Ok, I received some excellent info on hotels and activities in the St. Louis area. We are also going to go through Branson, MO on the way back to Indiana, as a fun side-trip for the kids and us! Again, I have never been there. Does anyone have any favorite hotels or motels to recommend? Any tips in general?

I will check in tomorrow morning to view this thread.... DH and I just got the kids to bed (hurray!!!) and are going to start our Saturday night movie. Have a great night and weekend!

Not really anything on hotels--have stayed somewhere different everytime--my friend Marvin preforms with the At The Hop show, hes the guy with the big hair. The show is great. Go to the Landing and shop , theres a restraunt by the fountains--mexican-that is awesome!

We go to Branson every few years. Last time we stayed at the Rosebud Inn and we really liked it. It is not fancy but it is nice. You can look it up on a search and it will show you pics of it. I think the rates were reasonable and we will definately stay there again. There is also one called the Grand Country Inn, I think, that has a water park inside it. I've heard that it's great.

The Rosebud Inn does look nice and quaint, and it's just in the price range we want. (under $100) I sent a request for more info on that one. Does anyone know anything about the Alpenrose Inn? I stumbled upon that one this morning as well.

As for the Mexican food, I LOVE it! My boys do too, but my DH is not that fond of it. (He has a touchy stomach! ) Sometimes I can talk him into it, though. Oh well... I don't like seafood AT ALL, and he loves it, so that's the trade-off, I suppose.

Thanks to you both!

We went to Branson this summer and it was awesome. We stayed at a nice little hotel and I think we paid $54 a night. I'll have to ask my dh the name of the place!

Sounds good!

By the way, has anyone ever eaten at a place called "Shorty Smalls"? (in Branson)

My Inlaws go to Branson 2-3 times year.... They stay at a Hotel called the Spinning Wheel and I believe the rates of the hotel are around $50... amazing! Also Shorty Smalls is an excellent restaurant and reasonable.
Another tip is when and if you go to theaters to buy tickets for shows.. get the program and the booklets and look through them a lot of times they have buy one get one free tickets and coupons for food.

Have fun!

Oh yeah Shorty smalls is wonderful--as for the mexican--its authentic--not the real spicy stuff you would think. I can't remember the name of the hotel we stayed at this summer--it was pretty cheap around $50 . We stayed at the Thousand Hills once and it was nice--a bit more but it has an indoor pool.

You know, I did look at the Spinning Wheel! But for some reason, when I pull it up on my computer, the type is VERY faint and I can't read the details or see any pictures. I don't know if it's the website, or it's my computer somehow. But, it did get good reviews on another travel site! The other one I looked at was the Alpenrose; it's similar in price and also got good reviews. I haven't decided anything yet...

The reason I asked about Shorty Smalls is because I got a certificate off of Restaurant.com for it. (Love it when that happens!) I've never been there and it looked interesting. Hey, as for the Mexican place, it sounds good to me! I will have to tell DH that it's not spicy...although I don't mind spice at all! In fact, the first year of our marriage, I cooked so many spicy dishes that my husband finally had to ask me to tone it down.

I havent stayed there but my mom-in-law and other family members love the Savannah house in Branson. It's reasonable, has a 20+ item FREE breakfast, and they have great cobbler, ice cream and cookies every night also FREE.

Hope this helps