A day in Branson, MO

Since the weather has warmed up a bit and it is suppose to be nice out we decided to go ahead and do the Branson day. Once again we didn’t get moving to early. Yes, i know .. we seldom move early… that is the price we pay for living full-time in an RV ….

Our first stop was the information center on our way, but i didn’t take any pictures. So the second stop was Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery. The butterfly garden was empty, all the butterflies have either went to hiding or south with the birds … Wait!!!! I’m suppose to be south with them ???

Next was this absolutely beautiful Blue Star Memorial to our Armed Forces. This was beautiful with winter on it’s way, i can only imagine how gorgeous it is in the summer. I just loved these rows of purple or is that blue flowers? I’m color blind so what a color looks to me may appear different to you. Either way, they are gorgeous and they are real! I thought they were fake so i touched one and nope they are real.

Once inside we got to see some of the local critters. They had a very nice display and here was a very nice brown trout.

Then this critter appeared! Yes it’s a real live Tarantula! Although they claim this one is not deadly like the ones in the west. Hmmm … still not one of my favorite critters.

The cage needed a good washing and as you can see it had built a nice spider web and so it was hard to get a good photo ….

The next display was better as they were bull frogs. I am not afraid of frogs although i have to admit i do not enjoy touching them, they are slimy!

Oh no !!! More snakes!! What is it with me and snakes the past few days ??? Since i promised to take pictures of what i was doing and seeing … here you go … enjoy you snake lovers.

Missouri has 5 venomous snakes ! Please keep them!

Once we went outside we got to what we actually came to see … yep .. the fish hatchery!

These screen thing were over the fish, i’m assuming it is to keep otters and other critters from getting the fish and having them for midnight snack.

It was kind of hard to get good pictures of the fish. The sun wasn’t shining and it’s been cloudy most of the day and the water wasn’t clear as we were used to. In fact the little fish pictures didn’t even turn out .. i will post one and you might just barely be able to see a little fish … sorry

These pictures took better as what little sun there was was shining and the pictures turned out better. See all the fish and hubby was drooling and wanting his fishing pole.

It was neat to see the dam, although no water was flowing through it today.

On the way out these American Beauty Berries were very pretty.

On our drive out, we saw another rode and took it. It took us to a picnic area and fishing area. We also say a warning sign … hmmm not sure i want to be around when water does come out of that dam … would you ??

It seemed to be a day for fishing as you can see one gentlemen on the bank and several in a boat. We met 2 gentlemen sitting on a bench and one gentlemen told us he was a fishing guide a few days a week and gave us some history of the place. He said during the summer time you can wade across the entire lake here. Hmmm I'd of never thought that, it looks deeper.

I thought the little water fall here was pretty and enjoyed just listening to the sound of water.

Unfortunately it was time to move on as many things were planned for the day.

Next we were on our way to see Table Rock Lake and drive across that huge dam ….

On our way to go across the dam to Table Rock Lake we passed the entrance to the showboat Branson Belle. I’m not sure if it was open as it isn’t on our list of to do’s today.

Here we are approaching the lake, it’s very huge. Here we are on the dam crossing it. Hmmm we were on the bottom, now were on top. Beautiful …

Here is the hatchery where we just came from. On our way back to town we saw this huge place. Kind of looks like a castle on the hill to me … what about you ??

Now that we have saw the hatchery and Table Rock Lake, it’s time to head back to town and check out the Landing! I’m so excited as I've never been to a shopping mall that is on the streets where people are everywhere … hmmm

Well i thought we were on the way to the landing but we made a stop before arriving. we went past a gift shop early that i wanted to stop at and on our way back through it was on my side and the side to pull into so we made a stop. We didn’t find anything we thought the kids would like so we spent no money. On our way out i was taking pictures of the Osmond’s place and the Titanic. Hubby spotted a Chinese buffet for a decent price so we decided to go eat lunch/dinner before heading to the landing. With tip and price for 2 our meal cost us $20 .. not bad for Branson!!

After leaving there, another place i wanted to stop and get pictures of was the Hollywood … well actually it’s a wax museum.

The wax museum had it’s door open and apparently you could pay to get your picture taken with this gorilla. Well since we didn’t pay to go inside i decided to take the opportunity to still take the gorilla’s picture. So i zoomed in and behold …

Since i couldn’t get the Hollywood sign in one picture i took 2 pictures … now use your imagination and think they are one … hehe

Across from the Wax Museum was this boat Motel. I thought it was pretty neat and snapped a photo of it. Hmmm shame it wasn’t on water, that would make for some nice rocking you to sleep.

