Happy Independence Day, you Americans! Happy Tuesday, others. Plans for the day include keeping the dogs from freaking out from unwanted noises.
Magnum and I both had the day off yesterday - a little bonus from having 4th of July fall on a Tuesday. We got some obligatory house care done, then decided to go on a little "field trip" in the afternoon when things got hot. Seeking someplace amusing yet cheap, big, and - most importantly - with air conditioning.
We found the perfect destination: Scheels Sporting Goods. Oh. My. God.
We'd heard of Scheels' many virtues, mostly that it's just so BIG, but we'd yet to see for ourselves. Although we had no need for any sporting goods, we shuffled over to Johnstown.
The minimalist frugal environmentalist animal lover in me was moderately appalled. The uncomfortably hot and sweaty people watcher, however, had a pretty good time.
Yes, Scheels is huge. It's chock full of "stuff", and I was quite amazed by the sheer amount of available product inventory - strange to see these days with brick-and-mortar stores going belly up, unable to compete with online merchants.
And Scheels is not all about consuming. It's like a little carnival going on in there. There's a Ferris wheel, an arcade, a cafe, a large saltwater aquarium...
I recently saw a stand up comic talking about Scheels, most notably the gun department. He told of his astonishment at the number of guns "just laying around!". Of course, we had to check this out. He was correct.
I snapped this pic of a small portion of guns "just laying around" mainly while noticing the many many dead animals looking down upon us in judgement.
So many dead animals. They were all labeled, though, so... educational?
They were seemingly everywhere.
A mountain lion gave me the what for as I watched the indoor Ferris wheel (can't say I ever expected to write that sentence)
The Scheels experience on a hot day. I'll give it a 7.5 out of 10.
8 comments:
I remember a trip a few years ago to a similar place,but it didn't boast a ferris wheel. It's almost comforting to know there are still actual buildings with merchandise inside, although I too could have done without the dead animals.
Marty, I will say, whoever taxidermized all those animals did a nice job.
That looks like a pretty crazy place! Our Bass Pro has lots of animals like that and fish but definitely not a ferris wheel!
Allstarme79, I've been to a Bass Pro and Cabela's. Very similar "decor". But yeah, the Ferris wheel is pretty original!
appalled and delighted! i would go there, I would give them my money! Our sporting goods store here has guns and beans.
Linda Sue, interesting combination at your store. Do they sell permits for the beans?
Your Scheels sounds like Cabela's, a huge sporting goods store around here. We visited it once but after a half hour of seeing display after display with taxidermized animals along with the picture of the owners with said animals, I had about all I could take. I'm very much against trophy hunting.
Jeanette, I've been to a big Cabela's. I think it was in Nebraska and very similar to Scheels. The "trophies" at Scheels listed their murderers, but didn't include photos.
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