There's a place that I have to go to every time I'm in Springfield, MO that is too neat to pass up. The original Bass Pro Shops was big when I first visited in 1987, but they'd added on tremendously between that time and when I went back in 2004.
First of all, you don't have to hunt or fish or camp to enjoy the place. There's a lot of interesting stuff on display - both for sale and for show - that can lure you deeper into the rest of the store. The motif is decidedly northwoods with a lot of cozy cabin designs all through the store. They have a large clothing area for both casual and sport apparel, hunting and fishing supplies and accessories, and an indoor shooting range. They have household and camping supplies, as well as food stuff items.
They have both freshwater and saltwater aquariums, a little brook going through the downstairs area by the camping supplies, a three story water fall, a turtle exhibit, and a Wonders of Wildlife "zooquarium". I haven't been in the Wonders of Wildlife exhibit because it costs $10 bucks to get in, and I usually end up spending too much time in the Bass Pro Shop, itself.
Also in the building is a very good restaurant, Hemingway's Blue Water Cafe, on the third floor next to the water fall. Hemingway's has good seafood (although their selection is not as numerous as it was when I first ate there in the 80's), beef and pork, as well as sandwiches and lunch specials during the day. Years ago, I ran into an old boyfriend of one of my sisters, Jim Kahler, who lived in Springfield, and he was out drinking with a buddy of his, Arley Clark, who just happened to be the director of catalog sales for Bass Pro Shops. Arley invited me in for a tour of Bass Pro and lunch at Hemingway's one day and I took him up on it. I've had dinner at Hemingway's two or three times. The seafood selections were very good - especially for a landlocked community like Springfield.
One other thing that Bass Pro Shops in Springfield has is a huge Tracker Boat showroom that is open 24 hours. In fact, the showroom for Tracker Boats is in the area where the old catalog sales area was when I first went to Bass Pro in the 80's. It's fun to go and and check out the fishing boats, the "party barges" and just to see what they're coming up with in the newest technology for boating.
There are a number of Bass Pro Shops around the nation (click here to find a store near you), most of them are in the east and southeast of the US, but I see they're getting ready to open out in California very soon. But I have to say that I've been to three or four of them around the Midwest and if any of the others are like those, they're impressive, but they don't hold a candle to the original location down in Springfield.
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