Okay, we were once again on the road and heading to the landing. As you can see there was some traffic, but nothing really heavy as i’m sure it is in the summer. Actually when i was here about 15 yrs ago the traffic was horrible and it took hours to get through this street. Makes me wonder is it the economy or the time of year ????

Next we passed Dolly Pardon’s Dixie Stampede. I had thought about going here but when i looked the prices up on the internet … my mind was changed

Yes I'm a cheap scape and i don’t enjoying throwing hard earned money away … so i just enjoyed seeing it from a far.

Next we went passed Dick Clark’s American Band Stand …. Yep, i just admired from a far and took pictures for you all … hehe

I thought this landscaping was neat and snapped a picture on the move. Finally we arrive at the Branson Landing! I had read and heard about this, but never experienced it in person and today is finally my day!

We had a rocky start getting here. The traffic was horrible! No wonder it wasn’t bad on 76 they are all here!! There was a gentlemen that was causing havoc as well. He was standing in open parking places up close and saving them for family. It wasn’t bad he did this for 1 vehicle but several! Come on .. several older people and including myself were very upset at him. Luckily we found a parking spot not to far away thanks to a lady who waited to back out so we could pull in. On the way in several were saying not so nice words and the gentlemen saving the spots spoke up and stated he didn’t see any handicap people where were their canes or wheel chairs. Well that did it .. I held up my cane , yelled back right here … i have my disability photo id with me would he care to examine it. He shut up and moved on. The sad part is all the people in this group were very capable of walking a long distance and were not very old .. maybe in their 30’s. What disrespect. I held my cool and my tongue after my statement and we went on our way.

We took the loop behind the fountain and walked along the water and these beautiful flowers were along there. Of course they had a Bass Pro Shop and yes we went inside.

Since i toured the fish again, it was my turn and we went inside of a quilt shop. I didn’t take any pictures inside as i’m not sure they would of liked that. I was amazed how cheap they were selling hand quilted quilts. $48 for a king size ????

After the quilt shop we went into a five and dime but we didn’t find anything we wanted again. We did stop see a father and 4 children playing musical instruments and they weren’t to bad. Since we didn’t leave them a donation i decided it wouldn’t be polite to take their picture so i refrained … hmmmm i wanted to .. but i don’t like giving donations to people who use their children to make money. Just my opinion.

Have you ever seen such a large bag of popcorn? Wow i bet it would take weeks to eat that stuff. Wonder if it gets stale before you finish it?

This neat little booth had 2 men playing Indian music and they were excellent. I didn’t realize when i snapped the picture they were asking for donations as well. Oh well, i refrained from an up close picture since once again i didn’t donate to their cause.

As you can see it appeared everyone out shopping and enjoying the nice day at the Landing. People everywhere although i surprised at how many lookers and not a whole lot buying that was going on with the holiday’s fast approaching.

It was neat to see the water play to music. I also enjoyed the reindeer and the Christmas tree.

Every top of the hour they have a music water show. While we were waiting for the hour to arrive we saw these deer across grazing and i snapped their picture. See the nice house on the hill. Can you imagine the beauty of the lights from the landing at night? Hmmm

Finally the musical water show began and it was a bit disappointing as i wanted to see the fire and there was no fire …. hmmm Another lady sitting next to us said she had been there twice and both times the fire wasn’t working … Hmmm do you think Branson Landing can get their fire working … Come on Branson don’t disappoint your tourist … well i guess i can’t complain when it’s free … sorry

Finally it was time to head on to our next destination and i was so glad! My back and feet were killing me from all this walking the past 2 days!! As you can see the parking lots were flooded when we left just before dusk.

We got in the car and i got the directions to our next and finally event for the day. Were off to see the festival of lights. It’s a drive through of Christmas lights.

We arrived just at dusk and the lights were on, i’m not sure we shouldn’t of waited a bit longer as my camera didn’t like motion pictures in not so light and not so dark dusk.

I couldn’t get the milk display in so i just captured the cow for 12 days of Christmas. It was an okay display and i wouldn’t go as far as to say we got our $10 worth. But, i do enjoy seeing the lights and it is expensive for electric to run them .. so it went to a good cause. When you leave Santa and his numerous (i could only capture one ) are waving good bye.

We were going to go through the Shepherd of the Hills Trail of Lights but we were both exhausted and were not sure we wanted to spend $20 to go through it. We still had about a 40 minute drive home so we opted out and decided to save it for another day maybe. We had a great time visiting Branson and it basically was a day of fun and free things to do. It’s amazing what a person can do in tourist places for free if you just look. We are planning to go back another day before leaving. I still have a few things i’d like to do that we couldn’t fit into our busy day today. Not bad site seeing for $30 huh?

Hope you all had a great day and until next time …..