since we didn't need them at home. If we stay at Golden Arrow next year, I'll make sure we bring serving utensils and measuring cups. 

Traffic was once again light on Hwy. 44 on our return home. We had a great time in Branson and we'll do it again next year! 

Thanks for reading! See you next time!

Diane