Around noon, we were ready for lunch, so we tried another Downtown Branson place, called Branson Café (so original), and wow… I think we were the youngest people there! Apparently a lot of tour buses stop in Downtown Branson, and many of the tour participants came here for lunch. We had to wait for about 10 minutes or so until we got a booth (a very small booth). Hubby got a hot ham & cheese with fries. Kiddo got French toast. I, for the first time ever in my life, ordered a single order of biscuits & gravy and a side of bacon. And I hate to say it… I wasn’t impressed. I don’t know if they were using a prepared gravy (like from Sysco), or if it was scratch-made, but it was just boring! The biscuit was just okay and not up to the same quality as Billy Gail’s or Farmhouse. The bacon was fine. Everyone else enjoyed their meals as well.
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| Biscuits & Gravy (no sausage) |
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| Hot Ham & Cheese with Fries |
I don’t know what possessed us, but after brunch, we actually went over to Mr. B’s Ice Cream, thinking we could get a little treat to tide us over until we ate dinner, but holy moly, look at the size of these scoops! Hubby got double chocolate dish, Kiddo got a chocolate waffle cone, and I got a bubble gum dish.
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| Single Scoop of Bubble Gum |
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| Double Scoop of Chocolate in a Waffle Cone |
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| 8 Time Winner of America's Best Holiday Event |
We parked quite far away and at first, I thought that we were going to have to walk all the way up to the front (about 15 minute walk), but we saw that there was a Shuttle Stop nearby, so we hopped on to a janky old school bus that took us all the way up to the front gate. At the front, I’d estimate that the lines to get through security had maybe 10 people, and it was hilarious to hear people mumble about how busy it was, like, y’all… Crowd levels at Disney World this week would have been through the roof… this ain’t that bad. Once inside we just started walking, honestly. I had no plan. I just wanted to enjoy the day, enjoy the scenery, and how beautiful the park was. The first place we ended up was the roller coaster Thunderation and all three of us immediately got in line. Mom stayed behind as our Bag Holder. It took a few minutes to make it through the line, and then we were off.
I originally thought this ride was going to be similar to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and it was, but a lot faster and a little bit rougher. All roller coasters have one of those low, flat circles, and those always make me feel icky, and it was about that time that I realized…
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| Oh, it seems like such a simple ride.... |
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| She's ready to go! |
I waved at Hubby as the ride began, fully assuming that it was going to be a simple spin-in-a-circle ride like Dumbo, but oh no! This bitch BOUNCED! (Obviously, in hindsight… it’s a frog ride). And every time the ride made a revolution, it sped up a little bit, and every time the frog bounced, it bounced HIGHER. After the first two or three bounces, I got the giggles. I came around again, and I could hear some people in the crowd start to notice that I had the giggles. Then they started laughing (along, not at), watching me on this ride. Then I really got into it, and every time it bounced, I kind of smooshed myself downward to get the most BOUNCE out of the bounce, if that makes sense. All the while, laughing so hard I can’t breathe, which made the crowd laugh harder. It was without a doubt the funniest 5 minutes I’ve had in quite a while.
We got off the ride, both of us just laughing like hell as we met up with Hubby and Mom. Hubby said that, for them, it was the funniest they’ve seen in quite a while, too. A few people in the crowd came over and clapped me on the back, and I told them it was their turn, go get on that frog! I found out that Hubby used Kiddo’s cell phone to take photos and video, so if I ever get that from her, I HAVE TO put it here!
Anyway, next up, the three of us did the Racing Regatta, which reminded us of that old-school carnival ride The Himalaya. Again, because we’re big adults, we each got our own boat, balanced across the circle. I didn’t like this one nearly as much as the frog… it was too much up-and-down. This ride had 6+ hills, so it was a constant up-and-down, making my stomach feel queasy. And it felt like it went on for much longer than the frog… I was glad when it was over!
With the light dropping, we made our way back to the front of the park to check in for the Marvel Cave Tour. As we stood there, Hubby noticed a very important sign that said participants would need to walk in a bent-over fashion for a certain amount of time, since the cave walkway was short. Everyone kind of balked at that, so we all decided to skip it, sadly… I was bummed, because I really wanted to do it, but if I’d known there was some size/posture restrictions, I would have written it off and not planned on doing it.
