Day 139 for Charlie & I was day 3 for the caravanners. It was Tuesday September 22nd, for all of us! We had a later start for our events, so Becky and I got a longer walk in! Our bodies are getting used to the hills!
I saw this beautiful painting on the back of a huge class A. I loved how it looked and shined in the early morning light!
The Branson Belle is a riverboat—more specifically, a showboat—on Table Rock Lake. Table Rock lake is landlocked by the Table Rock Dam on one side and the Beaver Lake Dam on the other side.
Being a showboat, it hosts lunch and dinner shows. We enjoyed the lunch cruise!
The boat was constructed at its port at White River Landing and was launched on August 12, 1994.
The boat was launched into Table Rock Lake at a speed of 16 mph on launching rails lubricated with two tons of bananas. The bananas were used for lubrication because they were biodegradable and would not have polluted Table Rock Lake as grease would have. Bananas.... that is just crazy! The boat's owner claims to own the largest ship on a landlocked lake in the US.
The master of ceremonies, and a comedian presented the newest sensation in this live stage performance.
The main show features Silver Dollar City’s own Rivertown Ramblers variety show, delivering music, comedy, powerhouse vocalists, and top-tier musicians performing classic and contemporary hits.
We all enjoyed our meals and the show.
Between lunch and the show, we were able to get out on the deck, walk around and get some pictures!
Tuesday night, we headed back to the Clay Cooper Theater to see The Haygoods. They are definitely one talented family! The Haygoods grew up in very humble beginnings in a small mobile home in the backwoods of The Ozark Mountains. In 1983, at the age of 5, the oldest brother Timothy was watching “Sesame Street” on PBS and world famous violinist, Itzhak Perlman, was performing on the show. Afterwards, Timothy was inspired and begged his mom to get him into lessons, so Mom Haygood enrolled him into classical violin lessons. Timothy’s brothers grew up watching him play the violin and they wanted to be just like him, so they began learning the instrument as well, except for Patrick who chose the marimbas as his instrument. In 1987, Timothy began taking country fiddle lessons. Due to his classical violin training, Timothy was an accomplished fiddler very quickly at a very young age. Pretty soon the Haygood kids were singing in harmony, playing fiddle tunes, and dancing as part of the act. As children, they played music and sang at festivals and fairs all across the Midwest.
In 1993, the family moved to Branson, Missouri and began performing daily shows at Silver Dollar City. For eight years, the family grew up at the theme park, performing six shows a day, six days a week while taking music and dance lessons as well as completing schoolwork. The drive and persistence of oldest brother Timothy resulted in the family show becoming the most successful, highest rated show in the history of Silver Dollar City. The Haygoods completed over 6,000 shows during their time at Silver Dollar City.
With a generous loan from Grandma and Grandpa Haygood, The Haygood brothers took a giant risk and opened their own show on the Branson Strip in 2001. The move from a theme park to town was more than a location change, the three oldest Haygoods also took creative and financial control of the show and began to make their mark on the show and music scene. The Haygoods became the youngest performing family in the history of Branson to ever open their own show on the 76 Strip.
At the end of a tough first season, The Haygoods had to make the decision to push ahead despite financial hardships or to give up the music business and lead “normal” lives. The choice was clear and they set out to make their show the most exciting on the Branson Strip. With Dominic as music director, they began to take classic songs and put their own musical twist on them. Familiar songs were updated with modern dance moves and unique harmonies. At the same time, the always energetic Haygoods began reclaiming their childhood by filming their wild BMX and paraplane stunts which made them a YouTube sensation.
In 2011, a huge change occurred in the show and brothers Aaron and Shawn both left to pursue careers outside of music. The brothers leaving the show was a monumental change for the remaining siblings but the parting of ways was amicable and understandable. Both Shawn and Aaron continue to pursue careers outside the music business today.
In the fall of 2011, The remaining six Haygoods took two very big steps in their careers, they teamed up with the RFD-TV Network, a cable channel distributed in over 50 million homes in the USA and many more worldwide, to create a reality/music television show. In addition, The Haygoods also agreed to move the live show to RFD-TV The Theatre, also in Branson, on the famous Highway 76 Strip. The television show called “Adventures of The Haygoods” did extremely well on the RFD-TV Network and garnered very good Nielson ratings, especially for a completely unknown show.
