American Restaurants in Van Buren

“The Landing is a wonderful family-owned business and a gem in Southeast Missouri. They are perfectly located on the Current River in Van Buren, Missouri. I grew up local and have used their float services more times than I can count. The float is scenic and a fun day on the water is always made easy by their preparedness and friendly staff.

I am not currently reviewing a fun summer day though. My family and I were in desperate need of a venue appropriate for a celebration of life for my father. He was a dedicated family man and lifelong outdoorsman. Fishing, hunting, hiking, and camping were all passions of his. We had spent a great deal of time on the river and couldn’t think of a more perfect venue.

Andrew Bedell and his family went above and beyond to accommodate us. We were met with warmth and openness to our needs. He was consistently kind. Planning with him was straightforward and clear. He was the utmost professional and organized. He was always responsive, which was a relief as I was planning from out of town.

Ultimately, the service and dinner could not have gone better. We hosted the event in The Blue Heron, the on-site restaurant, which has a stage, sound system with microphone, screen, and picturesque view. Andrew himself helped us set up the morning of. He put a lot of work into making sure this day was what our family needed it to be, even helping us troubleshoot some technical difficulties on our end. The food at The Blue Heron is always delicious and this was no exception. Andrew helped us tailor a menu for the event and the food and service exceeded our expectations.

Our guests from Chicago who stayed at the hotel mentioned more than once the accommodations being clean and well put together and the friendliness of the staff.

Truly, my family and I could not be more grateful to share a community with the Bedell family and The Landing. I always recommend my family and friends who are in the area make time to visit and take a float trip. For those of us local to the area, show The Landing your support. They deserve it.“

“Bus ride made child throw up on bus, crazy ride! We took a canoe on the 10 mile run. Warning, half way through limbs to the right sticking up out of water, ALWAYS look for longer limbs underneath! Tubes just bounce off but our canoe hit and turned us over in deep water, wear a life jacket and tie everything down. Front person be the look out but if your going fast, hard to tell the back person in time to change course so look ahead. Further down theres short rapids with a narrow path between cliffs and sandbars to the left. boats dont care and will makes waves and splash the one on tubes. Just plain stupid and dangerous. We decided to get out of the way got out of our canoe and haul it over the sandbar. Even such a short distance we could have turned over again. Tubes we noticed were trying to use hands as oars in still areas or got off to walk them with water waste high. Some areas were crowded, people in water or tent after tent. And again speed boats do not care. When we flipped over one raft stopped to see if we were ok, but after that we didnt see anyone and we didnt realize till after that our canoe was FULL of water. so travel with a group best you can. It really can be dangerous. Best advise i can give. Respect the danger, enjoy what you can. Life jacket saved me for real:-)“