I’m in love with Bass Pro. It’s one of the highlights of my visits to Springfield. A massive wonderland where I could, should I feel the need to, purchase everything from a pontoon boat to a $2000 crossbow, Bass Pro is possibly the largest sportsman’s supply store in the world. It even has a museum attached to it. I cannot say enough how much each visit to Bass Pro factors into my understanding of the society I live in, nor how it brings out the firearm and hunting enthusiast in me.
It’s impossible to explain Bass Pro, except in pictures. They’re totally okay with people taking photos inside the store, because it’s basically like Disneyland for sportsmen - people are posing for snapshots with all kinds of things.
above - Me with a giant novelty fishing lure. I know so little about fishing that I actually considered the practical use of this as a lure as possible. I totally want one of these fo Chanukkah.
above - a view of the hunting and killing section of the store, seen from the 4th floor, after taking the glass elevator up. You could arm a deadly serious militia with the goods on this floor. There’s an archery range behind the archery section in the back. This is like 5% of the store. I tried taking some panoramas, but none of them came out any good.
above - a live bass, seen in a tank in the store. There are numerous displays of live animals in the store, including displays of ducks, bass, trout, poisonous spiders and snakes. There’s a cool display in the back of the store where a 75 year old turtle lives in a tank. The turtle is massive.
above - In front of the Fine Guns section, you can marvel at this $7000, limited edition safe, airbrushed with the image of The Duke, John Wayne. Why is this gun safe seven grand? I have no idea.
above - No, this is not the glass pipes section of the store, you unreformed hippie. This is a locked display of what appears to be an insanely expensive variety of duck and bird calls.
above - a map of Bass Pro, seen near the elevator. Those boat shapes at the bottom of the map? That’s the boat department, where you can buy full size boats.
above - Me with one of the polar bears that I famously killed with my bare hands during my last expedition to the arctic. Sure. That’s the ticket.
July 2nd, 2007 at
Haha..you came out like a kid holding his birthday present.
I’ve been studying about foods in different states and Thai culture for an hour by checking out your blog. ^^;
January 31st, 2008 at
[...] Victoria Garden via a pair of trips to Southern California’s first Bass Pro (I’ve written about the joys of Bass Pro before). Victoria Gardens is a frightening place, a patch of dry land transformed into a the Disney [...]