It was wonderful for Charlene to join me in Branson!

Today was a very special day. Charlene flew to Springfield, Missouri to join me in Branson! We enjoyed driving between the towns reminiscing about living in Missouri more than 3 decades ago. When we arrived in Kansas City, we were newlyweds and I was starting my Pharm.D. program. It felt like we had come full circle, now driving through the Ozarks together as a recently retired couple.

The Ozarks are definitely southern country!

We enjoyed dinner together at a highly recommended independent hamburger shop. The burgers were fantastic! Next we drove to an area called Branson Landing. They had some nice shops and amazing fountain created by the same group that made the fountain at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

It was impossible to do justice to the fountain that incorporated water, flame, and sound into a very nice production.

As we walked through the various shops we found a local moonshine store. We sampled 4 different flavors and picked Berry Moonshine. One of the fun aspects of traveling around the US is being able to discover various wineries, distilleries, and breweries.

The local moonshine was flavorful. We picked berry flavor to buy.

Charlene enjoyed the moonshine truck!

This is a fantastic show!

It was fun to drive down to Branson from the corner of Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. Although we lived in Kansas City for 2 years, it has been a long, long time since I have visited. As I came into Kansas City, the GPS guided me through downtown and had me switch through multiple freeways. I was glad I was driving on Sunday morning because there was not too much traffic. It was fun to see Truman Medical Center again. They have a new logo, but I slept in that hospital every 4^th night during my residency! Some buildings were the same, but many of the areas have been upgraded since I lived here. It was nice to see names of roads that I recognized. I was too far to the east to see the famous Plaza, but I certainly saw signs giving directions to find it.

The Missouri changing leaves are beautiful!

The rolling hills and trees of Missouri are gorgeous. Within the Ozarks, you almost never have a straight road. It seems like you are either going up, down, left or right. Rarely is there much straight road. Once I got into Branson, I was amazed how steep some of the roads were within the city. Some parking lots are at quite steep angles. Throughout the area, the leaves are changing colors!

I have no idea how a small town like Branson, located in the middle of the Ozarks, ever became such a popular destination for so many shows. They have theaters all over town and host some very well-known musicians and shows. I do not know how it was created and sustained, but it is extremely popular. John said he heard that Branson has been described as the “Christian Las Vegas.” That seems like a reasonable description to me. When I called to make reservations at an RV park, I was told that October was extremely busy for retirees to visit. Fortunately, I was able to get a nice spot!

After the show signing CDs.

Today I went to see the Dublin’s Irish Tenors and the Celtic Ladies. I thought the show was spectacular! They sang classic Celtic songs, but also sang a range of recent popular songs too. I really enjoyed it. I still have to decide what to see tomorrow. Hmmm, there so many choices!