I don’t normally do a ton of personal posts, but I’m still on a bit of a happy high from this trip, so I thought I’d share.  This past weekend my husband and I took a little vacation to Branson MO.  When I was growing up, my family vacationed there at least twice a year, so it holds a very special place in my heart.  Also, anyone who knows me well knows that I’m a 70 year old at heart, so I totally fit in with the crowd 🙂  Friday we left in the morning, to drive down.  Once we hit town we went down to the Branson Landing, which is a shopping/food area right down by Lake Taneycomo.  I love going down here because I have so many memories of fishing with my grandpa; granted, at that time it was just a blank shoreline.  We grabbed some lunch, and I bought a super cute red gingham vest at Bass Pro (see below photo).  As we drove down the main strip of Branson I recalled our favorite shows, restaurants or shopping areas.  We even stopped at a couple of them just to look around.  After we’d finished our drive, we headed to check in at the hotel, The Bradford Inn.  This place is my favorite!!  It has amazing views of Branson, every room is designed differently, and the hospitality is amazing.  The whole thing is a family affair, and you feel like you’re part of the family for breakfast every morning.  Plus, this time, our room had an amazing jetted tub!!  After settling in, and a short unintentional nap, we went to dinner at McFarlain’s, and then saw “Fantastic Beasts” at the IMAX.  It was a busy day, but so fun.

Saturday morning we spent the entire day at Silver Dollar City!  SDC is an theme park, with an ole’ timey feel that I love!  When I started going years ago it didn’t have near as many rides, so I sometimes forget that part exists now.  I love it because I love the music, the artisans, and the feel of the whole place.  We had pretty good timing and were able to catch almost all of the artisan demonstrations, including a blacksmith, the making of peanut brittle, and amazing glass blowing.  It’s really so interesting to watch these amazing people who are so talented in their craft do their thing.  We also wandered around, shopped, watched shows, enjoyed the pretty lights and had loads of wassel (a spiced cider drink) that kept us warm.  SDC has such a special place in my heart that even just being there makes me so happy.  I loved being able to share this special place with my husband, and start making new memories with him.

Sunday was time to go home, but we stopped at the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery on our way out of town.  As a part of the Missouri Department of Conservation, every year tens of thousands of trout are bred and raised in this hatchery to be released in the surrounding lakes.  This process keeps up the trout population for the sake of the environment and fishermen alike.  The fun part about visiting the hatchery is that you can spend a whopping $.25 to feed the fish!  It was a pretty fun thing to end our trip on, before we loaded back up to come home.  Here are a few photos from the trip, taken with my iPhone because I don’t like to work on vacation 🙂

It was a short trip, but a refreshing one before we head into the holiday season.  I’m back to work today, and have lots to do this week before Thanksgiving so I can spend time with family.  I cannot believe that we are so close to Christmas!!!  As a side note, remember that all Christmas orders need to be in by Nov 28th (next Monday) to assure they will be to you by Christmas!!