Miss Pansy Goes to Branson - Tales of the Traveling Totes and Giveaway

Welcome to Tales of the Traveling Totes for September of 2022, where MacKenzie-Child loving ladies post once a quarter on where their bags have been.  If you follow me on IG you know that I was recovering from hip surgery in June and then hospitalized again for gallbladder surgery so I didn't post in June, so it has been a while.
In January of 2020 we each received custom made MacKenzie-Child's bags based on what the incredible seamstresses at MacKenzie Child designed for us based on our blogs, and then Covid-19 hit!  So this month we are focusing on our custom made Serendipity bags' travels.  Mine is named Miss Pansy.

One of my girlfriends had gone to Branson two years ago and she decided right then and there that she wanted all of us to go together.  They belong to Holiday Inn Vacation resorts, so they booked two rooms in Branson for the five couples.  None of the rest of us had been to Branson, so we didn't know what to expect, but we absolutely had a marvelous time. 

A neighbor heard that we were going and said 

we absolutely had to eat breakfast at Billy Gail's. 

So we started our vacation the first morning there.  

We loved the Big Boy out front whose hamburger 

had turned into a stack of pancakes.

One couple was missing that first morning 

so this picture only shows four of the 

couples.  They had stayed one extra night 

at home as their dog had just had a litter 

of five puppies. 

The food was so good that we decided when the 

other couple joined us, we would have to go again. 

The pancake in the background is 14 inches!  It was 

the most amazing pancake.  We all got to try some 

of it and there was still some left. 

As we were picking up our show tickets, 

we spotted a Paula Deen's restaurant, so 

we had to add that to our list.  She has the 

most charming shop at the front of the 

restaurant, and we'all had to get some of 

her fun gifts.  

Miss Pansy and I looooved the biscuits 

they served at Paula Deen's Restaurant 

and we were introduced to 

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, 

which we then ordered at almost every 

restaurant we went to. I also brought 

home two boxes of her Ooey Gooey 

Butter Cake Mixes, one in vanilla 

and one in chocolate.  I am making one 

tomorrow for a pool party!  

Each night we attended a show and 

The Haygoods by far was our favorite show.  

They are sold out every night. 

The sister in the show was talented on so many 

instruments, but my favorite was the harp, as 

they had it lit up and her dress was lit up too. 

What we enjoyed most was the outdoor 

activities.  We rode bikes up Dogwood Canyon.  

It is a nice easy ride and I was thrilled that 

my hip had no problems.  

The bike path crisscrossed over the stream 

many times and the stone structures were 

just gorgeous. 

At the top of the ride they had this beautiful 

waterfall with golden trout in the pond.  

We had never seen golden trout before.  

Along the trail you cross from Missouri to 

Arkansas, so we laughed and said we rode 

all the way to Arkansas. 

We ate at the lodge there for lunch.  All of 

the food we had on the trip was amazing. 

We also got to walk through a 

Treehouse Master's house there on 

the property.  

Later in the week we rode gold carts through 

Top of the Rock Heritage Preserve.  It was 

also stunning with waterfalls and bridges.  

You even drive through a cave!  It was so 

beautiful.  

The iron work everywhere is unbelievable.  

We just marveled at the creativity and 

money that was put into both of these 

places - everything so beautiful. 

We also roamed through the Ancient Ozarks 

Natural History Museum that had so many 

beautiful Indian artifacts.  My favorite items 

were all of the beaded dresses and the 

dolls, all so well-preserved.  

After that we had lunch in the Big Cedar Lodge.  

The buildings at both places were just 

magnificent, and the food matched the 

grandeur.  Miss Pansy really enjoyed 

herself and even got to go on the 

golf carts. 

This was a sampling of foods we had at 

the Big Cedar Lodge.  Yum!  And we 

learned to order dessert as an appetizer 

and all just share one, otherwise we wouldn't 

have room for dessert. 

Another treat was getting to eat at Guy Fieri's restaurant 

down by the water.  We ordered Trash Can Nachos. 

I had seen him make these on one of his shows 

and I had tried making them.  His were better of course. 

It's a big presentation where they 

bring it out in the "trash can" and then 

pull off the trash can.  The smoked meat 

on it was unbelievable.  

I was just so happy that with all of my 

problems after the gallbladder surgery 

following my hip surgery that I was able 

to eat everything.  After only being able 

to eat a few things for six weeks, the 

food was one of the highlights of the trip. 

We also spent a day at 

Silver Dollar City Amusement Park. 

Everything we did was fun and beautiful and 

delicious.  It was a great trip. 

Now for the giveaway.  

Visit Jenna and leave a comment to be 

entered into the giveaway for this 

cute reusable shopping bag.  

And also visit all of our other official 

Tales of the Traveling Totes ladies to 

see what they were up to.

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader

Cherry Kay and Carrie Ann Hall @ Entertaining Women 

Thanks for visiting and leave a comment. 

And a huge thank you to Patti at 

Pandora's Box for including me on 

all of the adventures of

Tales of the Traveling Totes.