We have decided that Branson is like what a little Las Vegas was 40 or 50 years ago, excluding the casinos. It has the strip with all kinds of theaters, attractions, and shows. Something for everyone. We reserved tickets to shows that we thought we'd like; Dublin Irish Tenors & Celtic Ladies as Linda really likes Celtic music, Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers, The Duttons, a musical family, and the Lettermen. Other than the music there is not much else here that interests us.
We are at Musicland Kampground which is about 1 block off the main drag (76) on Gretna Road that crosses Hwy 76 about the center of the theatres and attractions. It has been easy to drive to all the shows from our location and by using Gretna Road and Hwy 248 we avoided all the traffic when going elsewhere There is only a couple of light and stops signs on this route. We were warned that we would be in terrible traffic getting to our campground by people that have been here but with this route we have avoided almost all of it
The campground is nice but on a hill but they have put in retaining walls and the sights are pretty level. The laundry and restrooms/showers are very clean although we just looked at the restrooms and showers. We would definitely stay here again if we ever come back to Branson with an RV.
Tuesday afternoon was the Dublin Irish Tenors & Celtic Ladies. It turned out that only a small portion of the show was Celtic music, the rest was pop, 60s-80s, swing, show tunes, and some opera. All the performers were accomplished singers but they weren't Irish as only one of the cast was from the UK, the rest from the US. That was OK too but we came for Celtic music and didn't get much of it. Sort of false advertising. Linda's biggest complaint was other than the singing there was no live instrumental music. It was all prerecorded. Thumbs down on that.
The cast doing several Italian numbers.
Tuesday evening we saw Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers. They had hosted the show at the Ryman in Nashville but since we had reserved them here and this was a full show we decided we'd go anyway. It was an excellent show.
Larry and Steve Gatlin.
Wednesday afternoon we saw The Dutton family perform. They have their own theatre and hotel here and another theatre in Mesa, AZ, where they perform December through April. This was the one show we weren't really sure we would enjoy. We were pleasantly surprised though. The family members are all extremely talented musicians playing a wide range of instruments. The parents, sons and daughters, spouses, children/grand children all perform.
This is the group bowing the violin that is on their left. Ben on the left held his violin up behind him and Tim on the right bowed it flawlessly. At one point they played their instruments behind their backs. Most of it was just great music but they did include some clowning and jokes. They are originally from Utah.
We made our reservation for these shows in May so we had great seats for all the shows.
Thursday morning we did...... yes, a quilt shop. Linda said it was huge and she really liked this one.
After taking a couple shots she then noticed a sign that said "No Photographs in the Store". Can't change what was done.
Next we went to the historic downtown Branson to check out the shops and have lunch. The Family Farmhouse restaurant had a 25 minute wait for a table so we went to the Branson Cafe across the street. There it was fiind a spot at any table and share with strangers, we did and the food was excellent. So was the conversation with others at our table and nearby.
There are a number of shops downtown concentrated in a 4 block area.
I am happy to report that fuel prices in Branson are the lowest we've found on our trip; $2.759 for regular and $3.279 for diesel. Those prices make traveling easier on the budget. I'm not looking forward to California prices and I'm sure they haven't come down much if at all.
The Lettermen's show was very good. Lots of hits from the 60s mixed with other numbers. Very entertaining.
From Branson we will stopover a night in Elk City, OK and then we will head to Santa Fe, NM on Saturday.
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