Friday morning was our last full day in Branson. After two days of being up early and non-stop vacation fun, it was nice to not have anywhere to be this morning. Jake came and laid in bed with us to watch cartoon and eat breakfast.
The resort had a beautiful swimming area and this was our first free chunk of time to go swimming. Jake hadn't been in the pool since last summer, so he was unsure for a few minutes, but after that was zipping around with his pool noodle like a pro. Swim lesson are on our 'to do' list for the summer.
'Racing' Grandma
They had the most beautiful hydrangea bushes all around the pool
Now our plan the night before had been to grill out. Since we had all the fixings for it, we packed everything up and took advantage of the grilling areas by the pool. We had a yummy lunch of grilled chicken, mac-n-cheese, beans, fruit, chips, and green beans.
The evening we had tickets for a dinner cruise aboard the Showboat Branson Belle. It is a beautiful paddleboat that takes you out on Table Rock Lake while you get to each a fancy dinner and watch a show. Branson is famous for it's variety shows, but most don't start until later in the evening so we didn't go to any while we were there. Jake is still a little too young. The Belle has a 4:00 cruise, so it worked out perfect for us.
He is almost as big as the anchor
The Showboat Branson Belle
The view of the dock from the Belle
View from inside the dining room
Our seats: we were on the main floor about 5 rows back, pretty nice :)
We had about 20 minutes before dinner was being served, so Stephen and I took Jake exploring around the boat.
Jake was all about being on a boat!
The Hurricane deck...4 decks high.
Checking everything out.
Texas Deck!
The smoke stacks
The paddles: we hadn't left the dock yet so they weren't moving
Looking down on our table from the 3 decks up
Sorry for the blurry pic, but Jake insisted on a selfie wih the salt and pepper shakers...he was seriously obsessed with them. They had these neat push tops, kind of like a tea kettle and he thought they were the coolest things ever!
Seriously...obsessed with the salt and pepper!
They served a 3 course meal and the band played while we ate. Now, it was pretty early for Jake so he only picked at dinner, but he was mesmerized by the band, especially the drummer (bottom, left corner) He started playing the 'air drums' along with the band.
Since we were so close, the drummer could see Jake and noticed him playing the drums along with him. He started waving to Jake, making faces, and playing peek-a-boo behind the cymbals with him.
More air drums
Okay, so the total highlight of the trip happened next. The band took an intermission after dessert was served. Not 5 minutes later, we see the drummer come out and he is looking in our area. He came over to our table and introduced himself to Jake, his name was Brian and was seriously so sweet to Jake! He asked him how old he was and if he liked music. He told us he has 4 kids of his own. Then, he made my child's whole trip by giving him one of his drumsticks! It was the sweetest thing ever! Jake didn't put it down for the rest of the night and 'played' along on the table during the show. My Mom got some great pics of him with Jake, but all I got were ones of Jake. I'll add the rest once I get my moms pictures.
After dessert, we had about 30 minutes until the show started. We took Jake back up to the Hurricane deck to see the view of the lake. We were also able to go up to the wheelhouse and meet the captain!
The wheel was massive! The boat is still driven manually, nothing automated.
The paddles in motion
Then it was back to our seats because the show was starting. The theme was "Red White and Blue" They had a 5 member boy band that sang songs, and this crazy talented lady who played the violin, sang, played the piano, and did acrobatic stunts, and there was also a comedian/magician guy. It was a great show and we all really enjoyed it!
A better shot of Jake's buddy the drummer, Brian.
Okay so here, the crazy talented lady was hanging from the silk ropes and playing a mini-violin medly of West Side Story music...only in Branson :)
After the cruise we went back to the condo and headed back to the pool. I was swimming this time so I don't have any pictures, but my Mom got some really cute ones, so again, once I get her pictures I will add them to the post :)
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