From here, we walked back to the Main Street area, and we caught one of the Christmas Tree lighting/shows. It was cute and quick, with a definite religious slant to it (which I loved).
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| My two favorite ladies |
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| Merry Christmas to You |
We walked through the park some more, enjoying the gorgeous Christmas lights, but I do have to say… maybe too many lights? Especially once it got dark, the lights lent to a lack of depth perception, and that lent to a difficulty in differentiating between the buildings. I ended using Google Maps to take us over to The Fire District so that we could ride TheFlooded Mine. I didn’t really know what to expect, but it turned out to be a cross between a water boat ride (like Pirates of the Caribbean) and a shooter game (like Toy Story Midway Mania). We sat in a rickety boat with some very realistic six-shooters (but actually lasers) and shot at targets as we passed by. Out of all of us, it was MOM who got the high score! Though, I will say this… at the very end of the ride, when you think that there’s nothing else to shoot at, look up and to the left; there’s a single bullseye up there that you can shoot repeatedly to gain more points.
Finally though, all of us were running out of steam. Part of that could be the massive hills we had to walk up and down (I mean, one of the main walkways is known as Cardiac Hill), but also because we hadn’t had anything to eat since Mr. B’s. But I refused to leave without the best thing you could possibly get at this park… Cinnamon Bread! Here we found the longest wait. For bread? Hubby & The Kiddo found a bench outside and sat waiting for us, while Mom and I got in line for bread. We chatted with a couple behind us about the area, the crowd levels, until it was our turn to get some bread. I knew that we would be getting a full loaf, but somehow was still surprised when we got… a full loaf of bread! Warm, cinnamon-y, light as a feather, bread. I watched as an employee took this pan of bread and ran it under a condiment dispenser, full of warm, gooey, icing before she handed it to me. I didn’t realize that there was some seating inside, so we went outside to get Hubby & The Kiddo, then came back inside.
Unfortunately, Hubby was in a snit, saying that he didn’t want to go inside, he was done and wanted to leave. I told him to just suck it up for 10 minutes so we could try this bread. So he sulked and refused to even try the bread, while we ladies dug in to this pillowy, fragrant, heavenly goodness. I can’t really even begin to explain how good this was. It wasn’t a typical loaf of bread, or a donut, or a quick bread. It was voluminous, ballooning out of the pan, and once you stabbed it with a knife in an unsuccessful attempt to cut it into slices, it started to deflate, but in a good way. Each of us took a quarter of the loaf and devoured it. I saved the final quarter for Hubby, in case he wanted it later (he never did, so that was a waste of bread that I could have inhaled!)
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| $9.99 per Loaf |
We all piled in and waited for the warmth to return to our fingers and toes, and I asked Hubby if he was doing okay. He apologized for his mood – he said that when he got back to the car to start it, he saw a bottle of water and sucked it down in one gulp. He realized that he was probably in a funk and feeling crappy because he hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since ice cream, and he was probably dehydrated. As I’ve been fighting with him about drinking more water in “real life,” this was massive for him… He’s learning, good for him!
Despite the delicious bread, we were all starving, so we drove over to Hollister to go to Hook & Ladder Pizza. Unfortunately, this is when the night kind of went off the rails. Hubby is a person who doesn’t always acknowledge when someone is talking to him. Mom is a person who will continue to talk to a person until they acknowledge her. So, as hubby and I were talking about him drinking the bottle of water, Mom, in her infinitely loving way, told him that if he needed a bottle of water, she had one in her purse. He never said anything to her, so she assumed that he didn’t hear her, and said it again. He continued to talk with me, she continued to talk. After a few minutes of this, he finally barked back at her, “If I wanted more water I would have asked,” and went back to talking to me. Not the best way of communicating with a 70+ year old woman, but I was just too tired to play peacemaker. So the ride to dinner was much quieter after that, as was dinner itself.
