Branson Chronicles, Pt. 2!
If you peeped my last post, you'll know my family was in Branson this past weekend!
Due to not having my camera cord with me when I made the last post, I ended up posting my outfit from day 2 in Branson before day 1. But here's my photo dump and outfit from day 1!
On day 1, our first stop was the Branson Hollywood Wax Museum. We had all sorts of fun meeting some "famous people." Kelly was eaten by King Kong, Dad looked for falling feathers and begged forgiveness, I contemplated snakes on a plane, met my new husband, and beamed out.
Attached to the Wax Museum is their Mini Golf. We opted to try our hand at a round, and I'm not sure whose rank was what, but of course, Dad won. He actually plays golf, unlike the rest of us. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, besides aiming for the hole, ha! I was totally content to pose with all the goofy structures in the course.
We then headed down to Main Street for a little bit of shopping! We wanted to hit the flea market and thrift shops. We ventured through three, I think, and I managed to find something at all of them! I'm dangerous like that. In one shop I found a wall-mount bottle opener shaped like a mermaid and in another shop called Weezie's Upscale Resale I found a wonderful trapeze-style dress. I liked how fancy Weezie's felt, but, being in customer service/retail myself, I was quite off-put by the woman working the counter. She was speaking to someone in a earpiece walkie-talkie, and was clearly having a discussion about someone's poor behavior that customers should probably not be overhearing. The only thing she said to me was something like "Have a good day, hon!" as she handed me the bag as I turned to leave. Rather awkward. My next stop was The Classy Flea, owned by Diane & Sally, as their card says. I mistook an empty water bottle inside a cowboy boot for trash and handed it to one of the owners (I apologize, I don't remember who was Sally and who was Diane!). She laughed and told me it was to help the boot stand up, oops! At their shop I ended up scoring quite a few amazing records for a total of $25! I hit the motherload! I'm still in the baby stages of collecting a little bit of vinyl here and there, so I think snatching up 7 records for only $25 is agreeable! Diane & Sally were both super sweet when I rang out and wrapped my records all up in a sturdy bubble wrap mailer to carry home in. We chatted about tattoos all the while. After the strange customer service at Weezie's, Diane & Sally were a breath of fresh, real air.
That night we headed to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede for dinner and the show. On the way in from the parking lot, we came the riders dismounting their horses from the 5:30pm showing. One rider named Stephen Brown was kind enough to pause for a quick photo. I'd totally borrow that jacket sometime. SEQUINS GALORE. I caught up with Stephen quickly after the show to ask if it was okay to post his picture on the blog, and he kindly agreed. He told me he's studying Equine Management at North Central Missouri College. When I tried to test out my rusty horse knowledge and asked if his horse was a Dun, I failed because Cody, the pretty steed you see next to Stephen, is a Buckskin. Learn something new every day!
The show itself was very enjoyable! I honestly hadn't done any research ahead of time. I do love a live theater production of any sort. The fact that I was able to eat dinner and watch it all was pretty cool too. And yes, you do have to eat with your hands at Dixie Stampede, but it wasn't as hard as it sounds. The rotisserie chicken fell right apart. I have to admit, the food was really great! I wouldn't have expected it to be as crazy tasty as it turned out to be - you have to factor in that the kitchen has to provide for 1,096 (I think that's what our server Sabrina said the arena sits) patrons! Yowza. And mad props to Sabrina for being a total sweetheart. I'm not accustomed to 99% of the people you meet on vacation being really super duper nice. Branson excelled at that. We weren't allowed to take photographs inside the arena, so I unfortunately can't show you any of the cool acts or tricks. And GUYS there were real live bison in the arena! They're so cute in person! And one decided it was time to take a dust bath and started wiggling around on the ground and I about died from adorableness overload. I always enjoy good ol' audience member involvement, and it turns out the seat right in front of me was picked for that. A fellah by the name of Mike ended up having to participate in the toilet seat toss, which is basically an over-sized horse shoe toss game. I liked that the show tried to really appeal to all audience members - there was the politically correct nod to Native American heritage, some comic relief via a classic clowning character (Not a CLOWN, a clown character. You should know the difference if you know theater at all.), dancing southern belles with light up dresses, and of course the lumberjack games, which you know I totally enjoyed. Roll them sleeves up, boys, and show off those biceps! I would definitely say check out Dixie Stampede if you're curious and plan on hitting Branson.
We headed home after that and I found the willpower to hit the tiny gym/weight room on campus at our resort. I haven't been in a GYM since I graduated college in 2011, I think! I can't afford them, and none that are even remotely affordable are near to either my workplace or home. That's why I posted HERE about working out at home and all the fun videos I do on youtube... for free! Luckily, the gym was empty because I traipsed in at 10:45pm on a Friday. I really need to be better about packing all potentially necessary things on trips - I managed to bring a pair of capri leggings and a tank with a built in sports bra, but no sneakers... so I just walked on an elliptical and pedaled on a stationary bike in flip flops. So not safe, I bet. Whoopsies.
I have so much I could write, but it's getting late and I have a blogger breakfast to attend in the morning at the Saint Louis Galleria's West Elm location! Exciting!
Thanks for reading, lovelies!
Outfit Details:
Daisy Tee: Rue21 (super sale section in store)
Sunglasses: Rue21
Necklace: Avalon Exchange
Bracelets: maurices
Earrings: maurices
Handbag: Years ago, thrifted
Nails: Sally Hansen nail stickers purchased super sale at Walgreens