nadir |ˈnādər; ˈnādi(ə)r|
noun [in sing. ] the lowest point in the fortunes of a person.
Without trying to sound like the GOP and their ridiculous equivalences, I have to say I have reached the nadir of my wonderful trip.
And I don't mean elevation wise.
I am in Branson, MO and can I just say this town is godawful. I imagine that at one time there was a wild, natural beauty. You can tell because of the mountains and there are even some trees.
But jaysis - they have filled every corner with white-bread motels and silly chain restaurants and goofy activities and shops that sell I can't even imagine what. It gives me the shudders.
From here we dip into Arkansas and drive through "The Ozarks" - please GOD don't let it all be like this!
I feel like I have dropped in to an overpopulated combination of all the worst parts of Las Vegas, the Poconos, Gatlinburg and Kissimmee.
GROSS!!!
I'm going to bed and will get up early (hopefully before the sun rises) and haul ass.
Well, that certainly confirms my prejudices. So, uh, thanks?
ReplyDeleteDid you know it's the home of Andy Williams?
K (The Simpsons taught me something important!)
Uh oh! Do you live in Branson??? Mea culpa -- I would feel terrible to offer you any kind of an insult!! Oh brother!
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn't know it was the home of Andy Williams - and I love Andy Williams, especially his Christmas specials (my iPod is filled for Christmas with his albums).
Oh dear.
Oh no, I just meant that it's never all that good to have one's prejudices confirmed. My opinion toward that part of the American culture is reflexively a little negative. I would expect it to be the nadir. What little I know about Branson seems a shade creepy.
ReplyDeleteK (So I amuse myself that the best words to describe it--kitsch, schmaltz--are Yiddish.)
Whew! It's more than a shade creepy -- to me, anyway. My daughter kept saying "Yeah, but a lot of people come here..." and I kept responding "Yeah, and WHO ARE THEY???"
ReplyDeleteThe drive east on US 412 through the Ozarks was beautiful!
Just got back from a family reunion in Branson this week (my first time there), and my fiance and I got home and had to type in "Branson, creepy" into Google. We found your blog. :) We mostly had fun at Table Rock lake and hanging out at the resort our family stayed at. But yes, the strip, the weird billboards (esp "Baldknobbers"), etc. were very creepy, not just a "shade."
ReplyDeleteHeidi - great to meet you, and I agree that the countryside and natural stuff in the area is beautiful ... quite a contrast to 'the strip'!
ReplyDeleteThe billboards - their nature and their number - were, indeed, highly creepy!