My Branson Birthday Weekend

Wow, first I have to send a big ole thanks out to you all for the incredibly supportive comments so many of you have left on my last couple of posts.  Even the incredible author I raved about, Brené Brown, posted a very supportive comment – words cannot express how much I admire her.  I told you she was wonderful.  I appreciate the time that you all spent in reading and responding to what I had to say.  You’ve reminded me that I am not my weight, though it is hard to remember that sometimes when you feel like that is all that anyone sees.

I believe I mentioned that my mom was taking me to Branson for my birthday (which was yesterday – thanks for the b-day wishes!).  The weekend was exactly what I needed.  Here’s a rundown (make sure to click on the pics to see larger images):

Saturday

We left at about 8am (after I had only about 3 1/2 hrs of sleep).  I tried really hard to sleep on the way down there (it’s about a four hour drive), but was unsuccessful.  Probably too much excitement.

We got there at about noon and decided to check out where we would be staying.  My aunt was incredibly nice enough to set us up with a few nights using her timeshare.  Check-in time wasn’t until four, but we decided to check and see if they would let us check-in early.  Luckily, our room was available.  We unloaded the car and sat down to check out the brochures we had picked up at one of the welcome centers on the way into town.  Through the resort discount brochure, we discovered that Collin Raye was going to be performing at a show called “Country Tonite.”  Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have given the show a second glance if it hadn’t been for him.  The discount was only to the 8pm show, but knowing how much sleep I had had and how tired I already was, I didn’t see how I would make it.  I called and asked if he would be performing at the 3pm show, and the woman said he would be.  We left and went and got tickets (6th row center!) and then went to Culver’s for lunch.  After that, it was time for the show and to be honest, I wasn’t entirely impressed with the first half of the show.  I wouldn’t say it was horrible, but it has to have been one of the weakest I’ve seen there (this was my third trip to Branson).

Collin Raye performed the second half of the show – for about an hour.  I’ve loved his music since I was in high school and he sounded incredible.  He made quite a few jokes about not being 20 years old anymore and at one point, we were actually afraid he was going to pass out after a particularly rowdy song.  His voice sounded just as wonderful as ever, though.  Even better was that they let us take photos.

After the show, we went to The Grand Country Buffet where I ate just as much as you can imagine.  Actually, I didn’t eat as much as I would have several years ago.  I do have to say that they have THE BEST chocolate chip cookies in the world and THE BEST breaded corn/cheese nugget thingies.

At this point, it was about 8pm and we did a bit of souvenir shopping in a couple of the little gift shops by the restaurant.  I bought a beautiful necklace/earring set and a Willow Tree angel for my collection.  Since we were there celebrating my birthday, I got the Celebration angel:

It was then about 8 o’clock and we were both tired, so decided to go back to our room and relax.  We ended up watching a VHS that I got on eBay of “The Phantom Tollbooth” from 1969 (I think).  The Phantom Tollbooth is my favorite book ever, but I have to say that the movie blew.

Sunday

After breakfast in the room, we went and got tickets for the Dixie Stampede later that night and tickets to The Twelve Irish Tenors on Monday (more about that later).

My mom then dropped me off at the Titanic Museum while she went and did some window shopping and got gas.  I had visited this museum on our last trip, but had felt kind of rushed through it because of our schedule.  It is honestly my favorite place in Branson.  It is billed as the world’s largest Titanic museum and contains artifacts from the real ship.  On this trip, they had also added a new gallery with costumes and other special items from the Kate and Leo movie.  It was very cool and visiting the museum is just an incredible experience.  So powerful and moving.  I’ve always been fascinated by the history of the ship, but this exhibit is overwhelming.

After the museum, we decided to grab Sonic for lunch and go back to the room and relax before the evening show.  While we ate, I conned my mom (using it being my b-day weekend) into watching some of the TV show “Moonlight” on DVD with me.  I finally finished the show tonight and want more! I LOVED IT!  Of course, it’s been canceled.

We left at about 3:30 for the Dixie Stampede, as it has a pre-show that begins about an hour before the main show.  I have to say that I would have paid $50 just to see the pre-show.  It was a comedian juggler by the name of David Lucas, who has apparently performed for three presidents, the prime minister of Canada, as well as the Queen of England.  He was HILARIOUS! And so talented.

