December 21, 2023

Branson 2023

Bucee + Branson!

On the last day of my mom’s trip we were chatting about meeting up at Dollywood this next year. I couldn’t remember what Dolly Parton things there were in Branson so I quickly googled and saw it was only 3.5 hours away. Now that Benson is a little older trips in the car are much more manageable!

We loved the Marriott we stayed at in Fairhope, so when I saw there was a Marriott Vacations in Branson that looked nice I booked it!

Our original plan was to leave Tuesday… but Monday morning Benson was sooo ready to go to “Alabama” haha… so we decided to book a different hotel for the first night and hit the road!

The entire drive there were soo many signs for this ridiculous Candy shop!

We lucked out and our route went right past the new Bucee’s that opened last week! Santa BUCEE!

We arrived at our hotel and it was FREEZING! We made it inside and Ben changed into his Santa bucee outfit. We were dying!

We ventured out to Bass Pro and to see some fountains.

Pool time! Bed time snuggles!

Tuesday

We weren’t entirely sure what we were going to do the entire day because we couldn’t check into our new hotel until 4pm.

A bucket list item of mine has always been to go to the Titanic Museum… so that’s what we did! It was a self guided audio tour… which was rather tricky with a toddler. But overall a good time. :) You get a ticket with a passenger name at the beginning and can see if they survived at the end… glad to report we were all survivors!

After Titanic we went to TJ Maxx to get some pillows and Target.

We had tickets for a night golf cart tour at Top of the Rock but learned we could also view their history museum with the tickets.

We took a short bus ride from the Welcome Center to the museum.

It was an incredible museum. Skeletons of extinct Missouri mega animals, and thousands of artifacts from the Native Americans.

I’ve recently learned the truth of the Mormons taking over the Utah territory and what actually happened to all of the Indian tribes that lived on the land. It’s been heartbreaking and horrific. It made seeing this even more humbling.

Interesting buffalo stats

After the museum we ate lunch and headed to our hotel to check in!

Benson hadn’t napped today so we snuggled down to try and get a nap in before we headed back to Top of the Rock for our golf cart ride.

This was an experience of a lifetime! When I booked it, I thought it was a little bit expensive… $39 a person (Benny was free), but everyone said it was a must do! They were right!

Checking in and getting a golf cart. They were covered to stay warm.

Music and stories played throughout the ride. There were spots you could get out and walk around, and even a Bat Cave with a drive thru you could order drinks. It was seriously magical and one of the best experiences. I have nothing but incredible things to say about Johnny Morris and what he has created at Top of the Rock.