Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "Exploring The Wild In Style" Story

It was an ordinary day. Heading north out of Lititz, Pennsylvania to make a visit to Cabela's, Inc. in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. The ride will take about an hour, since we are taking the back roads to take in the scenery. The store is about a quarter of a million square feet in size and extremely impressive if you are an outdoor's person. Our chauffeur today is Hal and I am sitting in the rear seat of his Ford Escape with Jeff while Barry plays shotgun for today's trip. The four of us have known each other for many years, since we taught school together in the Manheim Township School District in Lancaster County.

Main entrance of Cabela's in Hamburg, Pennsylvania

Hal had been to the store quite a few times while Jeff and Barry have visited a time or two. Today will be my first visit to the mammoth store that specializes in supplies for hunters and fishermen. The company, which was recently sold to Bass Pro Shops, does well over 1 billion in sales each year and attracts 60 million visitors a year.

Stepping into the world of fishing and hunting

The store has over 400 employees who are some of the most interesting and helpful you will ever meet. Hal told us the story of the place and how the entire area around the store was constructed after Cabela's was completed. The parking lot is as big as some residential neighborhoods. Anyone entering for the first time has to be impressed at the size of the place. Tough to see to the other end due to the immense size of the interior. If you aren't a fan of stuffed animals and taxidermy, this isn't the place for you. Has to be a couple of hundred preserved animals of all sizes in the myriad of displays around the store. The rest of my story will be a visual one to show you the immense size of the place and the quality of products they sell as well as the High Temple of Taxidermy. I naturally had my camera with me. I have only identified a few of the photos, since most are easily identifiable and the rest I have forgotten their names. Enjoy! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Click on images to enlarge them.