They then herded us into the main arena.  Let me just say that the show was quite an experience.  It was more fun than I thought it would be.  It, of course, is based on the war between the North and the South and the arena is divided down the middle with one side rooting for the North and the other side rooting for the South.  Somehow, my mom and I ended up on the Southern side.  The show consists of singing, trick horseback riding, steers, all kinds of stuff.  And while you watch the show, they serve you a four-course dinner that you get to eat with your hands.  I personally was not a fan of that part of the meal, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  It was so great to see how into it the servers got.  Overall, it was a lot of fun.

After the Stampede, we went back to our room and watched some more Moonlight.

Monday

Originally, we had planned on leaving fairly early Monday morning to come back home, but I had really wanted to see The Twelve Irish Tenors live.  I had wanted to go when we were there two years ago, but we weren’t able to fit it into our schedule.  Unfortunately, the only show we could possibly make was at 3pm on Monday, so we decided to stay an extra day to see them.  I AM SO GLAD WE DID.  We really made a day of it and it was one of the most perfect days I’ve had in, well, a long, long while.

We got up and checked out of our room by 9am.  We then drove down to Branson Landing, a living/shopping area on Lake Taneycomo that we had stayed at on our last trip.  Since we had time, we decided to ride the Ducks again.  Last time, we had taken the tour from the main strip, but hadn’t been on the one that left from Branson Landing.  The first tour left at 11am, so after buying tickets, I decided to go for it and get my first professional manicure as a b-day present to myself.  It was great, other than the fact that I couldn’t understand a single word the woman said to me. 

After the manicure, we went on the Duck tour, which is always fun.  I didn’t take a picture of the Duck itself this time around, but here are a couple of pics I took while we were on Lake Taneycomo.  The second is of the Branson Landing mall/living area.  To find out more about the Ducks, click here.

The tour ended at about noon and we went to lunch at Waxy O’Shea’s Irish Pub.  We both had the Fish & Chips and it was pretty yummy.  Here’s a pic of me in front of the pub.

We then did a bit of shopping along the Landing and headed towards the theater for the show.  I was so excited!

I hit the gift shop before the show and saw that The Twelve Irish Tenors had a new CD out (I had picked up their first one when at the theater for another show on our last trip).  When I went to the register to pay, the woman working there asked me if I had ever heard them live before.  When I told her no, her response was “you are in for a treat!”  She let me know that after the show, they would be in the lobby to sign autographs.  She then said that if I was with anyone who’s birthday was coming up, that we should make sure and tell them, because they’ll sing happy birthday.  I, of course, told her that mine was the next day and she asked me what my name was so that she could listen for it.  At this point, I got excited about the idea, but didn’t want to believe it would happen or that we’d have the guts to say anything.

Anyway, the SHOW WAS AMAZING!  Truly.  Their voice were incredible and it was almost like listening to angels sing.  At the end of the last song, they ran through the auditorium, directly into the lobby to start signing autographs and meeting people.  I was a bit nervous, but my mom insisted on going first and telling them that it was my birthday when she got up there.  I didn’t hear what they said to her, but apparently they told her to make sure that we stuck around until after the signing.  In the meantime, I tried to take some pics, but it was darn near impossible to get them all.

Did I mention that some of them were really cute? ;o)  Anyway, as the last few people were going through the line, I saw the oldest member of the group start down the line whispering to each other guy and then they started singing.  Happy Birthday.  TO ME!  ;o)  It was so beautiful and the acoustics in the lobby just made it sound incredible.  It was a very surreal experience and gave me the chills.  Luckily, I got it on video!  Which, of course, I’ve watched about a trillion gazillion times and will probably watch it again when I’m done posting this.

So that was the perfect end to a perfect day and perfect weekend.  It was relaxing and fun.

Tuesday (my b-day)

After Monday, it would have been hard for my birthday to truly be spectacular.  In fact, it kinda sucked.  I got some great thoughtful gifts from my parents, but had to start off the day by mowing the yard which aggravated my allergies.  We went to lunch at Ted’s Montana Grill where I had yummy bison meatloaf and then we ran errands and went home.  We watched more Moonlight and then The Biggest Loser last night.  But my birthdays always kinda suck.  For the past several years, something has always happened for me to end up in tears.  But I really can’t complain after the weekend I had.

I somehow lost 2.3 pounds over the weekend, which I immediately turned around probably blew the night of my birthday.

Branson gets made fun of quite a bit, and I was the youngest person in the audience at quite a few of the shows, but it really is a lot of fun.  There’s so much to do that I don’t think we could ever run out of things to do and see.  We already have a list going for our next trip of things we haven’t gotten to do yet.  I know they’ll probably have a different cast, but I know The Irish Tenors will be on that list if they’re in town!