Travel in county Ozark

One of my favorite hidden-gem theme parks is Silver Dollar City, nestled in the Ozark Mountains in Branson, Missouri.

Even with a greatly reduced playing schedule and tournament appearances that have become rarer and rarer, Tiger Woods remains the most popular athlete in golf. Every time he does tee it up interest in the tournament spikes, and this week may be the biggest of them all, the Masters, an event he has already won five times. It was also the last of the 15 Major championships he won, in dramatic fashion in 2019.

No landscape is as iconically associated with Arkansas as the Ozark Mountains. These forested highlands are crucial to the state's self-conception as a natural, rugged wonderland that incubates deep folk culture and a cherished sense of independence. The Ozarks dominate northwestern Arkansas, where they are divided into two geologic categories: the Springfield Plateau and the Boston Mountains.

The Fire In The Hole roller coaster in the Silver Dollar City amusement park in the Ozark Mountains will take its final ride today. The world’s oldest indoor roller coaster has been thrilling guests since it first opened in 1972. The legendary roller coaster was one of the first indoor coasters and continued to hold the title of the world's longest-standing indoor roller coaster until now.

A merciful evening breeze kicked up, swatting away the Arkansas heat and giving wing to the melodies coming from two of the gazebos in the grassy park. In the larger one, a dozen people were playing the last strains of “Barbry Allen” on fiddles, mandolins, guitars, a stand-up bass, dulcimers, banjos and even a dulci-banjo.

The Ozarks may have a branding problem. Built up in the ’80s and ’90s with big hotel chains and arguably kitschy attractions, Branson has garnered a reputation among some as “the Las Vegas of the Midwest” — just more family-friendly. But the team behind The Ozarker Lodge in Branson, Missouri, which opened June 30, has some fresh ideas.

This week Executive Editor Dennis Schaal followed up on a comment made by Tripadvisor’s CEO about his company’s position in the tours and activities space. After looking at the growth of Tripadvisor’s Viator brand against its rival GetYourGuide, Schaal concluded that it wasn’t really a competition as much as it was a tale of these two big online companies competing against much larger offline competition. Read on for the full story, as well as other headlines from this week.