Tuesday, July 23, 2019

BRANSON, MO 2019 | PART 2

It's time for Part 2 of our Branson vacay!  Y'all, this vacation was not our typical relaxing vacation.  We went hard the whole week and were doing one fun thing after another.  And I did come home feeling like I needed a vacation from my vacation.  Cliche, I know, but so true.

In case you missed Days 1 & 2, go back HERE, check it out and then come back.  All caught up?  Let's move on to Days 3 and 4!


We woke up on Day 3 with a plan. Ok, I had a plan.  The rest of my family was clueless and just waits for me to tell them what we're doing next. Haha.

But I had booked us tickets for a super cool looking Jet Boat Tour at noon that left from Branson Landing, so we left the condo around 10:45 and made our way over.  I watched videos of the tour online and it looked like so much fun!  It's this big speed boat that does all the fun maneuvers and spins and dips while giving us a tour along the way and getting us a little wet!  We were excited!

I had never been to Branson Landing before but it reminded me of a mini Disney Springs.  It was full of shops, great restaurants and fun stuff for kids and it was right on Lake Taneycomo so lots of the restaurants had pretty views of the water.


It was also empty when we arrived.  I'm guessing it gets pretty lively at night though.  It would make for a great date night or somewhere fun to bring the family for a yummy meal, snowcones or Dippin' Dots for dessert and a run through the arcade or Mirror Maze.


We checked in with our tour and had some time to kill so the boys honed in on the snow cone stand.  #butofcourse


And this Arcade was trying to draw my kids in and it wasn't fighting fair.  They had this strawberry scent that floated out into the street and I thought it was a genius marketing tactic.  Everyone wanted to know where that smell was coming from and it would lead you straight to the open doors of the arcade.  


While the guys were eating their snow cones, we checked out the sky...


...and it was not looking good.  Dark clouds were rolling in and I knew that didn't bode well for a boat tour.


Within minutes, we went from this...


...to this.


We hid under the awning of a store while we waited for the rain stop.  After about 30 minutes, it stopped and we all came out from our hiding places to see...#allthefog.


The lake was literally one giant cloud.  It was a crazy sight!  (I have video of all of this in my "Branson" Highlights on my Instagram page HERE.)


We looked down at our lonely boat and knew we weren't going anywhere.


Mason was bummed.


They rebooked us on the 2:00 tour so we grabbed a bite to eat at Landsharks down the way.  It was still raining off and on so we crossed our fingers it would be gone by the time we were through with our lunch.



Our lunch spot got high marks!  This was a great pick if you need a restaurant rec for Branson Landing.  Mason got the nachos.  This kid eats like a full-grown man these days.


I tried to stick my Keto diet when I could/wanted during this vacation and at this point, I happened to want a big ole Caeser salad (minus the croutons) which is keto-friendly.  Yay!


I snapped this pic of Craig's fish tacos but LOL at his face.


And Matthew is the king of chicken strips and french fries.  Sigh.


After lunch, we took our time strolling back towards the pier to see what the call was going to be for our tour.  Unfortunately, the radar wasn't looking good and our captain agreed.  We rebooked one more time for that coming Friday and headed back to the condo as the skies opened up and it started to pour.


I wasn't hating it though.  I grabbed my Kindle and a blanket (it was the tiniest bit chilly) and headed to the balcony.  This may not have been the smartest decision because there was a lot of lightning happening over the lake and at one point, it must have hit pretty close to us because the boom was HUGE.  I scampered inside after that one.  (Currently on my Kindle--my 3rd Kirsty Greenwood book!)


We laid around for a few hours until the rain finally started clear.  We didn't want the day to be a waste so we jumped in the car to spend a few more hours at Silver Dollar City.  It was cool, it was overcast and y'all, this dang place was practically EMPTY.  We had 3 hours before they closed and we soaked it up!

The boys picked out these handmade wooden bats with their names and numbers engraved into them as their souvenirs for the trip.  As far as souvenirs go, these were pretty awesome!


Again. So empty.


We jumped on all our favorite rides and then ended with the Time Traveler.  We LOVED this ride and rode it back to back to back until it was time to finally head to the gates.





I wish I could have gone in this little Christmas Shop but it's probably best we didn't have time.  I'm sure I could have done some major damage in there.


We DID have time for a funnel cake though!  Mason kept swatting our hands away. 😂  (Yes, I had a few bites.  Definitely not keto-friendly but I cheated within reason on vacay.)


We took some time to talk about our favorite rides and ones we weren't all that fond of.  Top rides?

Wildfire, Powder Keg, The Barn Swing, Time Traveler.