In 2012 and 2013, The Haygoods became the longest running most successful first generation show in Branson, Missouri and celebrated with a SOLD OUT 20th Anniversary Show with over 2,200 in attendance. In 2014, The Haygoods moved their show and partnered with The Clay Cooper Theatre to build a brand new show experience, unlike anything ever seen in Branson. This show became incredibly successful with a phenomenal run of 62 SOLD OUT shows, setting a record in Branson.
In 2015, The Haygoods partnered with international star Barry Williams of The Brady Bunch fame to create a National TV show called “A Very Barry Branson.” This TV show explored Barry’s journey to Branson from Hollywood with The Haygoods assisting him in establishing his show in Branson, while also teaching him the country lifestyle along the way. This show premiered on the GAC Network in February of 2015. The success of the television show on GAC led The Haygoods to complete 72 sold out shows in Branson in 2015! In 2016, The Haygoods kicked off their 24th season in Branson and once again set the sold out record in Branson for the most sold-out shows in one season with 72 SOLD OUT SHOWS! In 2017, the Haygoods celebrated 25 years of performances by selling out over 75 shows in Branson! The Haygoods also released a second original music album entitled “The Lucky Ones” which was downloaded over 50,000 times on the internet resulting in music videos watched by over 200,000 fans!! Also, The Haygoods began taking the show on the road performing sold out shows in Dallas Texas and St. Louis.
In 2018 The Haygoods launched a new show experience and performed a full roster of 135 shows in Branson, Missouri selling out an incredible 80 shows! The Haygoods spent the winter of 2019 working on a brand new show experience, once again reinventing themselves, adding more state of the art special effects, more routines, more music and more of what has made them such a long term success for their 27th Season in Branson. The Haygoods also released an album of experimental songs on itunes rolling out the first new music in 2 years after 3 years of experimenting in the studio. The Haygoods sold out 85 performances in 2019 and sold out Christmas shows on the road in Bartlesville, OK, Lawrence, KS, and St. Louis MO.
For 2020, the Haygoods went back to the drawing board to create the 56th show experience they had crafted since 1993. Additions to the 2020 show included 2 new high power laser systems, a MASSIVE full stage immersive projection screen, over 15 new songs and routines, new costumes, and lots, lots more! The 2020 show opened on Feb. the 8th, 2020 to excellent reviews. A greatly expanded Christmas road show schedule was announced but unfortunately had to be canceled due to Covid – 19. For the first time in 30 years The Haygoods were forced to close the show for 2 1/2 months for the safety of guests in Branson during the pandemic of 2020.
During the entire shutdown the Haygoods worked around the clock and created 12, 30 minute, free, live music and entertainment shows streamed on Facebook, to keep folks cheered up all around the world. Upon reopening in May, The Haygoods were the first show in Branson to sell live stream tickets to stream the entire show on the internet, and experienced great success selling thousands of streaming tickets in total! The Haygoods operated the entire rest of the 2020 Season with social distancing and a greatly reduced capacity in the Clay Cooper Theatre for the comfort and safety of theatre guests. Due to decreased theatre capacity, every show The Haygoods played in 2020 was sold out a month or more in advance with hundreds turned away every show. The Haygoods felt extremely fortunate and blessed to be able to entertain folks and remain open throughout the pandemic, even under very challenging circumstances for live entertainment nationwide.
For the 29th straight year in a row, The Haygoods once again raised the bar with the new and reimagined 2021 show opening on Feb. 6th, 2021! Additions included new special effects, lots of new music and brand new concepts and ideas never before seen on a Branson stage. Plans for 2021 include a full Branson schedule, 2 new albums, and a triumphant return to the road around the Country for Christmas while playing in Branson as well!
From 2014 through 2025, The Haygoods continued to dominate the Branson stage with dozens of seasons with 50–120+ sold-out shows; packed houses year after year; and constant reinvention of the live show experience. In 2025, they set new all-time attendance and demand records, with nearly every show selling out. Now in their 34th season, The Haygoods have become one of the most in-demand live shows in the country. The 2026 show, we saw, featured very high-energy performances across rock, country, and pop; 20+ instruments played live; massive visual production, lighting, and effects. Not to mention that they have sold over 7.1 million tickets and still building.
Day 140 for us and day 4 for the music tour caravanners. But again, for both of us, it was still Wednesday September 23rd. We enjoyed breakfast at the Grand Country Buffet.
It's a bountiful breakfast buffet with fresh fruits, cereals, yogurt, farm fresh eggs, bacon, casseroles, fresh baked pastries and more. We enjoyed getting to know our caravanners on the indoor patio of the restaurant.
