Branson, MO

We are only midway through our stay in Branson and, so far, it is well worth the trip. We missed several of our favorite "oldies", as they have chosen our vacation time to take their own - so Andy Williams, and Bobby Vinton, the Lennon Sisters (from Lawrence Welk) and even Shoji Tabuchi is off relaxing this week. Who? He's sort of a made-in-Branson star who apparantly puts on one hell of a show. We even missed Paul Revere and the Raiders because we were just too tired to get out for our first night and their last performance here.
So, what to do? Well, we decided that we did not want to see the imitation acts - the Elvis impersonators, the Liverpool Lads, the "salute to the 60s" etc. We'd prefer original performers - so last night we went to see Jim Stafford. Like other performers here, he had one big hit in the 70s called "Spiders and Snakes", but apparantly made enough money to buy himself a theater. He , and his two children, do some music; he's an incredible guitar player; and a sort-of stand-up comedy - "Welcome to Branson. That's an old Indian word for 'bumper-to-bumper'" he explains, referring to the tendency here to wait through several changes of traffic lights out on "the strip". Earlier, we were treated to some more downhome Southern "hillbilly" humor when we explored the Homestead at "Shepherd of the Hills", an historic site that was the basis for the best selling novel that I'd never really heard of until I got here. But I'm told that it is the fourth best-seller in the US, and it was the basis of four movies. It is also the basis for one of those huge outdoor dramas, with 100 actors and live animals telling the tale. We'll see the show on Friday, but meantime we explored the site and took a trip up Inspiration Tower, a 230 foot high extension above the Ozarks, looking down on "Mutton Hollow" and the Bald Knob - a treeless hill whose name will be significant later. From the enclosed viewing area, we were alongside a few turkey vultures and actually looked down on a red shouldered hawk flying by!
Bald Knob gives its name to a group of vigilantes who ruled the area in the post Civil War days and also to another musical comedy act that was one of the first performers in the developing Branson entertainment area.