Bass Pro's never too far from home

As I noted in a previous column, a Bass Pro billboard was visible from our hotel room during a recent vacation trip to Texas. In fact, I snapped photos of that billboard, and they’ll be placed in the vacation scrapbook that’s on my list of things to work on in my spare time. But I digress.

My most recent Bass Pro anecdote took place a little closer to home. More specifically, the setting was a raft on the Lost River of the Ozarks ride at Silver Dollar City. You know how it is; there’s some down time while the rafts are loading, and again as each raft waits to ascend the slope before heading down into the water – which is most welcome on those triple-digit temperature days.

Turns out the kids and I were sharing a raft with a father and daughter from Russellville, Ark. He asked where we were from, and when I told him, he informed me that he’d been trying to talk his family into leaving SDC for better than an hour so that he could head to Springfield and – you guessed it – Bass Pro. He was quite concerned about when the store closed, as he’d have a three-hour drive from Bass Pro back home once he was done looking around. Unfortunately, I haven’t a clue about when Bass Pro is open and when it’s closed. I just know that the parking lot is full when I drive by. I’m afraid I wasn’t much help. But I’m dying to know if he made it to the store, and if so, how long it took his family to talk him into leaving for the drive home!

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not blind to what Bass Pro means to the city of Springfield. I just don’t understand why so many people flock there each year. I think that perhaps my confusion stems from two facts.

No. 1. I’m not the outdoors type. I’ve never been hunting. I will accompany the husband and children on a fishing trip, but only if I can take a book. The best part of fishing for me is watching the kids play with the worms and seeing their smiles upon making a catch. I have a fishing license that my husband bought me for this year, but I’ve not yet used it.

No. 2. I don’t really like shopping – or the crowds that come with it. The exception to that is Christmas shopping, which I dread until I’m in the midst of it, and the Christmas music gets me in the spirit. But browsing tends to get on my nerves. I like to make a list, get what I’m after, and get the heck out of Dodge. It doesn’t really matter if I’m shopping for clothes, toys or housewares. The closest I come to browsing is reading the inside flap of books, but even that’s rare – most of my book choices are based in large part on the author’s name and the cover art.

On family trips to Bass Pro, others tend to want to walk around and look at everything, even if they’re not really serious about buying it. Why? What’s the point? I just don’t get it, and more often than not, when that happens, I either find my way to the more artsy merchandise (most of it is quite pretty), or you’ll find me watching the fish in the big tank. In any case, my hat’s off to John L. Morris and his crew.

Whatever my own hang-ups about shopping, hunting and fishing might be, I seem to be in the minority. I think I’m going to have to learn more about Bass Pro’s hours of operation. I’m afraid no matter where I go, someone is going to find out I’m a Springfieldian, and they’re going to ask me questions. I think it just might be the diplomatic thing to do.

Maria Hoover is SBJ Inside Business Editor.