After breakfast, there was some free time to do what you wanted and then we caravanned to the Sight & Sound Theater to see David.
Some shopped in the gift shop and others viewed the military wall they have here.
Sight & Sound Theatres began in 1964 as a multimedia slideshow created by dairy farmer Glenn Eshelman and his wife, Shirley, in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1964, Glenn Eshelman presented scenic photography accompanied by music and narration at a local church, laying the conceptual groundwork for the company. Twelve years later, in 1976, the couple opened their first permanent venue, the Living Waters Theatre (initially called Sight & Sound Auditorium) in Ronks, Pennsylvania, after successful touring shows. By the 1980s the productions gradually incorporated live elements like actors, vocalists, dancers, and live animals. In 1987, the theater debuted its first complete, full-length live biblical production, Behold the Lamb.
The larger Entertainment Centre opened in 1991 in Lancaster County to accommodate growing audiences. Six years later, a devastating fire destroyed the Entertainment Centre. One year later, the family rebuilt and opened a new 2,000-seat facility featuring a massive 300-foot panoramic stage, premiering the production Noah. In 2008, the second massive 2,000-seat theater opened in Branson, Missouri. It is still a family-owned and operated venture with over 800 employees across its Pennsylvania and Missouri locations, drawing more than one million visitors annually.
It takes nearly four years to develop a new Sight & Sound production for the stage. From script and score to scenic design, meticulous attention is given to every detail.
Due to copyright infringement, there are no pictures allowed during the performance.
But here are a few of the outside of the theater, some of our caravanners and our seats.
We enjoyed our first campfire. Of course, we had s'more fixin's!
Day 141 for us, and day 5 for the music caravanners, but still Thursday September 24th. Becky & I enjoyed our last walk on these hills... Our legs are happy with that fact! The sunrise was spectacular!
Our group enjoyed lunch at Jackie B Goode's Uptown Cafe. Jack Goode's brother and the owner of the Uptown Cafe, is keeping his memories alive by the changing the name to, "Jackie B. Goode's Uptown Cafe" in his honor. Jack D. Goode made the ultimate sacrifice and laid down his life for his country. During a conflict in the Vietnam War, Jack and his comrades came under heavy fire. In the process, Jack was wounded badly and did not survive. Jack helped save many lives of his fellow soldiers by giving the enemy a relentless barrage of heavy gunfire.
Uptown Cafe is not only known for their classic American food and desserts, as well as being one of the finest restaurants Branson, MO has to offer. We had four selections and everyone loved their meals!They also have live entertainment every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Listen to the greatest hits of the 50s featuring Elvis and Johnny Cash, Gospel Music, and Top Country hits!
Their live performances offer an immersive experience you just can't get listening to recorded music.
We even had a few caravanners get into the "chicken dance" before we departed! Okay, I may have "egged" them into doing it! LOL
Following lunch we headed over to Clay Cooper's Theater to see the #1 Hits of the 60's show. We had many people take pictures on the swing before the show!
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#1 Hits of the 60’s touch on over 115 songs from the great artists of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, The Beatles, Carole King, ABBA, The Carpenter’s, The Bee Gees… the list goes on and on. Add over 100 costume changes, a fun video section, a talented cast of 7 and a live band and you’ve got the recipe for the show dubbed “The Most Fun You’ll Have In Branson!"
But the thing that really distinguishes #1 Hits of the 60's from any other show is that each and every performer on stage is passionate -about the fact that the unforgettable music and its connection to the audience is what's important. Having seen Amber Campbell perform in this show for years, I believe that to be true!
Every day they are asked "How do you have all that energy on stage?" That's easy - it's not work! Whether it's their interactive game ("Was It The 50's or 60’s?"), or the moment where you get to stand up and do all those crazy dances with the cast, they get to have fun and "go on vacation" with hundreds of visitors a day during the show. Our caravanner, Ben Harlan, even got into the show thanks to Amber. Ben was a good sport!
And their favorite part? That's easy too - it's that moment in the lobby after the show when all their new friends exit smiling and talking about all the memories they brought back... It's the best job in Branson!
We finished this first stop of our 15-day American Mountain Music tour with a travel log review for our drive tomorrow to Mountain View.
These first 5 days have gone by so quickly! Stay tuned for more #TwoLaneAdventures with #yankeeRVtours
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