2018 - WOW 2 Galleries

MLK Day weekend, 2018

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

(created Mon., Jan 22, 2018)

During Easter Break, 2016, we had relaxing fun in Eminence, Mansfield and Springfield, MO, so we planned a similar for Easter Break, 2017, to Branson and the nearby Big Cedar Lodge.

The plans changed a couple times and we took one five day trip for Easter, 2017 and a three-day weekend for MLK Day, 2018.

For this trip, we stayed in Branson, at bluegreen vacation’s Falls Village.

This is that travelogue.

-Day 1 / Friday night - Ballwin to Branson
-Day 2 / Saturday - Fish Hatchery and Fishing at Dogwood Canyon

-Day 3 / Sunday - Snow, Mass at Our Lady of the Lake, and WOW - Wonders of Wildlife
-Day 4 / Monday - More Snow, lunch at Lambert’s, replica Hubble Telescope and the drive home

This page presents

-Day 3 / Sunday - Snow, Mass at Our Lady of the Lake, and WOW - Wonders of Wildlife

Wonders of Wildlife, at the Bass Pro store in Springfield, has two sections:

1.Galleries... amazing animals, mostly stuffed, from all around the world
2.Aquarium

This page is about the Galleries.

Day 3 - Sunday - Snow, Mass at Our Lady of the Lake and Wonders of Wildlife

When we went to bed Saturday night, the sky was clear.

When we woke up Sunday morning, the sky was cloudy and the ground was white.

The snow continued to fall as we drove to Church, and during Mass.

We celebrated Mass at Our Lady of the Lake, which is near the intersection of the Strip (Hw 76) and Hw 65.

This is a status of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

We drove back to have breakfast in the room but could not get all the way up the hill, so we went back into town and enjoyed breakfast of Krispy Kremes and Bob Evans...

The highway was thankfully clear and safe, so we went to Springfield for Bass Pro’s Wonders of Wildlife,

Wonders of Wildlife...

WOW...

AMAZING !!!

When we visited in the spring, Wonders of Wildlife was still under construction. It opened in September. It is located in the Springfield MO Bass Pro Shops mega store, to the right as you look at the front door from the street.

What is Wonders of Wildlife?

“Spanning 350,000 square feet and more than 1.5 miles of trails, Wonders of Wildlife takes you on a journey through immersive habitats that entertain and educate while sharing the story of America's most significant conservationists throughout history and today.”

Source: http://www.wondersofwildlife.org/tickets/

The description from Press Release shares:

“I am proud and excited that this special facility dedicated to those who love the outdoors will open in the heart of America in our hometown, Springfield, Missouri,” said Johnny Morris. “We are deeply grateful to the many remarkably talented individuals and world-class conservation organizations that have come together for the past nine years to help make this vision a reality. It is our shared hope that the tremendous investment of time, energy and resources will have a profound, positive long-term impact on the future of hunting, fishing and conservation in America.”
Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium will be the largest, most immersive fish and wildlife attraction in the world.
“Wonders of Wildlife has the opportunity, like no other attraction before it, to have a positive national impact on wildlife and conservation,” said Colin O’Mara, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, a key partner organization. “Johnny’s investment in this not-for- profit facility through the Johnny Morris Foundation will establish one of the most valuable and respected conservation and education centers in the world.”
“Wonders of Wildlife consists of an all-new 1.5-million-gallon aquarium adventure showcasing 35,000 live fish, mammals, reptiles and birds, and an immersive wildlife museum that brings visitors eye-to-eye with the greatest collection of record-setting game animals ever assembled. Located adjacent to Bass Pro Shops National Headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, the 320,000-square foot experience celebrates people who hunt, fish, and act as stewards of the land and water.“

...

Key components at Wonders of Wildlife include:

•A 1.5 million-gallon aquarium adventure
•More than a mile of immersive trails and exhibits spanning 320,000-square feet
•35,000 live fish, mammals, reptiles and birds representing 700 species
•More than 70,000 square-feet of immersive wildlife galleries and dioramas
•The Boone and Crockett Club’s National Collection of Heads and Horns
•The International Game Fish Association’s (IGFA) Fishing Hall of Fame
•The National Bass Fishing Hall of Fame
•The NRA National Sporting Arms Museum
•The National Archery Hall of Fame
•Partnerships with 34 of the world’s foremost conservation organizations

Source: Press Release

There is so much to see at WOW / Wonders of Wildlife that we needed to split this into two pages:

1.Galleries
2.Aquarium

We spent five hours there and could have stayed longer.

We saw some awesome stuff... I list them here... photos are below:

⁃the world’s largest bronze buck deer at the entrance
⁃Section honoring Native Americans and their relationship with animals and nature
⁃Teddy Roosevelt’s cabin and his important influence on conservation
⁃Original artwork by Charles Fritz

⁃In 1804 Lewis & Clark departed St. Louis (actually Wood River, IL) on their historic expedition, returning in 1806
⁃In 1904, St. Louis celebrated the centennial of the expedition with our World’s Fair
⁃in 2004, an expedition reenacted the original Lewis & Clark journey, and Mr. Fritz was part of the expedition, painting along the way
⁃National Parks videos and dioramas
⁃A room with mounted heads of deer and bears and more
⁃A room filled with hundreds of big horn rams
⁃Narwhal whale and real penguins
⁃Stuffed yak and wolves and polar bears
⁃African savanna - elephants, giraffes and more
⁃Amazing black and white (b&w) photos by David Yarrow
⁃The aquarium... Hemingway’s boat, huge fish, Bass Force One - US Presidential fishing boat
⁃Huge tank of large cod and grouper and stingrays and a few sharks
⁃Huge humpback whales hanging on the ceiling
⁃Tall baitballs of fish
⁃Tropical fish - parrot fish, lion fish, Nemo clown fish, ghirabaldis, and many bright coral
⁃Swamp animals - fish, pelicans and amphibians and a gar
⁃Sea anemones and blue ribbon stingrays and starfish
⁃South America - piranha and tiny bright blue fish that seemed to glow
⁃Jellyfish - bright organs on blue water, white and clear, and ones that look like little mushrooms zooming through the water
⁃Walls and walls of seashells
⁃A huge number of shark teeth and jaws
⁃Stingray petting tank

⁃We were there for about five hours, including lunch at Hemingway’s restaurant (at the other side of Bass Pro)

Photos!

The world’s largest bronze buck deer at the entrance

Section honoring Native Americans and their relationship with animals and nature

and showing some sad images of what happened to the American bison population

Teddy Roosevelt’s cabin and his important influence on conservation

Original artwork by Charles Fritz

1. ⁃In 1804 Lewis & Clark departed St. Louis (actually Wood River, IL) on their historic expedition, returning in 1806
2. ⁃In 1904, St. Louis celebrated the centennial with our World’s Fair
3. ⁃in 2004, an expedition reenacted the original journey, and Mr. Fritz explored the route before and on the expedition and captured some amazing paintings