- One grueling drive. Mapquest said it would take 7 hours so I thought for sure we could get there in 6. But traveling with kids, getting lost in the backwoods of Arkansas, and a few other unpleasanties made for 8+ drive. Nevertheless, it was a gorgeous drive and I miss the endless green rolling hills already. But if or when we ever go back, we're definitely flying. If only we would have known we could have flown on Suncountry for $75/roundtrip...
- We had reservations to stay at Big Cedar Lodge, one of the top 10 travel resorts in the United States. When we got there, apparently they had other ideas. We originally decided to go to Branson cause we got an awesome deal on hotel accomadation...the only catch being that we had to sit through a time share presentation. However, we had paid money to upgrade our reservation to the lodge, but apparently, they had booked on at a sister location instead, but failed to mention this to us. And the lodge was completely booked full, so there was nothing they could do.
But on the positive note, the other location was still nice, although not up to par with Big Cedar, It was over 1200 sq feet and included two sepearete rooms, large kitchen and dining, and the master even had a two-person jacuzzi tub.
And instead of doing all the outdoorsy things we had hoped, like biking on the nature trails, canoeing on Tabletop Lake, horseback riding through the mountains, swimming in the lazy river, etc...we decided to hit up the Branson city life and see a few shows on the "strip". Branson has over 30+ shows to choose from each night. Although it costs a small fortune, we loved the two performances we saw.
Shangai Circus - Acrobats of China. I've never seen anything quite like this before. These amazing acts just don't seem humanly possible (I can barely touch my toes, let alone bend my body in half). And just when you think they've reached the highlight of the show, the next act is ever more incredible and amazing. There's just a few of their acts.
Dixie Stampede - It was a dinner attraction featuring a show with singing, dancing, 40+ livestock - including fancy riding, races, and my personal favorite - pig races. They serve you dinner cowboy stlye (no silverware) and Tanner enjoyed helping himself to all the finger food off of my plate. Avery was practicing her yee-hahs and loved the southern belle dresses - they even lit up just like princesses.
We also had time to relax and unwind.
Tanner loved swimming in the pool. He had his little floatly and he just leaned his head back and chilled. And when I took him out, he had fun splashing in the water.
Avery also got to go on a real pony ride. The guy totally had a thing for Chelsea so not only did she get her own private pony ride for FREE, she also got a cowgirl hat. Tanner was a little too young to ride the pony, but he did get to experience his own version, allbeit the plastic - pay a quater for a ride version. He wasn't too impressed.
We also played mini-golf. I thought for sure Tanner would get bored. As he sat alongside the course in his stroller, he stared intently and would follow the ball with each stroke. And Avery would go ahead and tell us how awesome she was doing, but she likes to play by her own rules. And if no one was looking, I would too!
But all in all, we had a great time. But at the end of it, there's no place like home.
PS - Sorry no pics, camera ran out of batteries. Chels took a few and I'll try to post them later...
