We somewhat-reluctantly decided to vacation in Branson, Missouri this year. We didn’t want to go far, and we’d pretty much covered the more interesting sights to the west, northeast, and east. We chose October, hoping there would be fall colors, and there were a few.
We picked two shows and bought advance tickets. We booked a rental condo in Kimberling City, about 20 miles away from the entertainment strip of Branson, and we were set for a four day vacation with a possible extra day in Eureka Springs, Arkansas on the way home.
Then we got an invitation to my grand-niece’s wedding in Ogden Dunes, Indiana on the following weekend and decided to extend the vacation. But I get ahead of myself.
We left on Saturday, October 18. On an earlier birding tip, I’d happened upon Neighbor’s Mill Bakery and Cafe in Harrison and enjoyed it. We stopped there for lunch, but just happened to arrive immediately after a bus full of slow-moving retired folk on their way home from Branson got there. We had to stand in line for a long time, but when we finally got our food, it was worth the wait.
It was raining when we got to Branson. We stopped for our show tickets and decided, on the spur of the moment, to visit the Toy Museum across the street. It has two buildings jammed packed with toys arranged by genre. I wish there had been more information on the toys—the year they were made, the factory, etc. But it was packed with stuff and fun to visit, definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We fell into conversation with a couple about our age, remarking on all the toys we remembered from when we were kids. The guy kept saying he wanted this toy or that toy, and I kept saying it wasn’t too late. He said his wife wouldn’t allow him to buy any of them. He got back at me by telling me he was taking his wife to Alaska for a month for their anniversary.
Our rental was tucked into a dense block of condos on the shore of Table Rock Lake, but once we’d climbed a short set of stairs, descended a long flight of stairs, and made our way down a tunnel to our room, the view was impressive.
On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast at the nearby, and very mediocre Crossing Cafe. I left my wife in our room to relax and enjoy the view while I wandered through the alleys, parking lots, and abandoned fields of Kimberling City and saw some birds.
We drove into Branson in the early afternoon to see a matinee performance of Jersey Nights, a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons tribute at the King’s Castle Theatre. The sang abbreviated versions of many of the Four Season’s songs, with a smattering of other songs. The four singers, who were very good, were accompanied by three girls who danced and sang a bit. I would have preferred complete songs, but it was the best of the three shows we saw by far.
After the show, we drove 25 miles north to Lambert’s Cafe, home of the “throwed rolls.” The rolls were delicious, but we were underwhelmed by the rest of the food. They never got around to our table with most of the “free sides.” We remembered it being a lot better than we found it this trip.
