Sunday, November 28, 2004


More Beautiful Booth 46 at the Classy Flea. Posted by Hello

See beautiful Booth 46 upstairs at the Classy Flea.Posted by Hello

Make sure you go upstairs at the Classy Flea. There is a half price room there. Posted by Hello

The Rooms at the Classy Flea are beautiful. Posted by Hello

Becky will be glad to help you at the Classy Flea! Posted by Hello

Across from the Flea Bag is the Classy Flea Posted by Hello

See beautiful Fostoria glass at Booth 46 in the Flea Bag Posted by Hello

Say Hi to Sherry ! Posted by Hello

The Flea Bag is on Main Street Posted by Hello

Go to the Flea Bag for good bargains Posted by Hello

Saturday, November 27, 2004

Flea Markets

Downtown Branson is well known for its flea markets.

Two of the best are The Flea Bag and The Classy Flea. These two wonderful flea markets are thankfully right across the street (Main Street) from one another. To get there go to Dick's Five & Dime and walk down the street toward the river. You will hit the The Classy Flea and right across the street is The Flea Bag.

These are wonderfully interesting flea markets with many well priced items. Go right in and find something you love and don't be afraid to ask for a small discount when you check out.

I will be posting some pictures of both places.

When you are at The Classy Flea, make sure you go upstairs. They even have a half price room up there.

When you are at The Flea Bag go by Booth 46 and see the wonderful collection of Fostoria.

You will have a great time shopping at these two wonderful establishments. Here you can truly hit two birds with one stone.


Sunday, November 21, 2004


Time to go to Clockers Posted by Hello

Clockers on the inside Posted by Hello

Guess which one are the Scrambled eggs? Posted by Hello

CLOCKERS

Clockers Cafe
103 S. Commericial
Branson, Mo. 65616
417-335-2328

It is time to go to Clockers.

Our waitress is Pat. We like Pat, she is friendly and an excellent waitress. She talks to us which we appreciate.

Breakfast is outstanding. One small mishap was that I ordered scrambled eggs and got them sunnyside up-but hey, who can complain when the food is outstanding and the price is very, very reasonable.

The pancakes are absolutely outstanding.

Clockers is located next to where Main crosses Commericial. If you park anywhere down town it is easy to get to.

We highly recommend breakfast at Clockers. The service and food are generally excellent.



Farm House-All appears quiet inside Posted by Hello

The Farmhouse just before major unpleasant event Posted by Hello

Farmhouse Restaurant

Farmhouse Restaurant
119 W. Main
Branson, Missouri 65616
417-334-9701

Every have one of those bizarre restaurant experiences?

Bokerbelle and I did when we decided to review the Farmhouse Restaurant for the blog.

Brokerbelle and I had eaten in the Farmhouse a number of times in the past and had found their food to be good and their prices reasonable.

I take a few pictures that are posted above. One is of the outside of the building and one is how it looked when we go in.

We are met at the door by one of the regulars , who is wearing a red hat. That, I guess, should have been the first warning.

He offers us a seat by the door; however Brokerbelle asks if we might have a table in the back. This request must have somehow been considered inappropriate by Red Hat. Without a word he walks into the back and throws the menus on a table and walks off without a word.

Well this looks to be the harbinger of a highly unpleasant meal so Harley Dad begins to leave. However not before he grabs brokerbelle who is heading toward Red Hat and/or the Manager for further "Adventures in Fine Dining."

HarleyDad grabs Brokerbelle and hustles her out the door before things become even more unpleasant.

Wow, what timing. Someone comes into your restaurant to review it and walks out because of treatment that they consider to be rude.

At any rate, what we expected to turn out to be a good review ends in a No Review.

Our concern is that if it happened to us, it can happen to you.

We went down the street to Clockers and had a much better experience.

Our advice is that if you go to the Farmhouse and are served by someone with a red hat, do not ever ask for a different table !!


Saturday, November 20, 2004


The future of Branson Posted by Hello

Looks like there is still plenty to do Posted by Hello

Welcome to Branson Landing-Note web address Posted by Hello

Branson Landing and Robert W. Plaster

You will be hearing much about Branson Landing in this blog. Branson Landing is a giant redevelopment of the area around downtown Branson and Lake Taneycomo. It will be a gigantic retail development including Bass Pro, Belk Department Stores, and numerous restaurants and shops. Included in Branson Landing will be a town square, a boardwalk, and a high class waterfall display. Also planned are condominiums, two hotels and a convention center of about 220,000 square feet.

The develper of the project is the City of Branson and HCW Development Company of Branson (Rick Huffman, CEO). More on HCW in a later blog perhaps.

The cost of the project is reputedly $300 million.

The Branson Daily News on November 19, 2004 reported that Robert W. Plaster would now be involved in the "private portion" of the Project. The "private portion" includes 450,000 sq. ft. or retail space, the Bass Pro Shops, Belk, the marinas , the hotels, condos, and water fountain.

The City evidently owns the town square, the boardwalk, the roads and the infrastructure, and the convention center. It looks like the City gets the costs, but after all it probably gets taxes to keep this up.

Robert W. Plaster will own 28% of the private portion.

