Our first US vacation - Branson, MO

Our neigbours, Jerry & Sandy, kindly invited us to go on a short vacation with them to Branson. This is a popular resort destination for Missourians & now the English as well!. It is located in Stone & Taney counties in southwest Missouri (approximately 4 hours from where we live) & was named for Rueben Branson, who was the postmaster & owner/operator of a general store in the area in the early 1880s. Branson has a number of attractions which include over 100 shows each day. It now holds the record for having the most shows in the US, beating places like Broadway & Las Vegas. Jerry & Sandy have a conversion (day) van (which is very comfortable & seats up to seven - imagine driving in a comfortable armchair & you get the idea) so we all travelled together. Since they visit the area quite regularly, they were able to show us all the really good bits of the resort in the four days that we were there.

Branson was founded in 1882 when Rueben Branson opened a general store & post office in the area. It was formerly incorporated in 1912 when construction of the Powersite Dam nearby on the White River was completed & created Lake Taneycomo (one of Branson's three lakes). In 1894 William Henry Lynch bought the Marvel Cave & charged visitors to see it. In 1950, Hugo & Mary Herschend bought the cave & began hosting televised square dances. The Herschend Family modernized the cave with electricity & concrete staircases, & in 1960, opened Silver Dollar City. This was a recreated frontier town of five shops & a church, featuring a log cabin with actors playing out the feud between the Hatfields & McCoys. Silver Dollar City is still open but is now a large theme park & was just up the road from where were staying.

In 1958, the White River was dammed again with the completion of the Table Rock Dam which created Table Rock Lake. This is the largest of the Branson Lakes & our apartment overlooked one of the 'coves'. In the late 1960's, Branson shows started. 1967 saw the Presley family move their show to the Branson 'Strip' & in 1968 the Baldknobbers also started to put on shows. In 1983 Branson started to become a major tourist attraction with the completion of the 7,500 seat Swiss Villa Amphitheatre in nearby Lampe, MO. This was later renamed the Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre & started out as a rock band venue for acts including Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon & Ozzy Osbourne. Country music fans were not left out when Roy Clark opened his 'Celebrity Theatre' (also in 1983), & in 1987 Boxcar Willie became the first entertainer with a permanent Branson schedule. The number of Branson Shows snowballed as more & more larger venues opened & along with this came many other types of entertainment (e.g. museums, shopping malls, restaurants, waterparks, golf courses, wineries, & luxury spa resorts) to keep you busy between shows.