Lure of the Ozarks - Branson, MO Rally Recap
September 8-13, 2024
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Dates: | Sep 8-13, 2024 |
| Location: | Musicland Kampground 116 Gretna Rd Branson, Missouri 65616 |
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| Hosts: | Pam Clark Sandy Perley |
On Sunday evening, September 8th, 12 coaches and 21 members met for a 6 pm "Meet and Greet" at Musicland Kampground's comfortable group meeting building, complete with kitchen, restrooms, and air conditioning, where we enjoyed a light supper of Schlotzsky's deli sandwiches, chips, cookies, and a little wine. We introduced our rally hosts, Pam Clark and Sandy Perley, and welcomed our first-time rally attendees, John and Gloria Cox from Venice, Florida. Each member introduced themselves and told us about their Born Free and where they live. We had two families who were alumni members, driving non-Born Free motorcoaches, and of course we let them know we were happy to have them join us for the rally. We explained our schedule for the next few days and introduced our 6 volunteer drivers who would be driving 3 motorcoaches and 2 cars to our venues. We supplied sign-up sheets so everyone had transportation to our various venues and activities. We are very grateful for our volunteers.
Monday, September 9th: At 8:00 am, we coach/carpooled to Johnny Morris's Dogwood Canyon Nature Park. A 23-mile/40-minute drive took us through the beautiful Ozark countryside to our fabulous destination where we hopped onto our private open-air tram and were met by our wonderful, knowledgeable, and humorous guide, "Jurassic Joe". For two hours he regaled us with stories, history, and local legends of the area while pointing out wildlife, waterfalls, and fascinating geology within the park. We rode through pastures with large herds of bison bulls, cows, and calves along with bull elk, cows and calves, and even a few longhorn cattle all close enough to touch as we passed by. We returned to the main buildings which included a lovely gift shop, museum and artifact displays, and a tree house built specially for the park by the Tree House Masters as seen on television. We enjoyed a nice lunch in the restaurant and spent the afternoon exploring this amazing location. On our way back to Branson we stopped for a delicious "Ozark Style" supper at "Big D's Barbeque". We returned to the campground and gathered at the front porch of our meeting hall to plan our next day's adventure and visit with each other.
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Tuesday, September 10th: We departed at 10:00 am for our day on Table Rock Lake aboard the beautiful Showboat Branson Belle. Our weather was perfect for our 2 ½ hour cruise which included a delicious lunch and wonderful entertainment with magic, comedy, music, and dance. After we docked, we drove a short distance to the Dewey Short Visitor's Center to learn about the lake, the dam, and its history. We then proceeded to the Branson Craft Mall to peruse a wide variety of local arts, crafts and wares. In the back of the mall we had supper, again of Ozark specialties, while enjoying music and songs performed by a local band. Back at the campground, we gathered for camaraderie and attempted to solve some world problems.
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Wednesday, September 11th: The day was spent doing whatever members chose to do on their own. It was a good day to sleep in, dine in town, hit some shows and do some shopping. A few of us attended a very moving 9/11 memorial program put on by the city of Branson.
Thursday, September 12th: At 10:00 am we drove to the Keeter Center at The College of the Ozarks, also known as "Hard Work U". Here, following a student-led talk about this college where the students earn their education and board while working on campus, we took off to tour on our own and observed students operating a hotel, gift shop and restaurant. We saw them creating stained glass and candles, working a mill, managing a dairy and operating farm equipment, learning landscaping practices and horticulture, and even making ice cream which many of us tried and it was excellent! At 3:30 we left the school for dinner and a show at "Dolly Parton's Stampede". On the way into the show arena, we met some of the talent. These were the beautiful horses that performed while we ate a dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and dessert. At 8:00 pm we gathered back at camp for our final night together and last chance to solve the world's problems.
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Friday, September 13th: We met at 7:30 am for a continental breakfast of muffins, fruit, juice and coffee, said our goodbyes and parted ways. Some for home, some for other rallies and adventures, all with the promise and hopes to see each other again soon.
Submitted by Pam Clark