Elvis is Alive (in Branson!)

Branson was a hit. A Michael Jackson hit. A George Strait hit. A Temptations hit. I saw it all. That just proves Branson isn’t the country music show capital. You can seriously find any kind of music show here.

I totally rocked out in Branson.

The first night we had tickets for Clay Cooper’s Country Music Express. His 22-person ensemble was pretty entertaining. They sang a lot of country and mixed in a variety of other acts including the very funny Buckets N Boards – goofball duo Matt Levingston and Gareth Sever – a couple of guys making their livings at banging each other over the head with drumsticks and playing plastic recorders  through their nostrils. It’d be worth checking out their comedy percussion show, also playing at the Clay Cooper Theatre.

Before the show, a guy at the concession stand pointed out I was one of the youngest people in the building and said he thought everyone else was three times my age. That was hardly the case, but I took it as a compliment because that means he thought I was younger than I am.

That left me wondering. Is Branson an old-person’s paradise or fun for the whole family?

But after a cruise down Branson’s main strip I realized there’s a little something for everyone – the quintessential chicken and steak joint for your down-home southern cookin’ fix and the Hollywood Wax Museum for the kids (or to pretend you’re vacationing in California, not Missouri). And speaking of your summer vacation not reaching as far as the ocean, there’s the huge beached Titanic Museum right off Highway 76 to tide you over.

The next day we hit up this little diner – Jackie B. Goode's Uptown Café. You see the yellow cab out front? In the 1950s you could actually order a car like this out of the Sears and Roebuck catalog. Even during lunch we saw a show – albeit a one-man show, there’s nothing like being serenaded over burgers and root-beer floats.

 Then we were off to Legends in Concert at Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater for a little Blues Brothers action and appearances by Martina McBride, The Temptations and George Strait. Michael Jackson moonwalked in after the intermission and Elvis crooned his way to the end of the show. If you book tickets for this act, you can start looking forward to his all-leather outfit right now. In true Elvis fashion, he was looking pretty hot (literally, it was around 98 degrees outside!).

Enough about Branson, this afternoon I leave for the Sunshine State!

Hold your horses! We’re going to the Live Music Show Capital of the World.

What, you’ve never heard of the live music show capital of the world? Have you been living under a rock?

It’s Branson, Missouri.

Population: 6,050. Home to Silver Dollar City, The World’s Largest Toy Museum and The Beverly Hillbillies. Yep, the Clampetts visited their Branson home in 1969, or taped a few episodes there at least. Guess their bubblin’ crude, black gold, Texas tea was actually brewin’ in Missouri.

A couple weeks ago my aunt and uncle mentioned they were going to Branson for a few days. Being from New York they didn’t realize how close Branson was to Arkansas. When my mom told them we were only a measly four hours down the road, and since we don’t get to see them very often as they live 1,100 miles away, they promptly invited my mom to meet them in Branson. In turn my mom promptly invited me to join her for a little road trip. She said maybe I could find something fun to do with the old people in Branson. Her words, not mine!

So I said, “Heck yeah, I love old people. This road trip is on!”

I’ve been to Branson once before, but don’t remember much about it. Wait, I vaguely remember owning a Silver Dollar City shirt that a six-year-old might fit into. And the name Shoji Tabuchi (Branson’s #1 violinist of all time) rings a bell. It’s all coming back to me now (the Meat Loaf or Celine version, listener’s choice)!

I’ll try just about anything twice, so Branson here we come.

My aunt emailed us a list of all the shows they plan on seeing – two shows a day. They are getting serious. We said we’d pick one or two shows and join them. My mom did a quick Internet search and narrowed down our list to Yakov Smirnoff, Legends in Concert, Clay Cooper, Jim Stafford, Pierce Arrow and a couple others.

If you haven’t already stopped reading because I offended you by my old-people comments (Hey, my mom was the one who mentioned the old people. She doesn’t realize she just gave me a great gift idea for her 90^th birthday. Do you think Shoji will still be rocking out in Branson?), I’m happy to tell you we decided on hitting up the Clay Cooper show tonight and then Legends in Concert tomorrow.

As Jed would say, “Y’all come back now, y’hear?”

Slainte! Cheers to Ireland!

Three words: Love it here.

What's not to love about a country with my name written all over the place?





I love those O'Keeffe solicitors.




And O'Keeffe pharmacists (though we've never met!).





Oh yeah, did I mention we're in Kerry County?

Now I just need to find myself an O'Keeffe's pub so I can have another Irish pint. Because just one won't do, right?



As the Irish say, "Slainte!" Cheers!