Day 4 - November 6, 2026

 Today would be our last day.  We had breakfast at the hotel and loaded up luggage and ourselves on the bus at 9:15 a.m.

During the four days we were at the hotel, the staff was slowly transforming itself for Christmas.

Our last show of the trip was Hot Rods and High Heels.  It was produced by Clay Cooper's wife and son and featured music from the 50's.  It was great.  We loved it.

A member of the audience was pulled into being a part of the show.

Another member of the audience participating in the show.  After this show, we went to MacFarlands for lunch and a short time of shopping before getting on the bus and heading home.  Just outside of Lebanon, Missouri, we stopped at a Case Knife Factory Store.  Carol and I were pleasantly surprised to find out that the store was more than just knives. There was an assortment of houseware items and gifts.

We stopped in Fenton, Missouri, at Wally's.  Wally's is a smaller version of Buc-cees.  We all brought sandwiches, etc for our supper.  This was the only meal we brought ourselves on this trip.

This vintage RV was inside Wally's displaying snacks.

This picture of the Arch was taken at night from the bus.  I thought I should end the trip like I started it.

REVIEW OF OUR FIRST-EVER BUS TRIP

In one word:  AWESOME!
The shows were entertaining and enjoyable.
The restaurants were very good with one exception.
Our fellow travelers were very nice.  Some of them had taken other Farm Bureau trips together so it was like family.  Those who had traveled on bus trips before embraced us and took us into their family.
The hotel we stayed in was wonderful, clean, comfortable.
The trip was well organized.
Everything was well thought out even to the money supplied for shopping and one meal.
It was wonderful to leave the driving to Rick our driver.  
I guess the important question is:  would we take another one?   YES!!
A book of the trips planned for 2027 will be available December 1.  I am going to make sure I get one.  We will check them all out and, hopefully, will be able to take another one.

Day 3 - November 5

This would be our longest day of the trip.  We had to be on the bus at 7:15 a.m. to leave for breakfast at Billy Gail's Restaurant.

Branson is very veteran-friendly.  At every show the veterans are asked to stand to be recognized.  Next week is Veterans' Day and Branson is geared up to celebrate veterans.

Interior shots of Billy Gails.

After breakfast we went to the Tangier Shopping Outlet.  Before leaving the bus, each person was given $20 to spend at the outlet.  Unlike the Tangier Outlet in Tuscola, every store building was occupied.  The weather was beautiful so we walked around.  I spent my $20 on a new top.

We went from this shopping area to Branson Landing and lunch at Paula Deen's Restaurant.

This is the interior of the restaurant.  This picture also shows one of the two sister's who sat behind us and the funny man Dennis.  We shared a table with them.

Food was served family-style.  Large bowls of food were brought to our table and we passed them around taking what we wanted.  If we emptied the bowl, another bowl would be brought.  Our meal for the day was:  Fried Chicken, Roast Beef and Rice, Broccoli and Cheese Casserole, Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Corn, Slaw, and Cheddar Cheese Rolls.  All were delicious.  Dessert was either Coconut or  Apple Pie.  Again, delicious!

After the meal we tried to walk off our lunch by walking Branson Landing Outdoor Mall.  This is the water fountain that is a show with fireworks in the evening.

This is the Sight and Sound Show Theater.  It was a packed house for The Miracle of Christmas.  After the show, we had a quick supper at a Culver's nearby.  This would be the third meal today with two being huge.  Carol and I only got an ice cream sundae.  We were given $10 each to purchase our meal.  The staff at Culver's were fantastic to efficiently take and deliver our orders.  Betty, our guide, commended the manager for the way the staff handled the 45 customers who decended on their business all at once.

Our last show of the day was Yakov Smirhoff.

  

Yakov loves America.  When he became an American Citizen, he held a small statue of the Statue of Liberty as he was being sworn in.  He has never lost that deep love for this country.  It was refreshing to hear him speak so positively of this country.  

He is pretending to be the president.  He was very funny.

He is telling about the first Christmas he and his family celebrated in America.  He told how his family had scrapped together $26 to buy food for  Christmas dinner and small gifts for each other.  When he and his father went out to make the purchases, the money was stolen from them.  They had nothing left.  On the way home they spoke to a policeman, taxi driver and someone on the street about what had just happened.
As they began to celebrate Christmas without dinner or a gift, there was a knock on the door and outside was the policeman who gave them $26; he was followed by the taxi driver who did the same; and the street person also give them $26.  They had a wonderful Christmas celebration because of the generosity of American citizens helping the poor Russian immigrant family.  He said he loves America!

We got back to the hotel about 11:00 feeling tired but happy.  It was a good day of eating, shopping, shows, and good companions.

 

Day 2 - November 4, 2026

 We were up early for breakfast at the hotel.  It was a nice hot breakfast with a good variety of choices.  We were on the bus at 9:30 for the drive to the Hughes Brothers' Show at 10:00.  

We loved the Hughes Brothers.  It is a show comprised of 103 family members who sing, dance, play many musical instruments.

Their show was entirely a Christmas show.  I loved this part where Santa kneels at the manger.  The baby is one of the younger Hughes Family members.

A variety of ages of the family can be seen in this picture.

Even the youngest Hughes Family members can sing and take part.

I took this picture of a picture of the entire Hughes Family on display in the lobby.

