Another year when no children are home for Thanksgiving so Jim and I take advantage of this by going on a trip. Branson is becoming a destination of choice. We were there two years ago and again this year. It's a good thing we had a family Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago so we could enjoy traditional foods. This year making the 7 hour drive down my Thanksgiving noon meal consisted of a slice of sausage pizza from Casey's. That night we had what turned out to be a surprisingly expensive buffet meal (but delicious) before going to our first of three shows.
The Branson area has the beauty of deciduous forests and pines along with its rock formation, great entertainment and shopping. The lighted soldier was in front of our motel. We saw three shows this year: The Duttons are always our first choice. We also saw SIX (an all a cappella 6 brothers) group that were very very good. We also went to The Miracle of Christmas (a musical). There are no words to describe how fabulous that was. That alone was worth the 7 hour drive.
We spent part of a day driving into Arkansas to visit the Pea Ridge National Military Park (a civil war battlefield). That was very interesting. On our way back to Branson we stopped at the College of the Ozarks. This is a college where none of the students pay tuition and all work at their choice of 80 different jobs on campus. We ate supper there. They really decorate for the holidays. It was a beautiful setting and the food was excellent. Our waiter was from Nebraska and we had an interesting conversation with him about the college. The College of the Ozarks is also known as Hard Work U. The dining hall is a well kept secret. If you're ever in the area, stop and eat there. You won't be disappointed.
Next week will hopefully bring the Christmas decorations out from the basement.
