{"id":6452,"date":"2016-08-05T15:33:44","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T15:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/?p=6452"},"modified":"2016-08-05T15:48:16","modified_gmt":"2016-08-05T15:48:16","slug":"branson-mo-or-in-which-i-find-out-what-a-time-share-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/?p=6452","title":{"rendered":"Branson, MO, or In Which I Find Out What a Time Share Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know how they say that there is no such thing as a free lunch? (I’ve already established that there is no such thing as a free cat.) For some reason, I thought I had won a stay at a campground in Branson. Well, I didn’t have to pay for it, but I did have to sit through a 90 minute sales pitch. I guess it was worth the hectoring I experienced for four free nights in Branson. I also received $100 in gift certificates for Camping World. And, I have more nights of free camping at the locations in their chain, if I care to use them.<\/p>\n

If I get in the neighborhood of one of their facilities, I might take advantage of the offer. I mean, I did<\/em> sit through the sales pitch. And free is my favorite price.<\/p>\n

This seems to be a membership camping club. The saleswoman made a point of telling me several times that it wasn’t a timeshare. I didn’t exactly know what a timeshare was, but I found out while I was in Branson!<\/p>\n

After I got into the campground and got the trailer situated, I went to the grocery store. As I was checking out, I noticed that there was a booth selling tickets to the shows in Branson. I figured that I should probably try to catch a show – after all, that is what Branson is famous for.<\/p>\n

The salesman told me that all the tickets were $15. That sounded good, so I picked out a couple of shows. Then, he did a bunch of figuring and then turned the paper around and asked me if I’d like to see them for free.<\/p>\n

Again, that siren call…free<\/strong><\/em>!<\/p>\n

He told me that if I went to an informational meeting at the timeshare, I could have the tickets for free and I’d get a $50 gift card, too.<\/p>\n

Well, why not?<\/p>\n

The meeting would be in the next day. I got my groceries home and went to see the first show – SIX<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Six\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was an excellent show. If you ever find yourself in Branson, I’d recommend it. SIX refers to six brothers who perform a cappella. They have been doing the show in Branson for ten years. The music quality was consistent, they had a nice variety of pieces and the production values were high.<\/p>\n

The next day, I went to the timeshare meeting. I really didn’t know much about what a timeshare was or how it worked. What I did find out was that they are very good at salesmanship and that I am not in the market for what they are selling.<\/p>\n

The barrage of selling was orchestrated much like a fireworks display.<\/p>\n

\"fireworks21\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They had peaks and valleys of pressure and engagement. The very end was wild. It was like the closing display. I think there were three – maybe four – salesmen at my table within three minutes. I just kept saying no-no-no. Finally they let me leave. They gave me my gift card and the voucher for the other ticket.<\/p>\n

There was one last attempt to pry money out of me. When I was leaving, they gave me a coupon for an extra gift. I turned it in, and it was a deck of cards. I don’t think they were playing cards, because the fellow at the desk told me that they were for discounts in Branson. I smiled and thanked him and handed the deck back.<\/p>\n

That night, I got to see the second show. It was Million Dollar Quartet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Million<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, it may have been a very good show. The audience was enjoying it. The thing \u00a0is, I was never too into that era of music. I mean, I wasn’t even one year old when the event it is based on took place. But, I saw a show, it was well done, and it was FREE<\/em><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Now, I know, strictly speaking, the shows weren’t free. I paid for them with my time in the sales meeting. But, I count it as a win. I saw two shows, filled up my tank and bought some groceries and I found out that I am not interested in timeshares.<\/p>\n

It’s not all about shows and timeshares in Branson. There are many other ways to spend money. Since I’m all about not spending money unless it is something I really want, I satisfied myself with looking.<\/p>\n

\"Titanic<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes, that is a model of the Titanic sitting right there in the middle of the Ozarks. I am not sure why it is there, but there it is.<\/p>\n

\"Titanic<\/a><\/p>\n

As always, you exit through the gift shop.<\/p>\n

Would I go back to Branson? Well, probably not. For one thing, it’s not really on the way to anyplace I plan to go. Also, I hate the roads! Narrow, hilly, curvy and NO SHOULDERS! The driving was a nightmare. Also, I’ve been there – I get the picture, and there are so many more places I’d rather schedule a second visit.<\/p>\n

And that’s all I have to say about Branson.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know how they say that there is no such thing as a free lunch? (I’ve already established that there is no such thing as a free cat.) For some reason, I thought I had won a stay at a campground in Branson. Well, I didn’t have to pay for it, but I did have … Continue reading Branson, MO, or In Which I Find Out What a Time Share Is<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[624,623,625],"class_list":["post-6452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-million-dollar-quartet","tag-six","tag-timeshares"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6452"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6724,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6452\/revisions\/6724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.towingsilver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}