Talking Rock Caverns

During our recent trip to Branson, Missouri, my family took a short drive outside of town to visit Talking Rocks Cavern.

It's around a half-hour drive outside of Branson to get to Talking Rocks Cavern, but you don't have to worry too much about getting lost. There are lots of signs along the way, mostly featuring a very happy lizard (probably a salamander, since they have those in caves) with a camera. The route goes right past Silver Dollar City, the large theme park outside of Branson, so you can zoom past the long lines of cars waiting to enter there and feel good about your choice of destination.

The outdoor Speleo Box.

Before we even entered the building above the cave, we discovered the Speleo Box, a big wooden structure that simulates crawling through a cavern. There are actually two of them, one inside the gift shop, and one out in front. The sign on it recommends that no one larger than 6'2" or 240 pounds try it out. My brother isn't too far shy of that, but he tried it anyway and was able to make it through. I didn't feel like contorting myself quite that much, and considering how much my brother complained about soreness later on, it was probably a wise decision. Lots of the many kids running around had a great time crawling through, though, without consequences on old bones and muscles.

My niece Frances, on her way out of the Speleo Box.

The cavern itself is around 100 feet deep, with just one human-sized opening at the top. It's quite damp, with a pool at the bottom, and there are some small drainage holes which keeps it from flooding (except in really heavy rains, which take some time to drain out). You walk down some fairly steep steps until you're fairly near the bottom, just above that muddy pool. It's not a difficult climb, but you definitely want to be careful and take it slow to avoid slipping. Our guide told us that the steps were built by lowering cement down one bucket at a time through that top opening - not a quick or easy task.

The "angel" formation in the cave...from the right angle it looks like a tall thin person with wings.

Speaking of our guide (whose name was David), he (and all the others working there) were knowledgeable and friendly. My nieces were particularly curious about just about everything in the cave, and he was very patient answering their questions. In between their interruptions, he told us some of the history behind the discovery of the cave and how the various owners over the years had made use of it as an attraction.

More cave formations.

None of the rocks in the cavern actually talk, although previous owners of the cavern thought it would be a great idea to hide speakers in the cave and use them to startle visitors during the tour. This went over about as well as you'd expect, and the whole talking rock idea was abandoned. The current owners opted to avoid frightening people and instead play some music with a bit of a light show for the tour groups, of which I approve.

Our family at the bottom of the cave.

In addition to the cave itself, visitors can explore a nature trail that's about a mile long. There's a few interesting-looking rock formations along the way, and a wooden lookout tower that commands a nice view of the valley where Talking Rocks is located. It mostly goes through fairly thick woods, so I imagine that some wildlife moves through there as well, although I didn't notice anything beyond insects.

View from the lookout tour on the nature trail.

All told, we probably spent 3-4 hours at the Talking Rocks Cavern, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all. Well worth the visit if you're in the area.

The Titanic Museum in Branson

When my family decided to take a short vacation in Branson, Missouri, I must say that a museum dedicated to the Titanic was not something I was expecting to find.

View of the museum as you pull into the parking lot.

Right off the main road through Branson's entertainment strip, at a fairly major intersection, sits the museum. They have signs, but they're not really necessary since the building is modeled to look like the front half of the luxury liner. With an iceberg, of course.

My Titanic passenger - Quigg Baxter.

When you first arrive and get your ticket, they also give you a card with information about a passenger or crew member that was on the Titanic when it went down. After you go through the whole museum, there's a wall near the end that tells you whether your person survived or perished. (Mine didn't make it.) It's a nice little personal touch to give everyone something to think about on the way through.

Cameras aren't allowed once you get inside, so I don't have anything to show of the actual displays. I thought they were very well put together, though. One of the first things you see is a scale model of the entire ship that took two full years to build, for instance. There are lots of artifacts from the Titanic herself or the Olympic, her sister ship. Everyone is given an audio tour handset to listen to as you go through the displays that adds some more information to what is posted.

