Seven days in Branson, Missouri. I have driven through Missouri once, that I remember, as a child, but this was the first trip here for my guy, and the boy, and really for me since I had only driven through before.
We had every intention on leaving Tennessee no later than 8 a.m. with a quick stop for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel – a favorite of mine when we are traveling out of state, since that is really the only time we go. As we were sitting, waiting for our server, I had this strange flashback of the last time we went to Cracker Barrel, must have been last February when we were headed to NM to ski. Anyway, after waiting and waiting for someone to come take our drink and food order, it seemed to me that we must be invisible to Cracker Barrel employees because this was the same thing that happened last time we came! We waited and waited while servers walked by and around us as if we weren’t there. I guess I was the impatient one, because I was ready to leave, but my guy calmly said that it would take longer to leave, find another place, and wait all over again. So we waited a bit longer and then my guy finally got the manager’s attention. Clearly by now, our plans for leaving early were ruined.
We finally got on our way, we may have to rethink our Cracker Barrel while traveling stop next trip, however. It was a great drive, it should have only taken about six hours, but we wanted to see a real live medieval castle being built in the Ozarks. My dad told us about this place so I got online to get the whereabouts. I kind of figured that we would only be walking around and that there wasn’t much currently going on since the website said construction was on hold due to financial reasons, and the phone was disconnected, plus nobody emailed back with any info. Knowing all of this, we still wanted to see it. The construction of it is as if it were being built in medieval times, no modern building conveniences at all. Plus, I love to look at real live castles!
I joked as our recently downloaded google maps app sent us to someone’s driveway, that it would be really funny if the grounds were completely inaccessible and we would only be able to slowly drive by, and look at it from afar. Google maps readjusted for the error, and a short mile farther down the road, we found the location and a big huge log blocking the entrance, completely, with no way at all to see the actual castle or even drive by. Bummer! I guess we could have parked off of the road and walked in – I don’t recall any no trespassing signs – but by this time, it was almost dark. This will just have to be a sight for another time, on another trip where we find ourselves driving though the Ozarks.
Thirty minutes later, we made it to Branson, checked in to our hotel, had dinner, and called it a night.
I might add that our dog friendly accommodations for the first night were nothing less than what we would have expected at a decent hotel. The room was clean and very accommodating, it was a good experience for us all!
Rejoice for the Day 