Many of you know that since July I have been working at Planters Bank with Adelaide Fletcher and the Planters Partners travel program. Adelaide has done a wonderful job for nineteen years escorting people on trips all over the world and in the United States. This past week we traveled to Branson, Missouri and Bentonville, Arkansas. We left Monday morning with a group from Merchants and Farmers Bank in Kosciusko and returned late Thursday afternoon. We had a wonderful time seeing three shows, touring the College of the Ozarks, the Crystal Bridges Museum and Sam Walton’s first store that began the Wal Mart odyssey, filling ourselves with all kinds of food, saluting our military and veterans, confirming our faith in God, and making new friends. Whew, I am worn out recalling all that we did. We even managed to get in some shopping, too. Oh, and we saw a 42 foot hand-carved chicken! My daughter Laura says I have done it all now, from the Roman Coliseum to the giant chicken.
Our first morning in Branson we toured the area. One of the highlights was the dam and the trout fish hatchery. Both Brown and Rainbow trout are raised in the hatchery.
We then rode higher into the mountains and viewed the site that was made famous in Harold Bell Wright's 1907 novel
The Shepherd of the Hills, Old Matt's Cabin.
Our next stop was the College of the Ozarks. It is a beautiful school set in the Ozark Mountains. There are 1,400 students that attend the college free. Of those 1,400, ninety percent are under privileged students who can not afford to attend college . The other ten percent are students who apply to attend the school, and only 100 are accepted out of a waiting list of approximately 500 students. The college is fully self-sufficient, and all students must work to pay for their tuition and room and board. The college has its own power plant, a dairy, grist mill, garden, and nursery. They also raise cows and pigs. The campus is beautifully landscaped by the students and is so serene.
The school is also known for its baskets the students weave. Below is one that is displayed in the grist mill.
This sign hangs from many of the utility poles.
We left the college to head for our entertainment on the Branson Belle that is on Table Rock Lake. We had a fun lunch and were entertained with a variety show of magic and music.
We soon learned that if you sit on the aisle seats you will be selected to participate in the show. Here Gina helps the fiddler.
John and Jan were also a part of the show.
I'm not sure John was excited to be a part of the show.
Wednesday afternoon was spent in Bentonville. Below is the first store that Sam Walton owned in Bentonville. It has been turned into a museum that tells the Wal Mart story and includes Walton's office just as it was at the time of his death. We also saw the old Ford 150 pick-up he drove around town.
After a wonderful family-style Italian dinner at Travola, we traveled to the Crystal Bridges Museum outside of town. It is a beautiful museum that has a wonderful collection of American artists, including painters, photographers, and sculptors.
Entrance to the museum
Sculpture outside the museum
One of the "bridges" from which the museum gets it name
A second "bridge"
Just a few of the more famous paintings on display:
Below is Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington. It is from this portrait of Washington that his likness was taken for the one dollar bill.
Below is Asher Brown Durand's painting entitled
Kindred Spirits. It depicts the artist Thomas Cole conversing with the poet William Cullen Bryant. This painting is one of the best known examples of the Hudson River School artists. I remember seeing a copy of this painting in one of my American literature textbooks when I taught the Romantic Period in American literature. My day is truly made when I get to see an original piece of art that I have seen in books. This made my day!
Finally, below is Mary Cassat's
The Reader. Cassat was the only American artist to ever exhibit with the Impressionist painters of Europe. Her mentors were Degas and Monet.
Thursday morning we were up early and on the road home by 7:30. We arrived in Indianola an hour ahead of schedule with another good time logged in our travel journals. Our travel partners were wonderful, and I rekindled some old friendships and made some new friends. If you think you would like to join us for some of our travels, give us a call at the Bank in Indianola at 662-884-1468.
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