This year is the 20th anniversary of our first trip to Branson. Our son was 6 years old the first time we visited Branson. He's now 26. Time sure flies, doesn't it? For this blog post, I've compared what we did 20 years ago to what we did this year. I've separated the review into categories.
Lodging
2003 - We stayed at Crow's Nest Resort (n/k/a Dooley Lodges & Resort) on Indian Point. There weren't many websites to research places to stay in Branson on the Internet 20 years ago. And we had dial-up Internet, too, which made the process slower. When we got to the cabin, I thought I was back in the 1950s. The cabin consisted of one large room with beds and the bathroom on one side and the kitchen/living room on the other. And there was no clock in the cabin - we had to drive back into town and go to Kmart to buy one.
2023 - We stayed in a lovely condo in the Foothills subdivision in town, across the street from the Thousand Hills golf course. It had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and it had a lovely little patio in the back. Here is the listing: Foothills condo.
Attractions
2003 - We visited Silver Dollar City, Celebration City, Hollywood Wax Museum, and Ride the Ducks. Celebration City was a theme park that was open from 4 PM until 10 PM. It was located on Green Mountain Drive near its intersection with Shepherd of the Hills Expressway. Ride the Ducks was shuttered after the tragic accident that killed 18 people.
2023 - This year, we visited the Veterans' Memorial Museum. This museum contains exhibits beginning at World War I through Desert Storm. We enjoyed viewing all of the exhibits. They were very well done. The lady who checked us in was very friendly and bubbly. There are walls that list the names of all of the soldiers who were killed in action in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and other conflicts. We reviewed the names on the walls to see if we could find the names of any of our relatives, but we were fortunate enough not to find any. At the end of the tour (or at the beginning), be sure to ask for the Military Trails of Missouri passport, which contains pages for all of the military museums, memorials, and Civil War battle sites in Missouri that you can get stamped when you visit each attraction. We used a deal from OzarksDeals.com for admission to the museum, and you can see that deal here.
We also visited Retromania. We are fans of 1980s music and we listen to 80s on 8 on Sirius XM. The 80s was the decade of my young adulthood - I turned 21 in 1982. Retromania contained a free-play video game arcade, a black light mini-golf course, the Slashers haunted house, the 80s movie theater, the 1980s museum, and the New Wave Cafe. There were escape rooms available but they cost extra, so we didn't go through them. We had a Groupon deal for Retromania (which you can find here), but I wouldn't pay the full admission price. We only spent about an hour here, most of it in the video game section.
Shows
2003 - We didn't attend any shows in 2003. We were not sure how our son would behave in a show.
2023 - We went to "Queen Esther" at the Sight & Sound Theater and the Showboat Branson Belle this year. We really enjoyed "Queen Esther." The set piece was impressive, with various sections that moved and scenery that came up out of the floor. You could almost believe that there was a real elephant on the stage. The acting and singing were superb. (The photo above is from "Queen Esther.") There are no discounts for Sight & Sound, but paying the full price is well worth it.
We also went to the Showboat Branson Belle. I've been wanting to go there for years, but I couldn't talk hubby into it. The son is a picky eater and we didn't want to pay for his food if he didn't eat. We made the son pay for his ticket so if he didn't eat, he would lose his money and not ours. The only things he did eat were the roll and the dessert. He missed out on the salad, the tender roast beef, the chicken thighs, the green beans, and the garlic mashed potatoes. Hubby and I split the son's meal.
The show was hosted by magician Christian James. He performed a pre-show during dinner and performed small tricks. After dinner, there was a 40-minute break where we could go out on the deck and view the lake. The show performers performed some songs on the fourth deck. The show contained popular songs from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. There was a medley of Elton John music and a montage of movie songs. The performers were talented singers and dancers and we enjoyed the show very much.
I reviewed the Branson and me page on this blog to see what we have done the most in Branson. We have seen the Haygoods 5 times in three different theaters. We have seen the Duttons 3 times. We have been to Silver Dollar City 8 times. We have been to Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery 6 times, and it is currently closed for remodeling. We have seen the Andy Williams Ozark Mountain Christmas Show, the Hughes Brothers Christmas Show, and Rick Thomas's Mansion of Dreams show twice each. We have stayed in condos at the Suites at Fall Creek 5 times. If you want to see all the things we have done in Branson over the years, click on the Branson and me tab above.
Thanks as always for reading! See you next time!
Diane