One to avoid?  Outlaw Run.  We rode it the day before and it's an incredible wooden roller coaster, y'all but I swear to you, it almost snapped my neck.  There are no headrests on the backs of the seats.  They come up to about your shoulders and with how fast it goes, the G-force threw my head all the way back (like back of head hit back of neck...) and then threw it all the way forward.  TWICE.  I was scared to death it was going to snap my neck.  An easy fix would be to add taller backs like on all the other roller coasters.  This thing even went upside down.  You know how they always say to "keep your arms and legs inside and keep your head back" right before the coaster takes off?  There's a reason for that!  But it's impossible on this ride since there's nothing but air back there.  Needless to say, my neck was insanely sore the next few days.

Also worth noting, Craig and the boys didn't have the neck thing happen to them but they all agreed they'd never want to ride it again.  For the record, a ton of other people love this ride so maybe we're the weirdos.

The park closed at 7 so we kept the fun going by heading back to The Strip and hitting up The Track!  There are many, many go-kart places and fun parks on The Strip.  We randomly picked this place because it looked big and it had all the things we wanted.  Go-karts (a classic track that even Mason could ride solo on) and a fast track with 4 levels, bumper boats, bumper cars, an arcade and a Ferris Wheel.  It also had some kiddie rides that were perfect for the really young kids.



When we all got our turn on the fast track, Craig and Mason's kart ended up with a flat tire after one lap!  They got a second turn though.


Mason was still pretty bummed he was the only one too short to drive on the fast track.


The sun started to set and the Ferris Wheel looked so pretty all lit up!


When it was fully dark, they even did a little light show to music which I watched while the boys waited to ride the bumper boats.



Best decision of the entire vacation was NOT partaking in the bumper boats. Hahaha.  The attendant let them ride for at least 15 minutes and by the time they got done they were ALL SOAKED.  And it was already starting to get a little chilly.  So now they were all drenched AND cold.  And we had one towel in the car so they all shared.


After a pit stop at the car for the towel, they decided to try out the bumper cars and managed to convince me to ride too.  There are 3 things here that I'm not a fan of when on vacation.  

1. Arcades.  2. Bumper boats (unless it's incredibly hot) and 3. Bumper cars.

My neck was already sore from that stupid roller coaster the day before and let me tell you, this did not help.  I spent the majority of the time driving away from people and trying to hide.  😂


The boys wanted to go again for a second time so we sat and waited for them and then walked over to a little pizza buffet next door for a late dinner.


And then we were dunzo.  Back to the condo and straight to bed.

On Day 4 we awoke to bright, sunny skies which was perfect because it was our LAKE DAY!

Mason was excited and in rare form...


We rented a pontoon boat from Indian Point Marina, packed some food and drinks and headed out around 10am.




The lake was gorgeous and the views were picturesque.



These 2 couldn't wait to go tubing!


They rode together at first and then each took a turn by themselves.



Pontoon boats don't go super fast so they were able to show off a little.  Haha.


They preferred riding together though which I thought was so cute.  I love these boys!



We spent 4 hours on the water and at least 3.5 hours of that was spent with the boys on the tube.  Mom's note to self:  Apply sunscreen to the backs of kids' legs before tubing for 3.5 hours.  Whoops.

We left the marina a little after 2, stopped off at the condo for a few minutes to put away food and then it was time for a few hours at the waterpark!  


The water park in Branson is called White Water and I would rate it a 5 on a scale from 1-10.  There are a few fun slides, a wave pool, splash pad, kiddie areas...but it wasn't our favorite park ever.  We spent about 3 hours there and that was plenty.




We ended our night by ordering food from the restaurant at the resort and then Craig took the boys to the game room to try to teach them how to play pool.



They've got a lot of practicing to do.  😂


And while they were doing that, I was doing this.


It was a great way to end Day 4.

Don't forget that you can find a ton of videos from our trip in my Branson Highlights on InstagramI'll be back with the third and final installment of our trip soon!
And as always, you can find me over in the Daily Deals group today with all the best sales, deals and fun finds!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

UPDATE:  You can head straight to Part 3 HERE.


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7 comments

  1. Oh my goodness! You did so many fun things!!! What a fun trip, Amanda!

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  2. You guys are knocking Branson out of the park! I love it!!!

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  3. The one ride you should have ridden.. Runaway Mountain Coaster & Flyaway. It was off the strip on highway 165 south only about 1.5 miles from the Titanic. You must ride it on your next trip.

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    1. Yes!! It was on our list of things to do and the rain messed us up!! We were going to stop on the way back from the Jet Boat Tour but it was pouring! And then we never had time to squeeze it in before we left. The boys are dying to go back so I'm going to make sure we do that next time! Thanks!

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  4. Promised Land Zoo is a HUGE MUST!! Pet a sloth or play with Lemurs. Feed Camel, Zebra and more! So many cool animals and the VIP tours are a must! Best thing in Branson!

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    1. I'm making a note of it for next time! Thanks!

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  5. Lake day looks like a huge hit with the boys!

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