The Bass Pro Shop in Springfield is like Disneyland. It contains everything that you never knew that you wanted to see. Although there are a chain of these stores that can be found throughout the country the Alpha store is in Springfield, MO and is the Mecca to Bass fishers everywhere. In front of the main entrance there is a chandelier made of antlers.
When you walk into the store the Starbucks is to the right and the servers are amazing. They are funny and enjoy spending a few minutes to talk to you and point out the sights for you to see. Yes, the sights. There is a turtle pond where you can watch turtles lounge on driftwood. Next to it is a giant tank full of fish that are bigger than most cats. The fish even have names and you can read their bios that are posted on the side of the tanks. There are stuffed creatures everywhere with people lining up to get their pictures taken with them. The servers suggested that I check out the bathroom.
The ladies room has outhouse like doors on the stall and the ceiling has bird’s nest, twigs, and fake birds all over. The lightening is dim so don’t try to reapply your makeup here, but the trade off is that this is the cleanest retail bathroom that I have ever seen.
The biggest attraction is the waterfall. There is a whole scene set up around it with live birds walking around and a giant stuffed moose. The waterfall forms a "river" that runs through part of the store. Stairs lead up over the river to the second floor. From the second level a suspension bridge stretches over the water with a man hanging off of it as if he fell through.
In front of the waterfall there is a tank with different snakes and an exhibit with spiders. If you ever wanted to see and read about a black widow this is the place to be. On the second level there is more shopping as well as a restaurant and a McDonalds. There are several other small shops within this store including a huge stand where you can watch people blow glass and across for it is a fudge stand. Everywhere you turn there is something for the whole family and a new photo op including giant bears standing on their back feet. If you arrive at the right time you may even get to see a fishing demo at one of the tanks. Besides all of the things to see there is a lot of great shopping here as well. Anything that you could ever want for fishing can be found here. Although this isn't the typical tourist hot spot this is well worth the time to spend a rainy day, a few extra hours, or a great way to take someone who loves to fish.