SUSAN SAYS: Jim and I enjoyed get-away visit to Branson

Last Tuesday, Jim and I took off for a couple days away. We hadn’t had a vacation for three years and that was only an overnight get-away for our anniversary.

We left shortly after noon and headed for Branson. We drove east to Pea Ridge and saw their new football stadium, past the Pea Ridge National Military Park and on to Gateway, where we turned north to Cassville. We traveled through part of the Mark Twain National Forest, enjoying the lovely trees along the winding roadway. Daddy would tell us they were built “following the pig trails” and perhaps he was right as early Ozark settlers usually had their hog pen out behind the cabin.

We arrived in Branson about 3 p.m. and checked into the Stone Castle Hotel on Green Mountain Drive. It featured knights in armor at each entrance and was decorated throughout in an Old World Renaissance theme. We had a lovely room at the end of the third floor with our own little balcony. After resting in our room a short time, we drove up to the Pancho Villa Tex-Mex Restaurant where we dined on Pancho’s Special, a ribeye steak and shrimp with refried beans, rice, guacamole and sour cream.

Tuesday evening we attended a performance by the Haygoods at the RFD-TV Theater.This talented group of five brothers and one sister is performing for their 20th season in Branson. They played several styles of music on a variety of instruments, did a fascinating tap dance segment and punctuated their show with pyrotechnics and flashing laser lights. It was a real high-energy show that appealed to all ages.

On Wednesday, we drove to Americana Theater for a 2 p.m. performance of Joseph Hall’s “Rock ‘N Remember” Elvis tribute. Joseph placed in the top 10 in the 2011 season of “America’s Got Talent” with his excellent Elvis impersonation. Backed by a good four-piece rock and roll band and a pair of female singers, he displayed how he won this honor, singing Elvis hits covering 30 years.

We stopped at the Stone Hill Winery where we joined a one-hour tour. We watched a short video and learned about the Missouri wine industry. Our guide told us about Stone Hill’s history, showed us giant aging barrels and took us into the bottling room, where he displayed the process used to carbonate and bottle the winery’s award-winning sherry. Then we went into the tasting room where we sampled a dozen of the company’s creations.

Jim took me by Scrapbook Forever whereI purchased a few Branson and Missouri specialty scrapbook pages before going on to Buckingham’s Restaurant in the Clarion Hotel. There we enjoyed a delicious supper of green salad, catfish fillets, potatoes and a broccoli/cauliflower/ carrot mix.

Thursday morning after breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and drove out to the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery next to Table Rock Dam. We entered the conservation center there and joined the morning’s first hatchery tour. We observed the fish in the center’s 3,500 gallon aquarium and the many nature exhibits before taking a walking tour illustrating how hatchery employees raise the many rainbow and brown trout to stock nearby Lake Taneycomo and other waterways.

On our way home, we stopped by Inspiration Tower at Shepherd of the Hills. We rode in a glass elevator to the top of the 230 foot tower and admired the view in all directions.

We could see the Boston Mountains over 90 miles south in Arkansas. We watched as a trio of zip liners were launched from the open-air observation deck. They descended a half mile, enjoying the spectacular view of the 160 acre homestead where the Shepherd of the Hills drama is performed. Jim offered to buy me a ticket for the Vigilante Ziprider, but I declined.

Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong Benton County resident.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 07/17/2013