I Heart Branson

I get crushes easy. And now I have one on Branson. I wrote last week at work about my plans for visiting there. You can read that post on our Student Travel blog.

When you think of Branson, if you're wondering, "Do I have to enjoy country music to go there?", then you're definitely not asking the right question. First of all, no you don't. And second of all, what?! I really don't think anyone should live in Missouri without at least a little appreciation for a good country, blue grass, or - come on - at least give me some old time gospel - song. Of course, I went to Branson with these four - so getting to a live music show wasn't really the first thing on their minds. We only made it to one - the evening performance included in the price of our Silver Dollar City tickets. But did I love it? Um, let's just say I'm putting in my application tomorrow to BE a Silver Dollar City singer. Put me in a show, People, because that looks like fun.

I discovered all kinds of things on our Branson vacation. My 8-year-old loves roller coasters. LOVES them. As in, get me on another one now and watch me raise my hands on the loops that could make a grown man nervous. My 7-year-old enjoys roller coasters too, as long as they are no taller than Shaquille O'Neal and they have to send you around four times just to give you a full ride. On the other hand, he hates caves. Poor kid was leading the tour - only him and the tour guide between 60 other people and a death drop over the railing to a hole 500 feet below ground. He was completely panicked, but being behind him, I didn't realize it until I noticed he was gripping the hand rail with both arms and barely making his feet move one step at a time. Words you don't want to hear half way through a 1-hour cave tour? "I want to go back."

We were batting a thousand when it came to frightening our children to tears. Our oldest son, an excellent swimmer who water skis and does flips off the diving board, also has a nighttime-induced irrational fear of water. Where did we take him at 9 p.m. one night? To the Titanic museum. It was completely amazing to me, but seriously, we asked for those nightmares.

Most of the trip went much better than that though. I really love Branson now. Including the beautiful downtown and the most un-originally named "Scenic View" we stumbled upon one evening which showcases a gorgeous view of both the city and the countryside. I felt a little guilty when I called information one evening, "I realize I'm in the live show capital of the world right now, but could you direct me to a regular old movie theater?" The operator kindly did so, and I now also heart Kung Fu Panda.

Basically, vacation rocks. Silver Dollar City rocks. And making up for exposing your children to their worst fears by feeding them awesome bar-b-que and taking them to hilarious Jack Black movies and letting them ride their varied levels of thrill rides as many times as they can stand to wait in line? It rocks. And I heart it.