I once had a friend who told me that “he knew stuff; he’d been to town and seen two dog fights and a circus.”

At one end of the main strip in Branson, Missouri, is the front half of the Titanic in its nearly full-size glory, the other half presumably sunk. Passing the ship in distress, we could see a giant King Kong climbing a somewhat short skyscraper, further on was a giant chicken. The rest of the strip was a collection of similar imitations; castles, giant mansions, 50’s diners, etc. It was an eastern version of Las Vegas without the suggestion of sin that gambling evokes.

We are practical people, Lydia and I, and not inclined to enjoy this sort of imitation reality. Still, it was an interesting morning gawking. We spent the afternoon at a performance of Irish singers in a theater designed like a castle, after shopping for a few needfuls at a grocery at the opposite end of the strip.

We ate supper at the giant chicken! (Ok, as a marketing ploy it works, though there were no children present and giant chickens must have some subliminal effect on overweight seniors.) Our server left us with menus and a plate of cornbread, a downhome touch. The bread was as dense as a fudge brownie, and just as sweet. Lyd had fried chicken, she knew why the sign was outside. I had a chicken fried steak sandwich, served with a dish of white gravy to dip it in. It was unexpectedly fulfilling.

We braved the strip once more to return to the shelter of our rooms, organized, packed, and had an early night. Tomorrow I would cruise the strip a final time on our way out of town, Lyd taking pictures the whole way.

Thinking back on it, I realize that Branson is about nostalgia for a countrified past. Good home cooking, fifties diners, old Irish songs that evoke a proud heritage, the great movies of the thirties, all fit in a basket of reminiscence, variations on a theme of an innocent and lost youth. As I began to write this, I knew that I needed to be careful to not mock Branson. I cannot count the number of people that have pointed out that we really needed to go there on our travels. They enjoyed it and wanted us to share that experience. I was skeptical. Now I have a better understanding.

Blessings.

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