Branson, Mo. - Day3

Wednesday, April 23

Our day began with a delicious breakfast provided for us in the Radisson's Restaurant.  We are scheduled to have a Lunch Cruise aboard the Branson Belle Showboat on Table Rock Lake today.

After breakfast, Norma, Sherry, and I decide to go to out to Table Rock State Park and go for a walk on some of their trails before we board the Showboat for our lunch cruise.  We come to the dam on Table Rock Lake.....

 We drive across the top of the dam...

 ...before arriving at a trailhead, and beginning our walk along the pathway following the lake's edge.

It is such an incredibly beautiful day for a walk!  Flowering trees and wildflowers are along the pathway on the shore of Table Rock Lake.

No backpack today and BooBoo didn't want to stay in the car while we went for our walk so she is just hanging out of my jacket pocket!

 With gorgeous views like this, BooBoo doesn't care, she is just happy to be outdoors!

 Norma and Sherry keep a brisk pace walking.

 We pass several beautiful campsites and picnic sites along the lake's shores. 

 BooBoo is not going to get HER feet wet...

...however, Norma never passes up a chance to put her feet into any water.

We soon make our way to the entrance.....

The grounds are gorgeously landscaped...

One of the vendors at the river landing was Polly's Parasols.  Personalized umbrellas, any way you like!

Wow! The Branson Belle Showboat!

Here is our Texas Peacemakers Group just before boarding the Branson Belle for our lunch cruise.

We are ushered into this huge dining hall where we will be served lunch and be entertained.

After recently returning from our tour of Australia and New Zealand, where having ice in our drinks was an "oddity", meaning usually there was no ice, we are so appreciative of our waiter on the Showboat who continually brought a bucket of ice by to see if we needed more ice in our glasses.

Our lunch cruise took us around Table Rock Lake.

The top deck was great for viewing the surrounding scenic hills and valleys.

                                   Clear blue water.

We enjoyed a great lunch and the entertainment which included the extremely artistic violinist, Janice Martin, who had a different colored violin to match each of her elegant gowns, and played superbly and sang, even while dancing, flying thru the air on a wire, or doing acrobatics on cloth ribbons!  What an amazing, talented, and gifted woman!!  (Janice Martin has her own website if you care to check out her talents.)

One interesting fact about the Branson Belle Showboat is that it was built near White River Landing, and when it was completed there was much discussion about how to move the large vessel into the water.  They ended up importing thousands and thousands of bananas (we all know how slippery a banana peel is, right?), laid them out on the ground, and the Branson Belle was slid on thousands of bananas right down the hill into the water!

As we exited the Showboat walking along the pier, we observed many fish hoping for a handout.

In the evening we attended the show "Jonah" at the Sight and Sound Theater.  It was the most elaborate production I have ever seen in my life!  Huge elaborate movable stage sets, even the side walls in the theater have stage sets and the theater aisles are also incorporated into the action, and live animals of every kind, great realistic actors, fish swimming around our heads (suspended from invisible wires), and so much more!  A MUST experience if you are ever in Branson!   My sister, Norma, went to Branson five years ago and experienced the powerful show "Noah" performed in the Sight and Sound Theater and said it was too awesome for words. 

 

Naturally, there was no photography allowed during the performance.