The main focus of this post is about Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, but I wanted to also add in Carthage, before getting to why we enjoy visiting Bass Pro.
If you choose to go to Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, and are Christian, you may want to drive the extra hour to Carthage and give it a visit in the morning as well. Precious Moments Main office is in Carthage, and is super cute and inspirational to visit. I have went most my life and enjoy it. Carthage is also full of Civil War landmarks. With museums and monuments about said Civil War and Landmarks to check out. There is also a free living history museum, Red Oaks II, to visit. Carthage also has more Victorian houses per capital than anywhere else in the USA. So it's a fun quick morning detour as well. Then head over to Bass Pro Shop.
Bass Pro in Springfeild is free.
Has 4 free small museums - A small Missouri Natural History Museum, a small Gun Museum, a small Motor Sports Car Museum, and a small Bass Pro Shop History Museum.
Live animals all over inside, including alligators, turtles, ducks, lizards, snakes, and soooo many fish, all kinds of things.
On Saturdays they have a FREE live fish feeding show. With a diver inside the humongous tank and they tell you about the local Missouri fish that they have in their tanks.
It's three floors and sprawling. It's truly gigantic! My local one, in Kansas, is large. But, the one in Springfeild could probably fit 20 of the Bass Pro Shop stores the size of my local one inside it.
My kids love looking at the entire shop, everything from toys, to motorboats & atvs, to candles, shoes, arrows, and much, much more. They also always have to get a obligatory fudge sample too. Just so much to see and do for absolutely free. It's hard to put into words. Most my friends say they couldn't visualize how large it was or how much there was to do inside, when I would tell them about going, till they went and experienced it themselves.
And it is downright stunning inside. Sometimes if we have older people with us, and even myself, it's peaceful just sitting in front of the gigantic beautiful fireplace.
They also offer a huge Aquarium, called Wonders of Wildlife. There is a fee to tour it though. I have personally not visited it yet. But, my mom and niece and nephews did, and they adored it. So much, that my mom ended up buying season passes to it. We plan on visiting it soon, as well.
The snack bar has some delicious soups and sandwiches, that we have had as a light lunch or snack. We really loved the Tomato sausage wild rice soup!
We personally did not enjoy the food in their buffet, Hemingways, on the top floor of the Bass Pro Shop. Many people love it though. Many of my friends, who are local, really enjoy their seafood buffet, when they offer it (seasonally). We went to the breakfast buffet, which is offered year around, and just were not that impressed. We didn't care for their biscuits and gravy, which is a paramountal staple dish of the Ozarks, that I can generally enjoy any where. I personally enjoy almost any biscuits and gravy meal, from McDonald's, to Casey's Gas Station, to of course my local Diner. And we just didn't like theirs. Being in the Ozarks especially, we really expected buscuits and gravy to be on point and it failed miserably. The bacon was weird, which is a deal breaker for my husband and kids, because that's their favorite breakfast food. And the eggs were meh, which is a deal breaker for me, because that's usually my fill up, go to, because of my diabetes. They are low carb and not too high in fat for my health. So for us, it was a one and done for breakfast, for sure. If we are there when they offer the seafood buffet, we may give it a try.
However, the aquariums inside Hemingways are absolutely gorgeous! We thoroughly enjoyed watching the aquariums our entire meal, and we stayed longer just to watch them. They will allow you to come in and take a look at the aquariums inside, many people go in just to look at the aquariums. The entire Hemingways restaurant is gloriously beautiful. The decor and theme are undeniably amazing inside the restaurant.
On the way back to Branson, we like eating at Lambert's. It's not the least expensive. But, you will be stuffed even if you order the least expensive meals. Kids never need more than a kids meal. 1 - The meals are huge. 2 - Everyone gets unlimited pass arounds (hot rolls, fried okra, fried potatoes and onions, black eyed peas and Macaroni and tomatoes.). Plus you get to choose two sides (not the same as the pass arounds). The sides are things like - candied sweet potatoes, baked potato, fries, carrots, green beans, baked beans, Macaroni and Cheese, and more! And 3 - Your Main Entree is also unlimited free seconds, thirds, fourths etc.
JJs cheese shop is also a nice stop on the way back. It has really good cheese and moonshine samples. As well as nice locally handmade things, like jerky, soap and knitted wool gloves etc. And a very inexpensive thrift store upstairs. Next door at the Branson Visitors Center is really nice bathrooms, free coupon booklets, and free coffee.
