With a third of October gone, we're beginning to get even cooler weather. Hurricane Matthew has been tearing things up along the coast and affecting the weather pattern inland too. After a light rain last week, temperatures dropped and we found it necessary to take our jackets along to the football game Friday night. Then, Saturday evening, as we listened to the Hogs game on the radio, Jim lit the stove to take the chill off the living room. It really felt good to have the added warmth as the temperature dipped down to 39 degrees that night.
The last weekend of September, we enjoyed closing out the month with another short trip to Branson. We enjoyed our visit in August so much we thought it was worth a repeat. We left Gravette early Friday afternoon, drove east to Pea Ridge and on to Gateway, following the same route we'd traveled a few weeks earlier. Again we enjoyed the sights in the Mark Twain National Forest and Roaring River State Park as we drove through. We noticed a few sumacs and sassafras trees coloring up along the highway but most hadn't really taken on their fall wardrobe yet.
We arrived in Branson about 4:30 p.m. and checked into our room in a hotel down on Branson Landing. Many shops and restaurants were located nearby and, after a short walk along the landing, we chose to stop at Joe's Crab Shack for our evening meal. We enjoyed an East Coast platter featuring a crab cake, a fish fillet, bacon-wrapped shrimp, fries and onion strings. We were also entertained by an impromptu song and dance routine performed by the wait staff.
Saturday morning, we stopped for a quick breakfast at McDonald's before driving out to Paradise Point at Hollister, Mo., and touring some of the cabins there. We returned to Branson for a bountiful lunch buffet meal at the Grand Country Buffet and then stopped by our room only briefly before walking down to the train station and purchasing tickets for a ride on the Branson Scenic Railway. We boarded our Vista Dome rail car, climbed up to our seat at the front of the car and settled in to enjoy the view.
For the next two hours, we rode the rails through the scenic countryside. We traveled through heavily wooded areas with rugged bluffs, interspersed with sprawling farmland and rustic country cottages. Occasionally, we would catch a glimpse of campers beside streams in the valleys below, and once our conductor stopped us on a lofty trestle so we could further appreciate the sights below. We dipped down into Arkansas, traveled through a couple of tunnels and, at the end of our journey, reversed direction, backtracked into Branson and returned to the depot.
Saturday evening, we strolled along Branson Landing, observing the ducks swimming near the bank, the boaters and fishermen on Lake Taneycomo. We visited Bass Pro Shop and bought a few clearance clothing items and, in another shop, I purchased a new watch, an item I'd been needing for several months. We ate our evening meal at Cantina Laredo where we requested patio seating so we could sample their "modern Mexican" cuisine overlooking the lake. From there we had a front row seat for the water and fire show performed on the landing.
On Sunday morning, we checked out of our hotel and returned to the Grand Country Buffet for another scrumptious meal before heading home. We stopped at Roaring River for a rest stop on our way home and stayed a few minutes watching the fishermen lining the bank. Big, beautiful trout were visible in the water, but they didn't seem very hungry as few anglers were pulling any in. We arrived back in Gravette about 1 p.m., unpacked our bags and prepared for another busy week.
This last week we enjoyed visits from the Holtons, friends and former neighbors now living in the Chicago area, on Wednesday and Gale Smith, my lifelong friend (and distant relative) from Tulsa. Gale's son is band director at Pea Ridge, so she came over to watch the football game. We took her to eat at the Mexican restaurant before picking up grandson Matthew and traveling to the stadium. Needless to say, she, her son and the other Blackhawk fans were much more pleased than we were about the game's outcome.
Susan Holland is a longtime Benton County resident and an employee of the Westside Eagle Observer. She can be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 10/11/2016