Season Greetings from Branson

Day 1

Day 1: Monday, November 13, 2023
Hang on to your tinsel and jingle bells, we are on our way to Branson, MO for a wonderful way to kick off the Christmas season! Meet your friendly Trailways Travel host and driver as you board the luxury motorcoach and head south for the next 4 days and 3 nights. Stop along the way for a rest and refresh break, and lunch on your own, before arriving at the Hilton Branson Convention Center hotel with some time to freshen up before heading out for dinner and a show!
Dinner this evening will be a plated meal at Jackie B. Goode’s Uptown Café with your choice of Pot Roast, Hawaiian Chicken, Jumbo Fried Shrimp, or Country Fried Steak with a sundae for dessert! Oh, yum! Push away from the table, it’s time to go have a belly laugh or two at The Baldknobbers at Branson’s Famous Theatre. The Mabe family began the Baldknobbers Jamboree Show in 1959, which means they are celebrating 60+ years in the music business! You’ll hear them perform gospel music, classic bluegrass, and contemporary country tunes sung by both the group and by incredible soloists as well as many Christmas favorites. They even promise to tickle your funny bone with great humor thrown in along the way.
Before we return to the hotel this evening, we kick off the season appropriately with a drive-through of the “Lights of Joy” in Branson. With all new lights and sound
boards, they won the 2022 Best of Branson award for Best Christmas Drive Thru. You will get to see why!

Day 2

Day 2: Tuesday, November 14, 2023
It’s up and at ‘em this morning as we have a full day of Branson glory! Begin with a hot breakfast at the hotel before we meet our step-on guide, Tiffany, who will give you a wonderful tour of the scenic Ozarks! As a native of Branson, she will provide you with all kinds of information about Branson through the years from back when it was basically dirt roads to the music mecca it is today! We will even make a quick stop at the College of the Ozarks to do a little shopping so you can grab one (or two!) of their famous fruitcakes. It’s also a great opportunity to put together a great Christmas basket for a friend or relative with all of their homemade jams, jellies, and other products.
We will take time to enjoy lunch, on your own, in historic downtown Branson. There are plenty of places to choose from, but our favorite is the Farmhouse Restaurant, don’t miss out on their blackberry cobbler!
Fuel up and then get ready, we are off to the Clay Cooper Theatre for a special “Behind the Scenes” tour of the #1 Hits of the 60’s show where you will learn all the secrets of their quick changes, and more! Before you know it, it is showtime! The #1 Hits of the 60s’ (and 50’s too) takes you on a trip back in time with over 100 costume changes, groovy song and dance numbers and video segments highlighting historic moments of the 60’s with a very special tribute to our veterans plus a whole Christmas segment. You won’t have to wonder how they are changing into so

many costumes so quickly now! Hope you didn’t fill up on popcorn – we are off to dinner! Dinner this evening is included at Landry’s Seafood House with a plated meal of your choice from the following: Top Sirloin Steak, Chicken & Mushrooms, Lemon Pepper Tilapia or Fried Shrimp along with salad, bread, and dessert.
We end the evening with another fabulous show and Branson’s ten-time comedian of the year, Terry Wayne Sanders! It’s the CJ Newsom’s Classic Country and Comedy Show! CJ can croon out the best Patsy Cline renditions you’ve ever heard with The Re-Cliners Band. This show has talent that continues to WOW and delight from the sultry vocals of classic Patsy Cline songs to the high energy, foot-stomping arrangements of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and Garth Brooks. Television’s Hee Haw star, Terry Wayne Sanders will tickle your funny-bone with his family friendly, slap-stick comedy featuring Homer Lee, Barney Fife, Joan Rivers, Gramma Beulah, and more. They will certainly put you in the Christmas spirit with the holiday portion of their show. We make our way back to the hotel to rest up for another fun day in Branson tomorrow.

Day 3

Day 3: Wednesday, November 15, 2o23
It’s our last day in Branson, time to get up and get going! Have breakfast at the hotel before we depart for another jam-packed day. Start the morning with All Hands on Deck! at the Copeland Theater. This award-winning, high-energy WWII Big Band Roadshow and Radio Broadcast is filled with toe-tapping American songs, heart-warming harmonies, Broadway-style tap dancing, rousing on-air fun, classic radio




commercials and sing-along excitement all accompanied by the 9-piece Hollywood Victory Caravan Big Band Orchestra. And again, as with all of the other shows, a great Christmas portion of the show will be included as well.
All of that toe-tapping and hand-clapping has probably worked you up an appetite so we are off to have lunch today, on your own, at Local Flavor Branson, a winner of the Best New Restaurant in Branson award! With a great home-cooked meal and a friendly staff, they are sure not to disappoint.
We are off to the King’s Castle Theatre to see New Jersey Nights, a spectacular celebration of the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. It takes you on a nostalgic musical journey through the career of one of the biggest selling groups of all times. From the back street studio in New Jersey where it all began, this vibrant production includes all of The Four Seasons greatest hits, including Sherry, Rag Dolls, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like a Man and many Christmas favorites as well. This all singing, all dancing production is one you’ll be glad you didn’t miss!
You’ll be dancing and humming as you exit the theatre and head on our way for dinner at the SS Dockside with great menu choices of: Fried Shrimp, Grilled Chicken Salad, Chicken Fried Steak, Pulled Pork Dinner, Bourbon Glazed Salmon or Fish & Chips with Key Lime Pie or Cheesecake for dessert. Yum, yum!
This evening is our final show while in Branson and it is also a great one at the Pierce Arrow Theatre featuring the show Decades. Voted the 2022 Vocal Group of the Year, Decades features the Pierce Arrow Quartet and 2022 Branson Comedian of the Year, James Sibley. Sit back and take a one-of-a-kind musical and comedy journey through the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s with Pierce Arrow with nothing but fun from start to finish! Of course they will also have a Christmas segment as well – after all, in Branson, it IS Christmas!
The day has been filled with lots to see and do, but it’s time to head back to the hotel for our final night in Branson.

Day 4

Day 4: Thursday, November 16, 2023
Have breakfast this morning and then bid farewell to Branson while bringing home some great memories and the Christmas spirit. Enjoy rest & refresh breaks and lunch, on your own, on the way back today. Take some time to rest up from the great time in Branson and then get to putting out those Christmas lights and decorations!