I spent last week in Branson, Missouri. I had never been there before, although my very first hospital install was in Bolivar, Missouri a little town about an hour North of Branson. Had I realized just how close that was I probably would have tried to get down to see a show during one of my trips to Bolivar. The thing that I remembered most about Bolivar and Missouri in general was that the people were so friendly and welcoming. I would see this even more on my week in Branson. I was there for part of the Blogging Branson event where 15 bloggers and friends traveled to Branson to stay at the Stone Castle Hotel and visit many attractions, restaurants and shows in Branson. I paid my way to get to Branson and once I was there my meals, entertainment and lodging were compensated.

Before we started to explore what Branson had to offer we had a Christmas meal and White Elephant exchanged to get in the Christmas mood. We visited the home of Angie who would be our tour guide, mentor, mother duck and friend during this trip. Angie set everything up with the venues and the hotel. She opened her home to us for this evening where we broke bread, shared laughter and had a night of fun. We were encouraged to wear an ugly sweater for the event and so I picked up a Deadpool one to wear. I also brought my Santa shorts and realized it was much too cold to put them on buy themselves so as a joke I put them on over my jeans. Angie got a kick out of that. She got a shot of me in all my silliness.

After our party we loaded up the van and headed to the Stone Mountain Hotel where we would check-in and stay for the next few days. I say we because I was travelling with my friends Becky, Regina, Niccole and Myrah. Becky and Regina picked me up form the St. Louis airport and we drove west for 4 hours to Branson. Along the way we made a stop in Uranus, Missouri. It was a silly little tourist trap place that made for a fun adventure and also let me get a fun gift for the White Elephant exchange. At the Stone Castle Hotel I checked in to my room which was the Dolly Parton’s Stampede themed suite. I gave everyone a Facebook live tour of my digs.

The Stone Castle Hotel is a unique place. They have many themed suites and about 300 rooms over three buildings. Each morning they put out a complimentary hot and hearty breakfast and can even feed up to 800 people. I enjoyed breakfast each morning before we went off on our day’s adventures. I also liked the Dolly Parton Room every much. It was well decorated and had nice amenities like a jacuzzi tub. However, the next morning my friend Winona and I were talking and she had wanted to stay in the Dolly Parton room. she was in the Medieval room. We discussed a switch and decided that we would. Then we went to the front desk and the women there were so helpful and were able to switch us up quickly.

On this first day of the #BloggingBranson #OzarkMountainChristmas event we started later and so I went with Becky from Week 99er to play mini golf at a place that she played as a child. It was a Hollywood themed course. This would turn into an ill-fated adventure which set her to the emergency room. But, everything worked out in the end because of the hospitality of the people of Branson. I called Angie and let her know about our mis-adventures. She coordinated with Sam and got Sam’s wife to come and pick up Becky once she was out of the ER. I went back to the Stone Castle to catch the group to go to our first official venue, Montana Mikes.

Montana Mikes is a family restaurant and they served us a decent lunch. I livestreamed it so you could see what I was having and also see the decor of the place.

With our bellies full it was time to walk it off over at Silver Dollar City. We went there because they were all decked out for Christmas and there were some very special events for us to see there. I’ll be posting a full account of my visit to Silver Dollar City but some of the highlights of the visit were Eva and Delilah’s Bakery, The time Traveler Roller Coaster, A Christmas Carol, the Candy Factory and a Christmas Parade. I enjoyed Silver Dollar City very much. It was a nice place that I wish I had more time to explore, especially all the artisans. I did see some Glass Blowing, so that was cool. Here is one of my livestreams from the visit. I took a bunch while I was there.

After our visit to Silver Dollar City we loaded into the vans again and raced over to the Clay Cooper theater to see our first Branson show. I was looking most forward to seeing Clay Cooper ever since I saw a tour of his themed suite at the Stone Castle Hotel. He cracked me up on the video. Incidentally, my friend Becky was staying in that suite and I hope to stay in that one in the future. Clay’s show was phenomenal. He hooked me right in from the beginning by having his whole group perform, “The Greatest Show” from The Greatest Showman. It was electric and got me jazzed for the rest of the night. The first half of the show was all sorts of music but the second half was Christmas themed. There were also special tributes to the military who were present in the audience. After the show we were able to interview people from the cast and I was lucky enough to get a couple minutes with both Clay Cooper and his wife, Tina.

When we returned to the Stone Castle Hotel I went to my new room, the Medieval Suite. I livestreamed a tour of that room as well.

The next morning we were up early and ready to go on our second day of adventure. We started off with a trip to the Branson IMAX complex. This building houses one of the most state of the art IMAX systems around. We watched a movie all about the Canadian Pacific Railway making a railway through the Rockies. It was compelling and the screen was incredible. There are many stores within the complex and also the smallest theater in all of Branson is housed int he complex. It is the Little Opry Theater. I did not go in because a show was going on. Within the complex is McFarlains, a family restaurant where we had lunch. I was told that I had to sit at the newcomers table and it wasn’t until later in the meal that I learned why. I did not film within McFarlains for some reason by Becky caught this video of the new kids at the fun table.

