THE MEDICAL TOUR - BRANSON, MISSOURI

Sunday March 30, 1997 – Branson Missouri – Sunny but cold

The bed was surprisingly comfortable but we had to sleep with the windows wide open as it was so warm. It was pretty noisy at first but the traffic soon died down. I was woken in the morning by a thunderstorm complete with lightning (but very little rain) but dozed off again without too much trouble. We both woke up  early in the light of the paucity of curtaining – there wasn’t any, just venetian blinds which are hardly lightproof. 

It was a nice, chilly morning so I decided to take a walk up the hill adjacent to the hotel, which had laid out hiking tracks all over it. It was really good getting some exercise after two weeks plus of none and the scenery was lovely. I saw a rabbit and a couple of blue jays, which are startlingly bright in colour, plus the odd squirrel. The West side of the hill is where the hot springs are and one had been left uncapped; the rest are drained off to the bathhouses in town. It was steaming in the cold morning air. I walked for about half an hour and got to the top of the hill. It was good to get a sweat up, I must say.

We have been very luck with the weather, apart from a thunderstorm in the early hours of the morning. Several cold fronts have come and gone, with snow up North near Chicago, tornadoes in the West in Kansas, strong winds in Florida, floods in Ohio. And in the midst of all this, I have been in my shorts with the temperatures in the 80Fs - +/- 25/27C.

We had thought of spending two days in Hot Springs, but our experience in the hotel put us off the idea – and Rab does not entirely share my views on the joys of the countryside, unless she is being driven fairly rapidly through it.

So we packed and got going fairly early, pausing only for breakfast before we went on our way. Rab had spotted a Waffle House on the way into town so we head for that. It was Easter Sunday and clearly the Waffle House must have been a very popular spot because there was a long line of people waiting to get in. we weren’t prepared to wait, so settled for a very second rate meal at Wendy’s.

But the poor start to the day was soon left behind us as we travelled through the beautiful mountains and  forest of the Ozarks. On our way out of town we spotted the plaque commemorating Bill Clinton’s birth place but didn’t stop.

The woods were very green as we started into the Ozarks - all the varieties of color  which made the scenery so interesting. We also saw lots of redbuds that were just coming in to bloom. As we headed North and higher, the trees gradually lost their leaves and there were fewer with blossom, but it was still pretty country. It must be great in later Spring or Summer and I guess Autumn would be rather spectacular too. All in all probably th best day’s driving from a scenic point of view, although we were both distressed by the sight of a half tarved coon dog trying to run along the road miles from anywhere. We both felt so helpless and that we should do something – but what could we do?

Our road led us ultimately to Branson – an interesting place, but probably hell in summer. It was originally a sleepy little dorp in the Ozarks which gained popularity after firstly the book Shepherd Of The Hills which was set in and around Branson became popular followed by the musical and the film. I still recall my mother singing songs from the show. An annual festival was established in the town which was well attended. That led to a couple of theatres being opened by the Presley family (no relation) and then more and more followed. Added to which a large dam was constructed up river and the people working on the site needed accommodation and food. Today the town is an immense sprawling mass of hotels, theatres, shops and restaurants. Even now, when it is pretty low season there were ten or twelve shows to choose from. In the height of the season there are literally dozens.

I started writing my catch-up (I had got a couple of days behind with my entries) because I thought we had a fair bit of time but of course Rab had the TV on and despite myself I got sucked in, especially as far as the discussions concerning the mass suicides of 39 people belonging to a cult called Heavensgate.

Then we went out to eat, since we had very little lunch. I had picked out a BarBQ diner where we had the most magnificent pork ribs. I chose the smallest serving, based on previous experience of US cuisine and barely managed it all. Rab went for one size up and couldn’t manage it all. We had a terrific salad to start and they also gave us what they call biscuits but what we would call scones. Apparently, from our  surreptitious survey of later diners, you are meant to eat these with the jelly/jam provided as you eat your saad or soup!! We had a couple of Mooseheads to wash it all down and enjoyed it all. Nice people too.

From there we went back to the hotel and then headed out to see a show – Country Tonite. It was not Rab’s first choice – she wanted to see a show with Elvis and other impersonators. But when we went downtown to get tickets we realised that the audience would only be 20 or so others and Rab didn’t like the look of the ticket salesman either. It was a good call too, we reckoned, because the Country Tonite show was excellent and we both enjoyed it. Loud, noisy and colourful and just good fu for everybody. Of course, as ever in the US there was an emotional finale with Ole Glory in all its glory which was given a standing ovation. We got lost on the way to the theatre – I took what I thought was a short cut but it turned out to be completely wrong and we almost missed the show.

Since the hotel was reasonably priced and comfortable, and as we had a day in hand we decided to stay in Branson for another day.