A Branson Christmas Special

Global travelers? Hardly. The Red Barns prefer to keep it to the 10-hour radius around the DFW area. It just so happens that if you drive through the hillacious Ozarks, you can get to Branson, MO pretty quickly. With Claire 23 weeks pregnant, the two jumped at the chance to spend a few wintery days under the bright lights of Branson.

On the first day there, the couple journeyed to Silver Dollar City, a Christian-themed amusement park that resembles Log Cabin Village if it had a few thrill rides. SDC had more than a million lights around the park, some of which were synced to the music. While preggers wasn't able to ride any roller coasters (Phillip only rode a couple), the Red Barns took in a few shows, watched some glass being blown, sipped on some cocoa and did some people watching. The cocoa was pretty amazing!

The next day was Claire and Phillip's favorite. While Claire was pretty skeptical about Big Cedar Lodge, the two ventured out to the Bass Pro-owned resort that rested right on beautiful Table Rock Lake. The Red Barns started with an awesome outdoor lunch at Truman's Cafe. Claire had scheduled a mani/pedi at the Lakeside Spa while Phillip was going to explore the grounds on horseback. After the activities, the two watched the sunset from a couple rockers on the lodge patio and headed down for a beautiful dinner at The Worman House, a railroad tycoon's old house that had been converted into a restaurant. Phillip and Claire had another amazing view overlooking the lake.

That evening, the two finished the Acrobats of China show. It was one of the only things in Branson worth seeing, unless you wanted to watch washed-up comedians, tribute bands or family singers. Overall, the two had a great time and would highly recommend it to anyone over 40.