Branson, not so bad after all

Actually we’re quite enjoying ourselves here. So much that we extended our stay by a couple of days.

Branson does have it’s cheesy side though. Tourist traps (fudge, souvenirs, t-shirts etc. etc.), fast food restaurants, and “over-the –hill” performers. Even google has trouble difficulty getting the scoop on some of the headliners here.

“Tribute“ acts abound. I always thought you had to, well, have passed on, to earn a tribute act. Not here. Did Neil Diamond die? I don’t think so, but there’s a show here that pays tribute to the great performer he once was.

About as close as you’ll get to Dolly Parton in Branson is “Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede”. Her name is on the billboard, but you won’t find her in the show. (not that we went to that one).

We did an amazing sightseeing trip by train yesterday. The train takes you on a 2 hour trip through the Ozarks, trestles, tunnels and all.  And this is no ordinary train. It is a beautifully restored 1951 diesel locomotive (same age as me) pulling several stainless steel coaches, two of which even had an observation dome.

 A trestle from the dome car.

Entering a  3700 ft long tunnel.

Today we put the boat in Lake Taneycomo which runs through the town. I say it “runs” because it seems a lot more like a river to me. A few hundred yards wide and 20 or so miles long.  But around here they insist it is a lake so who am I to argue. Incidently, before it was called Lake Taneycomo, it was called THE WHITE RIVER! I rest my case.

I took this picture of Branson Landing and the fountain at the centre of it. They spent 7.5 million on the fountain. We haven’t seen it in action yet but apparently it has  very powerful water jets, as a fountain should, but it also has great balls of fire shooting from the black tubes you see in the picture. And they didn’t stop there. They have an incredible light show as well and it’s all set to music.

The landing is an outdoor mall with about a mile of shops, including Bass Pro. It's a short walk from the RV Park.

Bass Pro also has a great restaurant on the water called, oddly enough, The White River Fish House. See, there it is again. We ate there a few nights ago. To start, we split the alligator bites appetiser. Spicy and delicious.

Tonight we are taking in a show, a tribute show, but this performer has earner her tributes. Patsy Cline. I have a feeling this one will be miles ahead of the Elvis tribute we saw last fall in Nashville.

Will let you know.