Branson, in south-west Missouri, with no false modesty, calls itself "Live country music capital of the universe". The "Strip" is crowded with music palaces, where country music greats perform, souvenir booths selling all imaginable kinds of kitsch, motels and restaurants. However, the cinemas run sterile family films and pithy westerns. Every
year six million Americans, most of them pensioners in buses, descend on this town of only 4,000 souls. Branson is the epitome of squeaky-clean American culture, even though its most popular entertainer comes from Japan.
However Branson is also a good base for excursions into the wild and romantic lake district in south-western Missouri, on the border with Arkansas. Features of particular interest are the dam that has formed Table Rock Lake and the Silver Dollar theme park.