Titanic Exhibit in Branson, Mo.
Got back yesterday from "The Great Branson Trip". We hit Branson for 3 days, St. Louis for 1 and drove past Elvis Land for the wife. (she's been there twice).
Without a doubt, Branson is he cleanest city I've EVER been to! The Titanic exhibit was worth the trip alone, there mock-up is 1/2 size. Inside is a self guided tour and they have over 400 artifacts and exhibits (nothing taken from the wreck), one of the best parts is the Grand Staircase it is full size and detailed exacly as the original. When there you need to walk up the different angled rear section od the desk to get a true appr. for how hard it was to get to the rear of a sinking liner. The exhibit on how cold the water was is another thing you don't want to miss. I could only keep my hand in for a 1 1/2 minutes before I took it out and warmed it up. It cramped for another 15 minutes. The 18ft. custom scale model is beautiful. The Sunken version is the same that was used by Mr. Cameron in the movie.
http://www.titanicbranson.com/
Did the baloon ride, wife sat down the whole ride (chicken), Silver city(2 days) I've been to a few theme parks again this was the cleanest, and the souv. prices were really low. AND everything was made in the USA!
Ripley's BION museum was much different from the one in New Orleans.
Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampeade (they feed you good there) was a blast although you get to eat with your hands.
We sat through "Lost in the Fifty's" show with the original Platters signing, now I know what I missed in the fifty's. They were great.
The St. Louis Arch was fantastic, you need to see it. Under the Arch is a massive National Park museum all about the Lewis and Clark expedition and the hardships they faced. also a giftshop. Again, prices were really low so we loaded up on a few things. The steamboats on thr Mo. River were very nice.
The drive to branson was great except hwy. 65 North, lot's of hills and cruves slows you down to an avg. of 55-60 mph Makes for about 2 hours. The roads were in good condition, except for when we got back in Louisiana they are falling apart!
All in All I would go back again next year!
Jake