Paul had never been
to that part of Missouri and since Joe lives just a few hours from Branson. We
did a road trip, picked up Joe and the three amigos had a weekend of fun and
relaxation.
I can tell you Branson Missouri and Silver Dollar City
have changed a lot in the past 36 years. Talk about Tourist explosion, last
time I was there Branson was still a sleepy little mountain town with an
amusement park outside of town.
Now it is a busy tourist town with live show theaters,
museums, miniature golf courses, T-shirt shops, craft stores and of course the
ever present discount shopping centers. There are still the mom and pop hotels
and establishments but the commercialized tourist establishment has taken over
the area.
Just so you understand if you have been to Pigeon
Forge/Gatlinburg TN or Orlando/Disney FL, you know how the terrain looks like.
Still being a farm boy from Missouri and being back in
the Ozark Mountains, it was nostalgic for me not matter how commercialized the
area has become. Just driving up in the mountains and seeing the beauty of the
area took me back to my childhood.
We had a great day at Silver Dollar City, exploring
Marvel Cave, and watching the shows. Joe and I did our best to hit every
rollercoaster at the park, while Paul watched from the observation deck with
our hats and glasses.
We were able to find restaurants that the locals
frequent and had some great food. We also were able to get in some of the live
musical shows with the aid of our hotel concierges who got us fantastic seats;
so good that I was pulled from the audience to dance on stage at one of them.
As our weekend winded down the three of us agreed that
one weekend was not enough and have planned another get away for October. There
is an extreme Zip line course that has Joe and Larry’s name on it along with
one rollercoaster that we somehow missed. There are several more shows we want
to see and an auto/farm museum.
Plus there is a dancing bear wood statue that I have to
go back and purchase. So now I can’t wait for October to arrive so the three
amigos can have another great road trip.
Keep dancin’ Larry B
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