Branson, Missouri: Gem of the Ozarks

Branson, Missouri lies in the southwest corner of Missouri in the heart of the Ozark Mountains about 35 miles south of Springfield. This gem of the Ozarks has become a favorite travel destination of both myself and my wife. We have been to Branson twice in the last year, and we have enjoyed it immensely.

Our recent trip to Branson began on Saturday, September 2, 2006. My wife, my stepson and I loaded up the car, and we left from our home in Hartford, Illinois shortly after 8 a.m. Kyndal and I had gone by ourselves on our first trip at the beginning of the year. This time, we took Nathan with us to make it a family outing.

After driving just a little more than four hours, we stopped in Ozark, Missouri-home of Lambert's Café. Lambert's is famous worldwide for their throwed rolls. Kyndal's cousin Jimmy and his wife Suzannah had come down from Springfield to meet us for lunch at Lambert's. The menu is great, but it's all the pass-arounds-hot rolls and sorghum, fried potatoes, macaroni and tomatoes and fried okra-that make this restaurant a favorite of ours.

After lunch, Kyndal, Nathan and I drove another half hour until we finally arrived in Branson. We had made reservations at the Tara Inn, just off the Shepherd of the Hills Expressway. The hotel is styled after Tara, the mansion in Gone with the Wind.

After getting checked into our room, we headed to White Water, a water park located on the Strip in Branson. We stayed there for almost three hours, right up until closing time. First we went to the wave pool, which wasn't very crowded because of the cooler weather.

After spending almost an hour there, we headed to the lazy river, which Kyndal and I loved because it was heated. In most water parks, a tube is required to enter the lazy river, but here we were able to go in without one, which was great. Nathan really enjoyed the Little Squirt Waterworks, one of the children's attractions. Then he and I hit the waterslides for awhile. We also talked Kyndal into going with us on the Tropical Twister, a family raft ride. The three of us enjoyed it until the end when Kyndal twisted her ankle getting out of the raft, keeping her in pain for several days.

For dinner we went to Granny's, a restaurant on the Strip. Like many restaurants on the Strip, Granny's offers a huge buffet. After dinner, we cruised the Strip for awhile. As we drove past the Titanic museum, we noticed that the building resembles the front half of the ship, built to half scale, with an iceberg and water fountain at the front. The museum was still under construction the last time Kyndal and I had been to Branson, and we had since agreed that when we came back we wanted to go there. We made plans to visit the museum on the last day of our visit to Branson.

Upon returning to the hotel, Nathan and I headed for the hotel pool, but did not stay there very long because the water was so chilly. We headed back up to our room to unwind in front of the television with Kyndal before going to bed that night. With a busy day ahead of us on Sunday, we wanted to get plenty of rest before getting up early.

Day Two began as we awoke at 7:30 a.m. We showered and got dressed and then went downstairs for the Tara Inn's continental breakfast. After breakfast, we headed out to Silver Dollar City, a theme park dedicated to preserving 1880's Ozarks culture. The last time I had been to SDC was in 1975 when I was eight years old. SDC and White Water are both owned by the same company, so my wife got us some three day passes good for both parks, so we could come and go as we pleased between the two locations.
We encountered some wretched traffic on the way out to the park. Silver Dollar City was in the third day of a two-week Southern Gospel music festival being held there, and we could hear gospel music almost anywhere in the park.

Our first stop was the petting zoo, where Nathan stepped inside and petted a couple of rabbits. Then we boarded the Frisco Silver Dollar Line steam train for a ride around the park. The train ride includes some comic entertainment as the Bolin Brothers stage a train robbery. We next headed to Splash Harbor, one of the children's attractions, where Nathan and I doused each other with the large water guns. I ran up there to challenge Nate one-on-one, only to have five or six other boys gang up on me when they noticed I was the only grownup in the harbor.

Some other rides we enjoyed included Fire in the Hole, an indoor coaster, and the Lost River of the Ozarks, a whitewater rafting ride. The Flooded Mine is a boat ride with the theme of inmates taking over the prison. We were equipped with guns to shoot at targets all around to rack up points. Kyndal won that one easily.

We then headed to Molly's Mill Restaurant for lunch. Molly's has a great fried chicken buffet, but we also had a forty minute wait to get to the buffet line as the restaurant was extremely busy. Before leaving, we hit the gift shops briefly. Kyndal and I each got t-shirts while Nathan wanted a small plastic rifle.

After leaving Silver Dollar City, we returned to our hotel room to change clothes and then head back to White Water. Once again, we stayed until closing time. The weather was a little bit warmer that day, so the wave pool was busier than it had been the previous day. We did spend a little time there as well as in the Lazy River.

