Brevard Youth Sports
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Bass Pro Shops/ IKEA Review
4/2/08- Getting a little creative today the whole family headed over to Orlando for an afternoon trip after school (The kids had a 1/2 day). Our first stop was to Bass Pro Shops located near the end of International Drive at the Festival Bay Mall. You may ask why we are reviewing a store? Well if you love the outdoors (And really even if you don't) you will love to browse the aisles of this monument to all things outdoors. On your first visit to the Orlando Bass Pro Shops store you may be a little overwhelmed as you pass through the entrance into the store itself. The ceiling stretches practically to the sky and and there are trophy animals carefully placed all over the store. You will always find something new to see just by looking at all the animal mounts in the store. Situated just about in the middle of the store is the 17,000 gallon aquarium filled with a variety of fish. There are always events going on at the store such as; hunting seminars, fishing demos, scout days, and electronics instruction classes. Click Here to see what is happening at the Orlando store. Okay now that you have stepped foot into the store, where do you go? It really doesn't matter as long as you see it all. There is plenty to see whether you are male or female (My wife really likes the clothes there), child or grown up. The Orlando store has plenty to keep you busy if you are done shopping. They have an indoor archery range for you to test your skills, a kids laser shooting arcade, and an indoor putting green. The kids absolutely have to climb on every boat in the outdoor showroom and we have seen a kayak paddling pool set up out there during some of our visits. We have also visited on a Kid's Fishing Day and both of our children were able to use one of those Rocket Fishing Poles in the outdoor pond at the front of the store. I could go on and on about the store, but I have a better idea. Head on over there and take a stroll. Hey there is no admission fee and you can easily blow a couple hours walking through the store.
We didn't stop there on our afternoon in Orlando. We have wanted to visit the new IKEA furniture store to see what all the fuss is about (you may be once again asking yourself why we are using this as a review, but please read on). Here is tip #1. When you head over to the store be advised that it is located at the eastern end of the Mall at Millenia. The building is easily recognizable with its bright colors. You will have tons of fun navigating the parking lot looking for a parking space just like at Bass Pro Shops and the spaces must have been designed by the same person as they are VERY narrow. Once again when you enter the store for your first time (It was our first time today) you may be a little overwhelmed. We had no idea what to expect and the first thing we encountered was a wild animal demonstration including a small gator, skunk, and more. There is a small area to the right of the entrance with a large TV (Winnie the Pooh was playing today) and seats for kids as well as parents. It turns out that this is where you must sit to prepare yourself for what lies ahead. As you look towards the escalator sending customers to the unknown you will notice a line of parents with kids nearby. This is the line for the small childcare center located inside the store. Yes they must know that their customers could possibly become lost in the maze of rooms filled with amazing products and the owners decided (wisely) to put small children in a safe place away from their maddened wallet opening parents. There is a cap on the amount of children allowed in the center at one time and even on a Wednesday afternoon there was almost a waiting list. Our youngest was very eager to play with the other small children, but our oldest (8) wanted to go through the store with us. Armed with one of those restaurant style flashing beepers, we hopped on the escalator for an adventure. At the top of the escalator there is a sign pointing the way to the restaurant located within the store (First daycare and now dining. How much time do they think we want to spend in their store. It turns out the owners know us better than we know ourselves). We cruised through the restaurant to take a look at the menu and the seating area was HUGE. There were at least 20 people of various ages eating and there was a kids section with the required entertainment device (TV). Just past the restaurant is a huge area full of what some people might call junk, but children call treasures. There were bins full of stuffed animals, crafts, and many more things than I could possibly list here. I did say earlier that the store is a maze. It literally is as you walk through and around rooms filled with everything imaginable. The upstairs portion is filled with all types of furniture with a definite Swedish flair. Making our way around the downstairs rooms we came across every kind of household knick knack that could possibly be made. If you like stainless steel kitchen gadgets stay far away from this store or bring a trailer for everything you will buy. Before I go on let me say that the prices in this store defy the imagination. They must know that by making everything so affordable that we will buy so much more. So now we have navigated through more rooms than I care to think about and up ahead looms a large open room filled to the roof with shelves filled with more furniture. Picture Sam's Club, but with some of the wildest furniture you've seen. To go down each aisle would have required more patience than our son had remaining so we just glanced down each aisle for this visit. Now it was time to try out some of the food at the restaurant upstairs. My son and I left mom to pay for everything (Pretty slick I know) by saying we were really hungry and we took off before she knew what had just hit her. Once we got back upstairs and into the restaurant we had to decide what to eat. The prices for the food is very reasonable and the kids meals are downright cheap. They are a bit sneaky though as you must go through a line ala Disney and pick what you would like ala Morrison's or Picadilly and they put the desserts at the front of the line! We were able to resist the desserts and got a kid's Mac & Cheese and a kid's Meatballs (Swedish style complete with a side of gravy) with fries. Both meals came with a small cup that you can refill as much as you would like with a variety of beverages. There is some kind of berry drink (Another Swedish thing I think) that was really good. The plate of Mac & Cheese filled up my son and the six meatballs and small pile of fries were a steal for a grand total of $3.17 for everything. Mom caught up to us and it was time to collect our remaining child at the childcare center and get out before spending more money. It turns out that the Swedish make plenty more things for us Americans to buy than just those little gummy fish. If you get the chance, plan a visit to the IKEA store and plan on spending a while wandering through the store picking up the coolest things you never knew you needed.
We made one last stop before heading home for the evening. We have wanted to visit a small gourmet style grocery store called The Fresh Market that is located at the corner of Dr. Phillips and Conroy in Orlando. Now you may ask why we wanted to visit this store and the reason is our first experience with The Fresh Market was in Virginia Beach this past December while visiting my family was unforgettable. The store in Virginia Beach had a medium size loaf of gingerbread that would be worth the price of an airline ticket just to get it one more time. We had no idea that there was a store in Orlando until we got home and Iooked it up. Now to imagine this store you have to think of Green Turtle, Petty's, and Downtown Produce rolled into one and then you have just scratched the surface. You can get an idea for the prices though. I will not go into anymore detail about the store except to say that if you are on an extended vacation in the Orlando area, this is a great place to get some great food. They did not have any gingerbread at this time of year, but they did have some loaves of pumpkin nut bread which I am eating as I write this!
Photos from today
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