It’s been a while since I posted, and for that I apologize. We’ve been busy here helping Michael’s parents (I’m pretty sure they know us by name at the Fayetteville Whole Foods), as well as researching assisted living facilities and then visiting a few.
But this weekend Michael and I had a little getaway to Branson, Missouri, and a little place called Silver Dollar City. See, Michael’s aunt and uncle live in Branson, and even have a little apartment that they rent out as a B&B – and they offered it to us for the weekend.
This is Richard and Bambi, and they are super generous. Because in addition to letting us stay at their B&B for the weekend, they also took us out for sushi! Sooo good. So we’re all in agreement that Richard and Bambi are awesome!
I’ve been to Silver Dollar City, an 1880’s-style theme park, only once before. It was fun – people dress in period costumes and you can see actual blacksmiths and glassblowers. Plus there’s funnel cake!
This time around I was super excited to get to see the Christmas lights, and I was not disappointed.
I decided to skip Paleo eating for one night and Michael and I positively demolished a funnel cake while we waited for the tree lighting show. Yummy! Even though I did feel pretty guilty while eating it.
The Christmas tree there was truly spectacular. Choreographed to music, it was a real crowd-pleaser. If you follow us on Instagram you can see the footage Michael took.
After the tree lighting, I was all jacked up on sugar so we took a stroll around. Silver Dollar City is actually quite large, and hilly, and there were lights everywhere. We had a blast and even went on a couple of roller coasters.
After 6pm we started looking for a good place to stand. The reason? The Christmas parade, of course!
As you can see, the parade is quite popular. I found a rock wall to stand on to get my pictures. And what a parade! Floats, toy soldiers, and (of course) Santa.
The next day we checked out Branson. It rained so we didn’t walk around too much, but we did find Michael a new ballcap (he lost his last one sailing at Beaver Lake).
Dinner was sushi, as I mentioned earlier, at Momo Sushi & Grill. And after that, Richard and Bambi took us to a show: Million Dollar Quartet. It’s a musical about the one night when Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis were all together in a recording studio at Sun Records, and had a massive jam session. It was a fabulous show, and for me the highlight was the fact that all those guys actually played their instruments – the guy playing Jerry Lee Lewis even hit the high notes with his foot!
On our way home on Sunday, we stopped by Table Rock Dam and their visitor center. Great timing – we got to see the Branson Belle, an 1890s-style paddle wheel showboat that offers daily cruises.
So a massive thank-you to Richard and Bambi for showing us such a great time at Branson. You two are awesome!