Louis's favorite sites on our Chicago Trip

What tourist site comes to your mind when I say we visited one for several hours in Mitchell, South Dakota? Maybe the Corn Palace? Let me give you a hint. There's another one similar to it, but uniquely different in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin...the oldest town on the Upper Mississippi River. Historical monuments? Nope! Louis made sure that we spent plenty of time perusing both Cabela's stores on our trip to Chicago. He has ordered hunting gear, fishing tackle & other assorted sporting goods from the Cabela's catalog for years. His burning desire was to see first-hand those hunting tents you can shoot through, to examine in-person the lightest fishing poles that could be folded up & easily carried in a backpack & whatever other marvels he could find in this male paradise. The stores were loaded with animal mounts placed in tableaus. As Louis shopped & dreamed, I walked around the stores ignoring the merchandise & enjoying all the work of the artists & taxidermists.

We ate a scrumptious lunch at the cafe that you can glimpse behind the Grizzly Bear.

Smoked elk sandwiches, turtle cheesecake & 1919 Root Beer - how delicious!

Fowl displays were under the numerous counters at all of the checkstands.

The largest tableaus were at the opposite end of the store from the front door, & drew your attention immediately upon entering. These were composed of mini-scenes when you got close enough to see the smaller animals - often the prey of the larger ones.

In the middle of the store was a giant aquarium boasting a variety of live fish & turtles. I had as much fun watching this Amish family enjoy the aquarium as I did seeing the fish. It took several minutes for me to catch the whole family unawares.