The Ozark & The Entertainment Capital of Middle America

We stopped in Van Buren, Arkansas for a couple days because it was close to Ozark National Forest. Since the Ozarks are 1.2 million acres, let's just say we're going to need another Ozark stop later. This one didn't fill the bill.

While we were in town there was a motorcycle rally and an Oktoberfest in Fort Smith which was a town 15 minutes away from our campground. A lot of the motorcyclists toured the Pig Trail Scenic Byway of the Ozark National Forest. We decided to join them as you can see in the video below. We were probably a week ahead of all the autumn colors, but heck, it was still part of the Ozark experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EJlKDIOeVw

When we went to the Oktoberfest fest it was ending, so we decided to stop into the Bricktown Brewery for a beer. Surprisingly, Kathy has become a beer connoisseur. Well, not really but she actually likes to drink beer now. When we left the Brewery we conveniently ran into Fort Smith National Historic Site. It was right in the back of the parking lot of the brewery. What a treat for Brad. He loves any kind of historical museum or fort and this was both.

Fort Smith was actually cool for both of us. It was a centerpiece of America in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. The "Hanging Judge" presided over the unruly elements in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas and sought to bring law and order to the territories. He committed 175 muderers, thieves, and cheats to the gallows during his tenure on the bench. Above, lower left, was his actual courtroom and on the middle right a prison cell that housed 40 inmates at a time. The bonus plan was we got an additional unexpected stamp in our National Park Passport book. Yay!

Next stop....it's showtime in Branson, Missouri. What a cool resort and entertainment town! We dug it! We hit three shows while there because that's what you do in Branson. Yes, we played some miniature golf, caught a nice lunch, but it's all about the shows. The three we checked out were Liverpool Legends, Reza, and Dolly Parton's Stampede.

We dug all three and we both agreed that the Liverpool Legends was our favorite. These four Beatles impersonators looked and sounded just like the Fab Four. It was uncanny but when we found out the George Harrison's sister produced and hand-picked the four musicians herself it all came together. The music, the costumes, the lighting and sound were all first class. Two thumbs up for this one. We'd include a video for you but we had some trademark restrictions that prevented us from sharing.

Our second show was at Dolly Parton's Stampede. It was a Texas variety show. A little rodeo, a little singing, a little comedy and a surprisingly tasty dinner. Kathy dug it more than Brad but it was entertaining either way you look at it.

Our last show was at the " World Famous Theater" to see illusionist Reva. Kathy was underwhelmed while Brad thought it was better than the "hokey" Dolly Parton extravaganza. It was entertaining nevertheless.

In between shows we went to the Landing which was a cool hang with a bunch of shoppes, restaurants, bars and was anchored with a Bass Pro Shop. Branson also had a quaint downtown area but mostly geared to tourist. We went back to the Landing one day for a "free" tasting at Smith Creek Moonshine. It was pretty cool in that they had an awesome wireless mic'ed up host pouring you 12 thimbles of their shines and giving a little schpeel after every pour. Then only when you go to buy one you learn that they charge you $29 bucks for a mason jar of shine. Their marketing approach worked on us. Ha! We bought a coffee moonshine that as of this writing we still have. The Landing landed a 5 million dollar fountain show that was a great investment that featured a dancing water, light, and sound show, every hour on the hour. After the Stampede show we had a nightcap at a cheesy Landing bar called Waxy O'Sheas and the only downtown store that we dug was their 5 & dime. It was quite the throwback.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--v5zT03BaY

Our next blog should be very cool. We went to Hilary and Bill's town in Little Rock, Arkansas and then we hit Memphis, Tennessee and Elvis country. Both visits were awesome.

If you want to check out some videos from the Dolly Parton show or Liverpool Legends you can copy this link to our YouTube channel.

https://youtube.com/channel/UCvDSnxNwLNYcx5g3mCXh1wg

Thanks for following our journey. Go Phils! Game three is today and we'll be at the Grand Ole Oprey. EEEEch!