We loaded up the vans again and this time made our way to the Titanic Museum. I wasn’t quite sure how interested I would be in this one but soon became enthralled in the stories that were being told by our guide. I even teared up at one point. We were not allowed to take photos throughout most of the museum but there were some specific places where we were. I was given a piece of paper when I entered the tour, it had on it the story of one of the passengers. At the end of the tour we would learn the fate of each passenger. Would we survive or not? I survived. Then I went to the gift shop where I was able to film and take photos.

Branson is a special place for Veterans. Branson truly embraces our military veterans from all branches and all wars. We went over to Veterans Village where we met a few of the veterans who were in Branson for Veterans Week. Each year around Veterans Day Branson becomes the hub for all veterans to visit, reconnect with their units and share their stories. There are many events, meals, shows and even a parade for the veterans who come to Branson, some 200,000 veterans attend. We left the experience a little more humble for the service and sacrifice of our veterans. We didn’t stay long as we had to go to our next venue, the Showboat Branson Belle.

We had dinner aboard the Showboat Branson Belle. The meal was served in a large theater while we watched a wonderful show that was half rock and roll and half Christmas. The Showboat also toured Table Rock Lake. We were treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. I even made a bunch of panoramic photos while aboard. The show was also a good one and we were so impressed to see that the guitarist for this show would show up sooner than we though at another show.

Before we went to our next show we went to the College of the Ozarks to meet with some more veterans. I spoke one on one with Jim Davis, a Marine who served in Vietnam. We had a nice conversation about what the college does to serve veterans and what programs are available in Branson to further serve our veterans. Jim was a softspoken guy who was easy to talk to. He gave me is card when we parted and I made sure to follow up and email him the photo below that Angie took.

We got back into our vans one more time and headed to Branson’s Famous Baldknobbers Theater. We were there to see one of the oldest traditional shows that is performed in Branson. It was filled with deep country music, comedy and also a second half that was Christmas themed. I enjoyed the sow very much and I especially liked when they played “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”. It is one of my favorite songs. We were all surprised to see that the guitarist from The Showboat was the very same one for The Baldknobbers. He can really wail on the axe, too! After the show we were able to interview people from the cast and I interviewed the bad leader, Nathan Agdeppa. He was also the fiddle player who made “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” come alive.

It was a long day filled with so much fun and so many Christmas things that I totally forgot to tell you about the Christmas themed scavenger hunt that we did through The Stone Castle. We traveled to many of the themed suites to pick up ornaments. I was the first one back. And speaking of back, we were back to the hotel for another night’s stay to rest up for the next adventure.

On our last full day in Branson we met as a group and headed to the Branson Ferris Wheel and the Track Family Parks. While we did not get to ride on the tracks, something I wish we had had time to do) we did go up on the Ferris Wheel. I made a few livestreams while I was there. I think the one where I am not on the Ferris Wheel came out better.

Our afternoon was a Christmas spectacular at the Hughes Brothers Theater for the Christmas show. This was the first show of the trip that was completely Christmas from start to finish. I sat in the back with Becky because she was in a wheelchair due to her mini golf accident. I swear I did not push her. From our vantage point we had a great view of the stage. This show is unique in that it is all family members who perform and there are a ton of them. Each family has so many kids and they do everything from sing and dance to run the concession stands before, after and even during intermission. Everyone was so personable, too. I was able to interview Ryan Hughes after the show.

For most of the trip we were spot on with time but this show ran late so we were late to our next venue which was Pasghetti’s which was an Italian restaurant with a New York 1930’s decor inside. I loved the look of everything inside. I spent a long time touring the building and doing a livestream of what I saw. While we ate we met with the owner of the restaurant and he told us more about his experience in Branson.

We left this location and it was time for the Choose your own adventure. Becky and I had planned on checking out a special car museum but because she was in a wheelchair we opted for the Promised Land drive through zoo. Angie was able to get us passes to visit the drive through zoo where we saw many animals. It also looks like you can go through at night and it is all lit up with Christmas lights. After the zoo we made our way downtown to take a few photos including the one at the top of this post. We also went to Hurts Donut Company where I sank my teeth into a Cookie Monster Donut.

We were right across the street from Dolly Parton’s Stampede. This was where we would spend part of our evening. The show was so much fun but before that we had a private reception and a great vantage point to watch the pre-show entertainment. Dolly’s was all Christmas themed. The entire show had a Christmas theme to it. It was a showdown between the North and South… Poles. Yes, Santa outsourced some work to the South Pole and we had to determine which Pole was the cheeriest and most dedicated. This venue also did a living nativity complete with camels. I’ll be doing a full recount of the event in a future post. For now here is one of my quick videos. An Ozark take on the shell game.

You’d have thought that that was enough for one day but no, we had one more event to attend and this was the Andy Williams Performance Arts Center. We were there to see Jimmy Osmond and the Lennon Sisters perform a traditional night of Christmas music. There were even ice skaters on the stage. That was a special treat. I enjoyed the music very much and afterwards we took a group photo with Jimmy Osmond.

Then it was back to the hotel, pack up and head to bed. Our Ozark Mountain Christmas is almost at an end.

The next morning was when we left Branson. We met as a group and said our goodbyes. Many hugs and special time to say goodbye. I learned a lot about Branson and what an Ozark Mountain Christmas was all about. Hospitality is at the top of that list. Everywhere we went there were people who just welcomed us in and shared with us that they had whether it be good food, their musical talents or even simple good conversation. It was a fantastic start to the Christmas season.