My June Vacation in September (Part 5) - More Memphis!

Christmas slowed me down, but you just can't get rid of me!

After spending our first evening in Memphis at the Peabody, we wanted something completely different.  So we went to the Bass Pro Shops in the Pyramid, the old home arena for the NBA Memphis Grizzlies before they moved to the FedEx Forum in 2004.

The exterior is clad in stainless steel!

We'd seen it from the interstate on our way to Hot Springs, Arkansas - you can't miss it!  The Pyramid is a 6/10 replica of the Great Pyramid of Cheops.  At 321 feet tall it's the third largest pyramid in the world and dominates the Memphis skyline.

Here I am trying out the laser
shooting gallery.

A view of the main floor from the second level.

Big Cedar Lodge rooms overlook
the "swamp."

Some of the game fist that
swim through the "swamp."

The first thing we did when we got inside was to ask for a MAP.  The place is overwhelming, and that's the only way you'll find your way around your first visit.  Inside are a Big Cedar Lodge hotel, laser rifle shooting gallery, three restaurants, bowling alley, Ducks Unlimited Waterfowling Heritage Center, archery range, pistol range, and the world's tallest free-standing elevator. 

Most of the first level is made to look like a cypress swamp.  Boats are displayed floating at docks in the swamp.  Most of the hotel's rooms have screened balconies overlooking the swamp.  Water flows in streams through the swamp and there are game fish in the water.  There are alligators in a pit at the foot of the elevator.  There are three huge aquarium tanks - one in the main part of the store, one in the restaurant/bar attached to the bowling alley, and one in the restaurant/bar on the observation deck level.

One of the alligators at the
elevator's base.

 The elevator cycles through a
range of colors.

The elevator whisks you to the observation deck and restaurant near the top of the pyramid.  From the observation deck, you get panoramic views of downtown Memphis and the Mississippi River. 

Canada geese fly
through the air.

Like all Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's, there are taxidermied animals displayed in natural surroundings throughout the store.  There are bears, deer, wild pigs, and other assorted megafauna among the trees and around the aquarium tanks.  There are even ducks and geese "flying" overhead!

Retrieve your ball from Jaws' mouth!

My favorite bowling ball.

The bowling alley sports an underwater theme.  When the ball returns to you, it's comes flying out of some creature's mouth!  My favorite was the shark.  Or maybe the catfish.  The lanes are made to look like wooden docks with fish under the floor.  There are fish suspended from the ceiling, too, so you're surrounded by sea creatures while you bowl.

It's difficult to describe the Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid.  It's incredibly big, and there's a lot jammed in the space.  It kind of reminds me of one of the kid's books with the detailed crowded drawings where you see something new every time you open it.  Definitely worth seeing if you're in the area.