This Santa hat is a record setter.  It is the largest Santa hat in the world at this time.  It is resting on the head of an octopus advertising an aquarium.  We were told that it took a crane to put it on the head of the octopus.
We ate lunch at the Down Home Country Buffet.  It was a great buffet with a large salad bar and food line from which to choose.  No one left hungry.

After lunch we attended the New Jersey Nights Show.  It was a show featuring all Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons music.  We enjoyed all the songs but the production wasn't the quality of the two previous shows we had seen.

Next stop was The Titantic Exhibition.

When you enter the Titantic, you are given a card with a name of a passenger and information about them and their trip.  Fortunately, the names Carol and I were given survived the sinking of the Titantic.  This is the famous grand staircase into the first class passengers' main lobby.

The wheel of the Titantic.

The door from the movie on which Rose and Jack clung.

After touring the Titantic Exhibition, we ate supper at Heroes Restaurant located beside the Titantic.  It was our least favorite meal and would not eat there should we return to Branson.

The Clay Cooper Theatre was located directly across the street from Heroes but they loaded up the bus and drove us across the street because the highway that separates the two businesses was too busy to risk our walking.  I liked that they had thought of every small detail of the trip like this one.

One of the best parts of the Clay Cooper show was his interaction with the members of the audience.  He went into the audience and choose April to come up on the stage and sit in the porch swing to sing the song "Just a Swingin."  Before the song, he talked with April about her life, things she liked, etc.  It was very funny and sweet.

All of Clay Cooper's family are involved in the show.
This is Clay, his wife, Tina, and his two sons, Colton and Kaden.  He has a daughter, Cassidy, who is in charge of the technical part of the show but didn't appear in the show.

After the show we made our way out to the parking lot to find our bus among the 23 parked there.  We got back to the hotel at 10:30.  It was a long day but we enjoyed it.  Tomorrow we have to be on the bus at 7:15 because we are going to eat breakfast at Billy Gail's.  We have been hearing about the pancakes size of a small pizza and tomorrow we will actually see one.

Branson Bus Trip - November 3 - Day 1

We sold the motorhome in early summer.  We were so sad to sell it but it was time.  Now how were we going to do the traveling we loved so much?  We decided to try a bus tour.  The Macon County Farm Bureau plans several bus tours a year so we decided to give one of them a try.  The husband of the lady who plans and guides the tours is the janitor at the mall.  I would see him every Thursday when my friend, Brenda, and I do our Bible Study and walk at the mall.  He brought me a booklet listing all the trips for 2026.  Carol and I looked through the list and decided to take the Branson trip.  It would only be four days so we thought that would be a good trial to see if we would enjoy traveling in this way.  So here we go on our first-ever bus tour.

The bus began loading at 6:30 a.m.  
After everyone was loaded, the bus driver led us in prayer for a safe trip.  We also went over rules of the bus.  We were sitting in the second to last seat on the driver's side.  That would be our assigned seats for the entire trip.  We had some very nice and interesting people sitting around us.  The couple in front of us were newlyweds.  Both had lost their spouses but together they were married a total of 73 years.  The couple across from us were very funny.  The guy, Dennis, kept us in stories and stitches the whole trip.  The ladies behind us were sisters.  One lived in Decatur and one near Olney.  We are several meals with them.  In the span of the next four days we would meet other very nice people.  

The sky as we left Decatur.  It did rain as we drove through Missouri.  

To pass the time, we played Bingo.  Prizes of $10 gift certificates to a choice of Cracker Barrell, Chick-fil-A or Culvers were awarded as people bingoed.  Neither one of us had a Bingo.

The Gateway Arch from the bus.
Asd we traveled, they passed around a basket of snacks from which we could chose.  They also carried ice chests filled with bottled water.

We stopped for lunch at Lambert's Cafe, the home of the the throwed rolls.  We sat with Jerry, Marsha, and Marsha's brother Jerry.  The brother was 92 years old.  It was very enjoyable sharing this meal with them.  We love Lambert's.  Carol had gizzards, and I had chicken salad and of course all the pass-arounds and throwed rolls.  We were surprised to learn that all meals were included in the original cost of the trip.  At Lambert's they let us chose anything from the menu.

We stayed at The Element near the main strip in Branson.  It was a fairly new hotel.  As shown in this picture, the room was large and comfortable.

We each received a nice travel bag from Farm Bureau.  It is insulated and will be nice for other trips, long and short as a carryon.

Supper was pizza, salad, and breadsticks served in the suite of the guide and her husband, Betty and Mark.  We took the food and ate it in our room.  It was very good.

At 7:00 p.m. we loaded up on the bus and drove to see the Haygood Show.  We were told that there were 23 tour buses at the show that night and that the show was sold out for the next 45 nights.  I would say it is a very popular show;

The first song of the show was "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Richie.  One of the Haygoods, came flying on a wire near the ceiling as they sang.  The Haygoods are five brothers and one sister who sing and play a variety of musical instuments.  The first half of the show was traditional music and the second half was Christmas music.

The sister played the harp during the Christmas part of the show.

Here some of the brothers are tap dancing and playing different types of drums.

A brother playing the bass.

It was a wonderful show and a great way to start the trip.  We returned to our hotel very tired and ready for some rest.  From looking at the schedule, tomorrow will be very busy.