Who is Robert W. Plaster. Robert W. Plaster was Chairman of the Board of Empire Gas Corporation from 1963 to 1994. From 1994 to 1996 he was Chairman of the Board of Empire Energy Corporation. He currently serves on the Board of UMB Financial Corp. He also holds interests in a number of other companies and trusts, which I will not go into detail here in this blog.

He is currently Chairman of Evergreen Investments, LLC, an investment company located in Lebanon, Missouri. He has a home in this area.

Mr. Plaster is a philanthropist and has endowed numerous institutions relating to business, education and sports. His Plaster Foundation has made major gifts to Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri, College of the Ozarks here in Branson, and Southwest Baptist University.

Football fans at Southwest Missouri State will be familiar with the Plaster Field and the Plaster Sports Complex.

His foundation also funded the Robert W. Plaster Stadium at Southwest Baptist University (where, by the way, Mr. Plaser received an Honorary Doctorate of Business administration and I hope tickets to their football games for life).

He also funded the Robert W. Plaster School of Business Building at The College of the Ozarks.

In conclusion, Robert W. Plaster, has made a fortune through his business skills; however he has turned back a substantial amount of money back into this area of the country.

Quite frankly, I am delighted to see that he will be part of the Branson Landing Project.




Better be a Cardinals Fan at this Sportsbar Posted by Hello

The Open Grill at Southtown Posted by Hello

Southtown Grille-a good place to eat in Hollister Posted by Hello

Southtown Grill

Southtown Grill
165-A Southtowne Blvd
Hollister, Mo. 65672
417-332-0033

The Southtown Grill if located in the Shopping Center right off of Highway 65 after the turn off going to College of the Ozarks to the West and Hollister to the East. You will notice a Sonic, Loews etc. in the Shopping Center.

The Southtown Grill is a restaurant and a sports bar specializing in steaks and seafood. It has an open grill (See picture above) where the more adventurous of us can do our own steaks.

The steaks are not bad--not great either. However, there are numerous dishes. The majority of which are better than you would generally expect in Branson.

Southtown is undiscovered, does not cater too much to bus traffic, and is often a refreshing place to have a meal in the Branson area.

It is a consistent favorite of Brokerbelle and myself and we would highly recommend it.

The hamburgers are great. There have wonderful mini-burgers that you can buy a half dozen of. Their chicken wings are legendary.

The Southtown Grill has a sports bar with plenty of televisions, good bar traffic and occasionally good local entertainment.

We highly recommend this restaurant hidden away in a strip mall off Highway 65 in Hollister (Branson suburb).

HarleyDad

Thursday, November 11, 2004


B T Bones-One of Branson's Best Posted by Hello

This Steer was shot for lying. Posted by Hello

Offending Prime Rib at BT Bones Posted by Hello

B T Bones

B T Bones
2280 Shepherd of the Hills Expressway
Branson, Missouri
417-335-2002

B T Bones is one of our Branson Favorites. However, it is not because of the food, which we believe is over-priced--but because of the entertainment and ambiance.

B T Bone is a "Texas Road House." It has wood floors, a Western character, and plenty of good entertainment. "Tin Cup" is gone now but they have Joni Carter and Route 66. Both are pretty good. You can come, put on the feed bag and chow down.

Salads are accompanied by the classic dressing in a package that you must open. Steaks will run you from $9-$23. It is pot luck, you may get a good one or you may not.

Last time Brokerbelle got the prime rib for $ 11. Too Bad, Brokerbelle, maybe next time. We gave the steak to the dog-but he would not touch it.

All and all, it is a fun place to go, and the music ain't bad.


Eating in Branson-General Rules

Let's be frank. If you go to Branson for the food---you have gone to the wrong place. You meant to go to New York City, New Orleans or San Francisco, and somehow ended up in Branson by accident.. Some general rules regarding food are:

  • If you love quantity rather than quality, you will not be disappointed.
  • If your Doctor encourages lots of starches and fried foods, congratulations, you are coming to Starch City.
  • Beware the 6:30--8:00 Pre-Show Eating Period. Everything is crowded during that time. Get used to it.
  • Buses are not a good sign at the eating spots.
  • Prices will be slightly higher than home unless you are visiting from New York City, New Orleans, San Francisco or from overseas.
  • Eating at franchises are O.K. in Branson and probably safer.
  • Leave for supper early. The traffic is worse than you think.
  • As a general rule, the waiters or waitresses (the "wait staff" if you are from a big city) are nice and personable. The food is not their fault. Be Kind! Leave a tip anyway.
  • Remember, most places are serving high volume guests who will only eat there ONE TIME. As a general rule, most will not be back for a second meal .
  • There are a few places that serve good food. Many other places, may have interesting entertainment, perhaps a good view, or something else to make your dining experience not overly painful.
  • Remember Rule Number One-You did not come here to eat anyway; further you will not starve while you are in Branson either.

From time to time, we will blog about restaurants and eating in Branson. HarleyDad and Brokerbelle have eaten at fine restaurants all over the world--but unfortunately, they are not here. We will tell you about some of the Branson restaurants. Sorry for the bad news about eating in Branson. But you can still have plenty of fun in Branson, and not hurt yourself with the food.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004


Branson nestled into the arms of Lake Taneycomo Posted by Hello