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<\/a>Sunset at Top of the Rock<\/p><\/div>\n
For this blog, the alcohol is bootleg moonshine, and the music is from the Dillards<\/strong>, my favorite bluegrass band from Salem, Missouri.<\/p>\n We got a taste, literally, of the Ozarks<\/strong>, on our way from the Springfield<\/strong> airport to Branson<\/strong> when we stopped for dinner at Lambert\u2019s Caf\u00e9<\/strong>, an institution in the Ozarks since 1942, where you get your hot dinner rolls from the server standing on the other side of the dining room and throwing them to you!\u00a0 A good thing we could catch, or part of our dinner would have ended up on the floor, maybe that would have been better, the food was not that great!<\/p>\n The \u2019Great Eight\u2019s\u2019<\/strong> (the Budds, Sagers, VanBoxmeers and Sparrows) first full day in Branson brought us to the historic Table Top Golf Course<\/strong> \u2013 a par three course that one can only walk, no carts, and it has only 13 holes!<\/strong>\u00a0 They surely didn\u2019t run out of real estate, so I\u2019m guessing no one was counting the holes when they were building the course.\u00a0 After the round we stopped at the \u201814th<\/sup> hole\u2019 for cocktails.\u00a0 It was a perfect weather day and for some reason our scores were much lower!<\/p>\n Heading out on Table Top Lake<\/p><\/div>\n The next day was spent on a rented outboard pontoon boat, cruising Table Rock Lake<\/strong> and having lunch on the lake on another picturesque day.\u00a0 I suppose the weather gods were making it up to me for that lousy Alaskan weather!<\/p>\n Day Three was back to The Top of the Rock<\/strong> for another round of golf at Ozarks National<\/strong>, the score doesn\u2019t matter, it was another perfect weather day.\u00a0 After golf we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening experiencing the picturesque golf cart tour<\/strong> which included a cave, with a drive-up bar in it, amazing rock and waterfall features and spectacular views of the valley and lake below.\u00a0 That was followed by a beautiful sunset ceremony at Big Cedar Lodge<\/strong> including the firing of a cannon and the playing of bag pipes and a splendid dinner.\u00a0 Oh yeah, the Table Top\/Top of the Rock<\/strong> complex is the creation of Johnny Morris<\/strong>, a billionaire businessman, from Springfield, who started Bass Pro Shops<\/strong> and then created the golf complex here.\u00a0 Linda ran into him on our visit and I\u2019ve not seen her since!\u00a0 I wasn’t aware that she even liked bass fishing!<\/p>\n Johnny Morris & Linda<\/p><\/div>\n Two more rounds of golf, one at Buffalo Ridge<\/strong> (our favorite) where there were actually buffalo on the ridge, and our last round at Branson Hills<\/strong>, both very good golf courses on very nice days.<\/p>\n One evening we saw The Baldknobbers<\/strong> show, funny name, but great show of singing (country, rock and gospel) and comedy.\u00a0 It is the longest running show in Branson, it\u2019s been playing for 63 years!\u00a0 The grandson of the original creator of the show is now the lead singer.<\/p>\n My overall impression of Branson is very different than what I had imagined; I imagined a fairly small town with a main street lined with lots of theaters, like Andy Williams, Tony Orlando, Great trip, but if I had to do it over, I\u2019d play less golf and see more shows.\u00a0 Oh yeah, I do kind of wonder what ever happened to Linda.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow First, I would wholeheartedly encourage you to go to Amazon and order Pat Miles\u2019 & Suzanne\u2019s book, Before All is Said and Done.\u00a0 I have read it and it is truly something that I think every couple … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Boat-300x258.jpg\")
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<\/a> Dick Clark<\/strong>, etc.\u00a0 Those theaters are there, and there is a downtown area where you can buy tee shirts and coffee mugs, but the theaters are spread out all over the countryside.\u00a0 And there are lots of things for kids to do from miniature golf to Ferris wheels to zip lines and much more. \u00a0While the food was generally just OK, the people were the nicest I\u2019ve seen in the US, and I\u2019ve been to Minnesota!<\/p>\n