Then Nathan and I took to the waterslides once again, where Nate began to conquer his fear of enclosed waterslides. For a long time, he would be okay with open slides and flumes, but would not ride on enclosed slides. Nathan spent much of the rest of the afternoon riding a partially enclosed slide on the Raging River Rapids. We also spent a great deal of time on the Caribbean Plunge, and I took another ride on the Paradise Plunge.

After leaving White Water, we went back to the hotel to change into some dry clothes. Then we headed to Pete Za's Playtime Pizza for dinner. Pete Za's isn't just a restaurant. It's more of an entertainment complex which offers arcades, a go-cart track, theme rooms, specialty shops and service venues, in addition to a huge pizza buffet.

After dinner, we wanted to go race on the go-cart track, but all the carts were hooked up to the battery chargers. The attendant told us she would need to charge the batteries for at least a half hour before the carts would be ready to race. We decided to hit the arcades while waiting for the carts to get charged. Nathan played several games of Time Crisis 3, shoot �em up game he enjoys tremendously (I frequently joke with my wife that we have a future NRA president living under our roof) while Kyndal played a couple of games her old favorite, Ms. Pac-Man. I challenged Nate to a game of air hockey. I won 10-3, but two or three of my points came by Nathan knocking the puck into the wrong goal, so I didn't play quite as well as the score indicates.

Finally, the go-carts were ready, and we took to the track. I took me a couple of laps to get used to the cart and get my speed up. Once again, Kyndal won this one. Nathan had some tickets he had won playing a couple of games at the arcade, so he went to the desk and redeemed them for some candy. After leaving Pete Za's, we returned to the hotel room to unwind for awhile before going to bed.

Day Three began as we awoke at about 8 a.m. We showered and got dressed, then packed our bags and checked out of the Tara Inn. For breakfast, we went to the Plantation Inn on the Strip. The Plantation Inn has a great breakfast buffet, which we all enjoyed. The food was great, but the entertainer was awful! Our entertainer was this guy who stood up at the front of the room, playing a guitar, telling bad jokes and singing terrible renditions of country songs old and new.

After breakfast, we decided to go down the Strip to the Hollywood Wax Museum. We had to endure some of the worst traffic we had ever seen driving to the museum. A trip that should have taken only five minutes ended up taking about forty-five minutes. It was a very nerve-wracking experience for all of us.

We did have a very good time at the Hollywood Wax Museum. We took photos of many of the wax figures on display. Kyndal took one of me with Marlon Brando from "The Godfather" (one of my favorite movies of all-time). She also took pictures of Nathan with the Joker from "Batman," Darth Maul from "Star Wars Episode One" and Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock from "Star Trek."

After leaving the museum, Kyndal called her cousin Jimmy, who told her that he and Suzannah would come down from Springfield and meet us at the Titanic Museum at 2 p.m. We had just over an hour to kill, so we made one last trip to White Water. Nate and I spent the whole time on the waterslides. Nathan finally conquered his fear of enclosed slides as he went down the fully enclosed slide on the Raging River Rapids. He went down the enclosed slide several more times, and we also hit the Caribbean Plunge a few times before we had to leave.

We arrived at the Titanic Museum at about 1:50 p.m. and waited outside for Jimmy and Suzannah, who arrived right at 2. The museum is magnificent. The Grand Staircase has been rebuilt to scale, but with a handrail added for safety purposes. An engaged couple can have their wedding ceremony on the staircase for $2500 per hour at a four hour minimum. A exact-size replica of one of the smaller propellers hangs from the ceiling. We also put our fingers in some cold water kept at the same temperature as the water the RMS Titanic sank in (28 degrees Fahrenheit) and sat in a lifeboat and listened to recordings of survivors' accounts of the disaster.

Kyndal, Nathan and I had our picture taken against a blue screen. A computer then placed us on the Grand Staircase. The photo package we bought also includes a print placing the three of us on the deck of the ship. We browsed around the gift shop for several minutes before leaving, looking at the t-shirts, DVD's, postcards, paperweights and other Titanic merchandise for sale. The Titanic Museum was definitely one of the top highlights of our trip to Branson.

As we left the museum, we said goodbye to Jimmy and Suzannah and began our four-hour trip home to Hartford, Illinois. Kyndal and I always have a great time whenever we come to Branson, and I know Nathan enjoyed this trip as well. We can't wait to come back, and we still have a preliminary wish list of places we want to visit and things we want to do when we return. I am already looking forward to our next visit to that beautiful gem of the Ozarks: Branson, Missouri.