BRANSON MO NEWS: BRANSON, Mo. — I’ve had a love affair with the Ozark Mountains for more than 20 years. Since I first breathed in those hills and hollers in northwest Arkansas, I’ve been seduced back countless times. The Ozarks feed my soul — especially in the fall when the leaves change colors.
I hadn’t visited Branson, though, since Branson Landing debuted in 2006. It’s more than worth the about 4 ½-hour drive from Oklahoma City, if you just relaxed right there at the well-appointed Hilton Branson Convention Center, as I did last month — and shopped, ate and listened to live music at the more than 100 stores and restaurants along what looks like a river but is really Lake Taneycomo, a man-made reservoir on the White River.
If you stay elsewhere in Branson, a free trolley will deliver you to the Landing. Kirkland’s and the Bass Pro Shops are there and Bass Pro’s sister restaurant, White River Fish House, which juts out on the water. I had catfish and jalapeno cornbread that was delicious.
The locals have a saying that “No one starves in Branson.” They ain’t kidding.
A few blocks opposite Branson Landing is historic downtown Branson with two breakfast choices — institutions really: The Farmhouse Restaurant and Clockers Cafe, where you can enjoy a hearty ham, grits and biscuit kind of day-starter. If there’s a wait, no worry. Pop into the charming 100-year-old dime store next door — Dick’s 5 & 10 — to view the owner’s arrowhead collections, World War II prints signed by guys who flew them and other displays, or buy a toy cap gun, a Golden book, chiffon scarf or specialty soda. The store literally is packed with a mix of nostalgic and funky/quirky stuff.
Back to good eats. It’s mostly not the rides that annually draw millions of visitors to Silver Dollar City, but the 60 craft …
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