Bass Pro Shop

One of Ryan's coworkers raves about Bass Pro Shop. He has two young sons and takes them to see the stuffed animals for entertainment and suggested we take Jake. Not knowing anything about this store, other than its HUGE and in the next town over, it sounded like a great plan for a rainy day - especially since there is no zoo in our area. In my mind I'm thinking they have rows and rows of stuffed giraffes, elephants, bears, lions, etc. FAO Schwartz style. So one Saturday I promise Jake that if he takes a nap we will go visit the animals. He was so excited that when he woke up 3 hours later he reminded me of where we needed to go.
As we pull into the full parking lot, groups of people are filing into the store. Jake starts to whimper at the unknown beyond the gigantic doors. "Oh look Jake, a deer made out of branches!" As you enter the store a man is sitting behind a turnstile; almost as if you are about to board a ride at Disneyland. Let me just say that this store is unlike any other store I have ever seen in my life. Its like a Man vs. Wild wet dream.  There are sections for mens/womens/kids clothing, fishing/hunting/camping gear, a gigantic fish tank - complete with large fish, a waterfall, and hundreds of taxidermy animals in every corner and hanging from the ceiling. There is even a fudge shop!
We spent over an hour walking around the store checking out each of the different sections. I even bought a bag of popcorn to up the entertainment value. Lucky for me I grew up with a hunter for a Dad so when Jake asks "what's that?" I can expertly say "its a mallard/trout/pheasant/etc." It was so much fun to see the look on Jake's face when we pointed out the animals.
If you have one near you and are looking for some entertainment on a cold and rainy day, I highly recommend the Bass Pro Shop! Maybe we will see you there.

The tree house in the kids section

The huge fish tank

He said he wanted to tickle the squirrel