We have been going to Branson every year, for our anniversary, basically since 2019! But I have to say that this year really takes the cake in terms of things we did and where we stayed.
So I’ll be using this post to tell you all about our favorite things we did with the kids, where we ate and stayed!
To get to Branson is about an 8 hour drive from us, so we usually stop half up in the Tulsa area and then complete the drive the next day!
If you have been around here for any amount of time you know I love a good iced mocha at a small, cozy coffee shop! So when an ab rehab client and coffee shop owner reached out saying she owned a coffee shop in Tulsa, we HAD to go try it! It was super yummy and the shop was totally our vibe! It was a hit to say the least! Definitely check out Sona coffee Shop if you are ever in Tulsa, Oklahoma!
Where we stayed: The Cliffs at Long Creek by Big Cedar Wilderness Club
Our room was bigger than we needed, having two rooms since we do all usually sleep pile in one bed, much like the Croods! But it was perfect to be a home away from home since I did work while on most of this trip! We need space to spread out!
The pools, playgrounds, activities on site for all properties of Big Cedar are a huge reason that we decided to become owners with Bluegreen and Big Cedar. There is so much to do we the kids that is included that it just makes sense for us! We did the pool with was heated to 85 the first night we got there and the kids LOVED it! The whole place is made for families and kids so there aren’t really deep pools and you can literally hear families out playing mini golf, swimming or playing giant chess until like 9. Families come to have a good time here and the customer service here is amazing!
Rivers Floaty is linked here
Radleys float is linked here
These are best non-inflated floats ever for kids and we have had the one that River is using now, since Rad was first swimming! Definitely worth the investment!
One of the days I took the girls, by shuttle since dad had the car to go golfing, down to camp long creek marina to play by the water! They had a blast throwing rocks, wading In the water and just watching the few boats that drove past. Another nice thing about big cedar is the shuttle system that you can call and they will bus you around their properties so you don’t have to trek back up hill with kids and stuff!
My Overalls are linked here, I’m wearing an XS!
Rad’s leopard jumper is linked here
The Butterfly Palace was something we had done with Rad when she was pretty young so we were excited to come back for our second time and both girls enjoyed it so much more this time! We actually went 2 days! One thing to note, when you buy your tickets, as long as you keep your wrist bands on, you can come back for the next 3 consecutive days!! Great for when the rain decided to show up!
THE EXPLORER PASS
The other thing I totally recommend for families with kids is the Explorer Pass! It is TOTALLY worth it! This was the first time we got the pass and did all the activities. The activities included are: DOGWOOD CANYON NATURE PARK | FUN MOUNTAIN | TOP OF THE ROCK | WONDERS OF WILDLIFE | Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum
Dogwood canyon is one that we did before when Riv was like 5 weeks old…me recovering from a c-section and going on a long walk/hike was not my smartest decision! But it was beautiful and we knew we wanted to go back this time! It was so much more fun with the girls being older!
Top of the Rock Cave & Nature Trail is a trail by golf cart which was really nice because the kids don’t get tired and it is self guided so you can get out and explore and then return to your cart to keep seeing the trail! Its a beautiful paved trial with waterfalls, ponds and caves! We also saw a bunch of groundhogs!!
Fun Mountain is an indoor arcade, restaurant and bowling alley!! With your explorer pass, you also get a $15! It was Rad’s first experience ever in an arcade and honestly I haven’t been in one for years…and this trip reminded me why….holy overstimulation lol
We ended up with 2, $15 cards from shanes and my pass so we helped Rad play some of the games in the arcade and she actually won some tickets and redeemed them for prizes, which she LOVED! Over all, this is a great idea for when the weather acts up!
Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum was actually so fun and Rad really enjoyed it more than we would have thought! Lots of ancient artifacts, bones and info about the history of the Ozarks! A great activity again for when the weather get nasty!
WONDERS OF WILDLIFE was absolutely our favorite thing to do, that we’d never done before!! Rad LOVED it!! There was soooo much to see! It is also attached to the biggest Bass Pro Shop, which that alone has a ton to look at, alligators and coffee shop included! They had everything from star fish & sting ray touch zones, live penguins (which you can feed, if you call ahead), Sharks (you can also swim with them if you call ahead), every fish you can imagine, albino alligators and other reptiles! Each section of the aquarium and museum was built out like an different environment. No pictures or video could do it justice! It was really incredible. The detail was amazing. HOURS of fun was had here. We will probably do this every time we visit! This was about an hour from where our resort was, but so worth it!
There was two places that we ate and LOVED! These had great vegan options and we will definitely be dinning here again!
First up was the Mellow Mushroom Pizza Place! We did the build your own pizzas and pretzels. It was a little pricey but it was a good one time visit! I Built the Pesto base pizza with artichokes, vegan cheese and avocado and it was amazinggggg. Shane got a mushroom pizza with vegan cheese as well! So good!
The other place we ate at was an Indian food place and it was amazing! We ate here for our anniversary and then got it togo one more day!
India Clay Oven was soo yummy and their service was so great! Seemed to be family owned!
What we ordered:
Appetizers: VEGETABLE SAMOSA , VEGETABLE PAKORA, CLAY OVER SPECIAL VEG. PLATTER
Dinners: DAL TADKA (Shane ordered this, spicy), DAL MAKHANI (Shane ordered this, spicy), ALOO MUTTER ( I ordered this both times we went)
This was such a fun trip for us, we loved all the new adventures we did with the kids and trying out new restaurants!
Thank you so much for reading along! Let me know in the comments if you liked this post and want more like this!
Love you guys!
xo Jesse ✌️✌️