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| Pepperoni Pizza (Top), Sausage Pizza, Breadsticks |
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| French Toast, Scrambled Egg, Sausage Patty |
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| Cheeseburger & Fries |
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| Chicken Fried Chicken, Fries, Mashed Potatoes, Cornbread |
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| Holy god... there's a whole 'nother piece! |
We found our daughter and asked how she was doing now that she’d had time to chill out and relax and she said she felt much better. Not enough to do it, of course, but her panic attack had abated. We went inside to pay for another ride for one of us (the other was using the kiddo’s unused ride), then gave her the keys for the car so she could sit inside until we were done.
On the second ride, we were paired with an adorable middle-age couple from the Chicago area, and the wife was very anxious about the ride. We chatted with them about the ride and what to expect. We let them go first (to get strapped in), and then we got strapped in, this time with Hubby on the outside seat (that’s a big deal that he felt safe enough to do that; he’s big on “middle seat” options). This time, my line was the slowest, but that worked in my favor because I was able to see (and record with my GoPro) everyone. At one point, hubby even let go of the straps and stuck his arms out!
On the tram ride back to the front we all talked about the ride, about the freezing weather, and just general chitchat. The wife was bummed that she didn’t take any photos to prove that she did it, and I told her I’d be glad to share my GoPro footage with her (which I did when I got home, though I don’t know if she got it because she never replied back…).
We caught up with the kiddo at the car and headed back inside a third time, this time to get tickets for the Copperhead Mountain Coaster. https://theshepherdofthehills.com/coaster/ We also got hubby a souvenir tee-shirt so he could brag to all his friends that he ziplined. TWICE. There weren’t any shirts available in 2x or 3x, so both of us ladies were out of luck… ah, the curse of the chesticles.
This was the kiddo’s first time doing a mountain coaster and she loved it! Which is a good thing, because we’re doing all the coasters in Branson! Next up was the Runaway Mountain Coaster at Branson Mountain Adventure Park. https://www.bransonalpinemountaincoaster.com/coaster This one was a little bit out of town in a pretty, secluded area, in Fall Creek, between Branson and Table Rock. This one, said to be the longest mountain coaster in the Midwest {over 4900 feet}, had a 1900ft uphill track to begin, and then 3000ft of downhill thrills. Though, to be fair, Copperhead is 4800 feet, so it’s not that much longer. But the uphill at the beginning was interesting, because they put some fake animals in the brush and piped in corresponding noises while giving us some nature lessons. This ride was my favorite, but I can’t put into words why. It was just a little more thrilling, a little more scenic, and just a little more… everything.
Our final coaster was situated right on the 76 strip, The Branson Coaster, https://www.thebransoncoaster.com/ and this one gave me “Tourist Trap” vibes from the get-go. Staff were there to move bodies, not provide an experience. The coaster cars were a little beat up and uncomfortable. The cashier who sold us our tickets spent more time mumbling and trying to make jokes (that we couldn’t hear) than to speak clearly and make sure we knew what we were doing. The ride started with a downhill (like Copperhead) and after only 30 seconds or so, it felt like it was over… what the hell? Oh, no, that was a fake out! There’s still another half of the ride to go! That’s fun, I suppose. But you took away all of my momentum. Maybe that was the point? This was also the only one that gave me a business card after and begged me to leave reviews on TripAdvisor and Google.
Thoroughly adrenalined-out, we sat in the car and decided what we wanted to do next. The Kiddo wanted to go back to Dick’s 5 & 10 because she had some souvenir money to burn and she wanted one of the cool dragon things she saw last time we were there. So downtown we went! We stood in front of a shelf for about an hour, trying to decide which one she wanted. She thought about her budget. She thought about where she’d put it. She thought about which one would look best in the place she wanted to put it. And with all that, when she finally found the one, she was like a proud mama. We also found some souvenir tee-shirts (mine was on clearance!) and picked those up, along with a few Christmas ornaments and a magnet (of course!). While we shopped, I texted mom to see if she was up for dinner with us, and she declined, stating that she was comfy-cozy in bed with her bowl of leftover Dairyland chili for dinner. Okay… either she still feels icky, or still feels slighted.
We ended up at Culver’s for dinner; sometimes you just need fast food. More burgers and chicken tenders. After that, we treated ourselves to Mint Chip milkshakes at Chick-fil-A down the road and brought them back to the VRBO with us. We all talked about our day, but eventually had to do the sad thing, and pack. We were leaving early in the morning, and I didn’t want to have to do much packing in the morning.
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