One even-numbered years, we like to take our family on a Christmas cruise but because of the Chinese coronarvirus, last month we drove to Branson, Missouri, for six days between Christmas and New Year’s.

It was a lot cheaper but a lot less exciting.

We rented a four-bedroom condo near the lake in Branson. We were accompanied by our son and daughter-in-law plus our son-in-law, daughter and our two grandchildren, ages 1 and 2.

We booked the condo through one of those Internet services and that was a mistake. We wanted a four-bedroom condo on one floor and each room with king- or queen-sized beds. What we got was a two-story condo and one of the upstairs bedrooms had two twin-sized beds.

The condo was nice and nicely furnished but my son (age 34) and my son-in-law (age 31) both slipped and fell at least once on the carpeted stairs. Fortunately, neither was hurt. But we had to use a portable gate at the base of the stairs to make sure the little ones – who love to climb – stayed off the stairs. They did.

So we had six adults and two kids in the condo. Four of the adults have had the coronavirus (and fully recovered) and the other two were the parents of the grandchildren. We weren’t worried about them being infected by our family members.

We took most of the family to Branson after Christmas in 2017 at the same condo complex and that was fun. It is right near the lake yet close enough to get to where we needed to go quickly.

We didn’t see any of the shows. There were some performances but we just wanted to spend time together. We actually played some board games (Scrabble) and then we played some electronic games that were fun.

We went to Silver Dollar City one afternoon, mostly so we could see the fabulous light display in the town square at night. It is stunning and they play real Christmas music.

But it was very cold and we found an indoor restaurant and sat down for a meal. This restaurant use to serve cafeteria style but now it bring you a plate filled with food. It is all you can eat but it wastes food because there were several items that no one wanted for one reason or the other. But the food was tasty and we had a nice supper in a warm restaurant.

Some of us rode a few rides and did some shopping. Silver Dollar City had a special that if you bought a ticket, you got a second day free. The weather turned bad the next day, so we didn’t take advantage of the second day option.

We took two cars to the park and paid for “preferred parking” for $16 a car. I thought this would get us close to the entrance but we still had to walk a bit to get in.

On these trips, there is a balance between doing a lot and just resting and relaxing while we enjoy each other’s company. I was interested in going on the Showboat Branson Belle, the dinner boat on the lake, but that didn’t work out.

We did go to Branson Landing and eat dinner at Guy Fieri’s Branson Kitchen. We made reservations, which was smart because it was the most crowded restaurant in that part of town.

Fieri is the self-proclaimed “Mayor of Flavortown.” Fieri is all over the Food Network with shows that include Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives; Guy’s Ranch Kitchen; Guy’s Big Bites; Guy’s Grocery Games and more. In fact, the last two cruises we went on had Guy Fieri restaurants.

In Branson, his restaurant was very good. The service was mediocre. We ordered our food and it took 45 minutes to get our food, which is a long time when you have a 1-year-old and 2-year-old in tow.

We were going to order takeout from Saltgrass Steakhouse at the Branson Landing but they were so busy, the wait was about an hour. So we ordered takeout steaks from Montana Mikes on the Strip and they were very good.

One morning, I was commissioned to travel to Hurt’s Donuts for breakfast. We have a Hurt’s Donuts in Tulsa but our whole family like their pastries.

There was a giant line at about 8 a.m. The line was bigger than normal because people were spacing themselves due to the virus. And the line was slow because people would get to the front were unable to decide what donuts to choose. But it was worth the wait.

I didn’t know if Branson would be deserted between Christmas and New Year’s because of the pandemic but there seemed to be a lot of people there.

We thought about going to the Branson Aquarium At the Boardwalk but we never found the time. It has a 20-foot tall octopus that lights up at night on the strip. We may check it our next time.

It was important to get with the family and it was special to get out of town for a few days. Cruises are great but a drive to Branson is a good alternative.