Ozark Country Christmas

Well, we did it.
Charlie and I went to Branson on Thanksgiving.
The trip went fast...we actually left Wednesday night so we wouyldn't have to get up at 3 am on Thursday. We drove to Hays Kansas and stayed overnight. So guess what time we got up on Thursday.
You got it. 3 AM

But we got to Branson and checked into our motel just a bit after noon, their time.
We normally stay at the Shepherd of the Hills Quality Inn. This time, we decided to be adventurous. We picked a motel from Internet listings...off the beaten track, with a facade like a Victorian Painted Lady.
The picture on the Web wasn't detailed. Purposely.
The Queen Anne was, at one time, a charming place. Now, it is run down and a bit shabby. But the proprieter was VERY friendly. He had warm eyes and a wide smile under his turban. His English wasn't good, but it was far better than our Arabic.
Our room wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. The curtain hung by two hooks, Charlie found them and fixed it. The bed was old, but comfortable.
And that pretty much describes us...old, yet comfortable.

We went out to The Branson Landing Shopping Mall for a couple of hours. The employees had posted a forum of disgruntled online comments...the mall owner had ordered the stored to open Thanksgiving Day. Most refused. The ones which were open were suprisingly cordial. We ate at a fast food Chinese restaurant. Their menu that day was limited. You got to choose between sweet and sour chicken or Asian chicken. And rice. They had lots of rice.
But the performers from the Legends Theater who do the Blues Brothers impersonation were at the fountain area doing a short free show...followed by another group with a tribute to The Eagles.

After leaving the Landing, we went out to Silver Dollar City ( Easily the most magical place in the free world IMHO)
Three million lights outlined the buildings and lanes. There were live concerts and carolers and roasted nuts and hot chocolate. There was a three story Christmas tree that put on a heck of a light show to a Manheim Steamroller number and a Parade of Lights with St. Nick.
And there was the Wilderness Church...a nineteenth century church transported to Silver Dollar City years ago. It has handhewn wooden pews and an open beamed ceiling. The tree there was dressed in holly sprigs and white snowballs. It was so quiet sitting in the soft light.

We shopped the nexy day and caught an evening performance of Pierce Arrow. (GREAT!)

The races in Springfield were COLD and my heavy knit cap kept slipping over my eyes. In order to move it up, I had to take my hands out from under the blanket ( I didn't want to) and remove my thick gloves ( I couldn't--the lining kept coming out and I couldn't get them back on if I did) From what I heard, Danny Lasoski led the whole time.

So...we did it. We went to the Ozark Mountain Christmas. It was beautiful.