Our Sunday in Branson, Missouri was pretty low key. We hid from the heat as much as we could and just relaxed after the previous night’s train ride adventure. We had light meals as we knew the portions at the Stampede were sizable. We left down the winding roads to the Stampede to be there a bit early and check everything out. We loved getting to see the horses on the Horse Walk in to the arena. It was probably the most crowded place we’ve ever been together. There were so many people there – it made us think about how many tourists get to Branson every year. We entered the arena a bit surprised by how large it was inside. We knew it was like 35,000 sq. feet but to actually see that I was impressed by the enormity of it. We found our designated seats – we had front row seats on the North side. I didn’t know that North and South were going to come in to play as part of the show when booking the tickets.
The emcee came out to start the show – sparkly jacket and a great singing voice on his horse – beautiful horse at that.
As he started to open the show we were served our creamy vegetable soup and delicious biscuits to start the meal. These were followed by a whole little chicken, a slice of pork loin, potato, and corn on the cob. It was a delicious meal (and kind of neat that gave bags to take leftovers home). The show emcee led through a very brief visual image of the settlers and Native Americans as they moved west – complete with a square dance on horseback. It was beautiful and very moving.
The final part of the show was a north side of the arena vs. south side. There was a chicken race with little kids chasing the chickens, pig races, dog races, trick riders. It was an amazing show and a wonderful evening. It hadn’t been on our initial plans – we kind of added this show in just before leaving and are so glad we did. It was a great addition to our visit in Branson.
GnomadicLife 