GENERATIONAL IDEAS ON DOING NOTHING

My mother, my daughter, and I spent a few days in Branson for a getaway. Three generations of women with, as it turns out, three different ideas of what the getaway would look like.

I booked a condo with a balcony overlooking the woods and packed books (plural) to read in my downtime. I had a mental list of restaurants we needed to try. My idea of rest and relaxation includes a rocking chair on the deck or maybe a lounge chair by the pool.

My daughter bought us all matching pajamas and made a list of activities to choose from for each day. She researched museums, theme parks, adventure trails, and shows. She sorted them by how well-suited they were for us. (I’m sure this was a dig about our ages, but she wasn’t wrong.)

My mother packed enough groceries and snacks that we could have hibernated. About the only thing our plans had in common was shoe stores.

We compromised, of course, and had a great time. The books stayed packed, a lot of the groceries made a round trip, and the activities got narrowed down. We all laughed more than seemed possible and discussed everything under the sun.

We saw the show David at the Sight and Sound Theater. It was amazing, and spawned some deep conversations about faith, losing your way, consequences, and redemption. Plus, a lot of conversations that started with How did they…? Train those animals so well, build the set to do that, make the giant move like that, and a dozen other questions. If you get a chance to see a show at Sight and Sound, we highly recommend it.

We visited Top of The Rock for the Lost Canyon Cave & Nature Trail. It was a golf cart ride through some beautiful natural areas, including waterfalls and a cave. The scenic views were fabulous, and we all enjoyed the trip. No hiking, walking or climbing involved, so perfect for all ages.

Another feature at Top of the Rock is the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum. I had not heard of this museum and was amazed at the scope and quality of the exhibits. We could easily have spent much longer exploring the rich details and fascinating collections if we’d arrived earlier in the day. I’ve added this to my list of must-dos for the area.

We ate some delicious meals, both at local restaurants and some that we cooked at the condo. And we snacked, and giggled, and teased. We shared and connected, talked about old memories and made new ones.

Oh, and the shoe stores? We made sure they knew we were in town.