Well, our first day playing tourist in Branson was wildly successful. In the morning, Ari did a short ride off the property where we are staying and helped a young rider learn how to do a gait with her Missouri Fox Trotter (see previous post). Then shortly before lunch, we headed into town.
Our first stop was Branson Landing - a river front shopping district. We ate lunch at the Fish House on the water.
We were seated right by the water so we could watch the sea birds. It was a wonderful lunch with great service.
This couple were fishing right outside the restaurant on a very nice boat. I loved that they had put a life vest on their little dog. Should they have been wearing life vests as well, though?
There was a free shuttle in the parking lot outside the restaurant and the driver picked us up and drove us to the end of the parking lot. I asked the driver for recommendations for things to do in the area and she recommended the Lost Canyon Cave Tour.
There is a fountain show at Branson Landing similar to the one in Las Vegas on the strip. It is pretty wonderful. Click on the link to see a portion of the show.
There is a Magic Mushroom pizza place on the Landing. There are several restaurants. Too bad I only have one stomach as there are so many places to eat.
We headed to the Top of the Rock/Cedar Lodge resort to do the Lost Canyon Cave tour. It is $10 per vehicle just to get into the property. We kind of balked at that, but it is totally worth it.
There are some cool statues on the property.
You spend around $20 per person for the tour. It includes the golf cart tour of the preserve and entrance into the museum. The museum takes a couple of hours to get through and we didn't have time for the museum, but one of the staff told us we can come back tomorrow to do the museum, so we will probably do that.
Ari says this golf tour is one of the highlights of the ENTIRE trip, so you know it is pretty amazing.
This is a bridge constructed by the local Amish - built entirely without the use of power tools. You ride the golf cart through a preserve with waterfalls and beautiful scenery.
The highlight of the tour is driving through a cave.
As you drive into the cave, you see the Bat Bar - where you can order drinks. Ari ordered a Strawberry Lemonade with vodka. I ordered a virgin Strawberry Lemonade. The drinks were good and it was definitely unique.
Inside the cave was a small pool and waterfall. It was beautiful and intense.
I lost count on the number of waterfalls we saw, but it was lovely.
There are several vista areas along the trail where you can park the golf cart and then walk out to admire the view.
Next on the day's agenda was the Dolly Parton Stampede dinner show. Sadly, Dolly Parton is not in the show and none of her songs are featured. I am guessing she is an investor and that is the whole of her participation in the show.
The seating is like most dinner shows, where you sit facing a central stage with a small table top in front of you for your food. They added plastic partitions between each family group to help with COVID.
Click on the link to see a small portion of the show.
We didn't think the show was as good as Medora - the Musical show we saw back in North Dakota. But the food was excellent and our server was really wonderful. We had been told by some locals that the servers at these shows rely heavily on tips. Our server, Dave, told us he gets paid $4 an hour, so tips are definitely important. Ari and I cleaned out both our wallets to give him a decent tip.
Now, we will have to hit the bank sometime tomorrow in order to replenish our cash for the next show.
There is something distinctly southern about drinking sweet tea from mason jars while watching a western show.
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