Completely unrelated to the museum itself - this car, driven by a guy with a full white Santa beard, pulled up as we were waiting to go inside. The toy car key actually turns as the car is moving.

There are details on all the things you'd expect - the ship's size and construction, the three different passenger classes, the crew, details on the fatal crash. One whole room was devoted to the musicians who famously played on as the ship was going down, which I thought was one of the better parts of the entire tour. Lots of details on various individual passengers and crew as well, especially those with relatives who had saved some of their belongings.

And then there are things that I was surprised to see, such as information about the dogs that were on the ship. Apparently the butcher was in charge of keeping them fed and exercised. Impressive detail of research, that is, although I did note that they were unsure of the names or breeds of some of the pooches. There was also a room kept very cold that I assume was meant to give you an idea of what the night of the crash felt like, and an actual ice wall to touch on the way in. A bit overkill, perhaps, but it added some flavor to the experience.

A closer look at the side of the museum building, iceberg and all.

Southern Missouri isn't the first place I think of when the Titanic is mentioned, but I very much enjoyed this particular museum. They've done a good job with the displays and there's plenty of interesting information. Worth a stop if you're in the area.

A Stay in Branson Missouri

My brothers and I met up recently in Branson, Missouri as a sort of mini-family vacation.

They have a nice riverwalk area in downtown Branson.

The very first thing you notice when making your way into Branson for the first time is the traffic, which is always backed up on the main road. (At least, it is during the summer tourist season, when we were there.) Long-term municipal planning was apparently not a high priority when the city got started. The one main road is only a single lane each way, always incredibly crowded, and almost all the major attractions are located along it. Once you're off that road, the rest of the town is pretty widely spread out with lots of empty space between clusters of buildings. It's not a place where you want to run a tight schedule, because getting around is likely to take a while.

Our parents couldn't make it, being in Japan, but they provided the housing at the Wyndham Meadows time-share resort. It's a few miles outside of the downtown strip. The complex is medium-sized as these things go, around forty building sections with a half-dozen units each. There's a recreation center building with various places for games and movie-watching, but the main attraction is five different pools scattered around the complex. The staff was helpful and friendly, and didn't try too hard to sell us on buying into the time-share. Overall I'd say it was a good stay.

View from one of our rooms at the resort.

There was one minor disruption when a thunderstorm came through and knocked out power for a few hours one evening. That's a hazard anywhere in the Midwest, and it was handled fairly quickly. Fortunately it happened in the early evening, so we still had natural light and the heat wasn't too oppressive even without the air conditioning.

Riverboat. It had a paddlewheel for show, but was moving pretty fast.

Branson has a lot of theatre shows of various kinds. Acrobats, magicians, musical acts, illusionists, hypnotists, variety shows...there are advertisements everywhere. Nearly as common are the billboards and other ads for discount tickets. None of our family is has any particular interest in the theatre shows, though, so we looked into some of the other options.

Downtown Branson has the usual assortment of shops and restaurants that you find in many smaller tourist towns across the United States, so we spent an afternoon there. (Highlight: the soda fountain/ice cream place.) There's no lack of restaurant choices on the main strip, either. Fairly wide variety, and the few that we tried during our stay were all good.

This statue was located downtown. No explanation offered.

Since we skipped the theatre shows, that left time for some other attractions. Prominently displayed at a major intersection is the Titanic museum. You can't miss it since the building is shaped like the front half of the famous luxury liner. We also took a half-day trip about a half-hour drive away to the Talking Rock Caverns, and took the tour down into the cave. I enjoyed both, and will likely post some further details another time.

It was hot. This was on the cavern trip, but all the days were similar.

Branson was an interesting place to visit and they certainly have plenty of options for entertainment (especially if you like those theatre shows). It's a bit far away from Michigan to make it a repeat vacation destination for me, but it's certainly worth visiting once.