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Bargain
Travel West guide to unique destinations, sight-seeing, history and
culture, budget travel vacation ideas for the independent traveler
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LEGENDS
OUTLET AT SPARKS MARINA
Shopping Mall Wonder of Washoe
So,
maybe you’ve seen that recent TV commercial for the latest
smart phone device with the family on a vacation to the great American
outdoors and the kid wants to find an ice cream shop and the mom is looking
for the nearest outlet shopping mall. If they happen to be on vacation
in Northern Nevada, perhaps the wonder-whiz geo-location-mapper thing
will take them to the new Legends Outlet at Sparks Marina. It had been
awhile
since I’d been in Reno and its little brother neighbor, Sparks,
and the only lake I was aware of was the big deep one named Lake Tahoe,
a jaunt over the hill. Where Las Vegas has the audacity
to make its own lakes to surround with expensive houses, a few years
ago apparently a quarry pit to the east of Sparks filled with water and
rather than drain it, why not a marina and an outlet mall.
Where
some on vacation envision biking in mountain canyons or camouflage
gear
in a duck blind
with a Remington 12 Gauge as heaven on earth, others
seek a museum of historic import, still others a meal and amusement,
and some just want to shop. At the Legends Outlet at Sparks Marina, perhaps
all can be found in one place, at least for an afternoon. As you’d
expect in an outlet mall, high end brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Michael
Kors, Saks Fifth Avenue, Guess and the Gap are represented, offering
first line designer wear at outlet discounts, surrounded by the themes
of Reno and Washoe, from flying trout statuary to miners, explorers and
Native Americans.
A
bronze figure of Mark Twain, who began his career as a reporter in
the nearby
mining town of Virginia City (see Mark Twain Museum), watches over
the central plaza's rocky water fountain in the midst of the stores,
reading his paper, the Territorial Enterprise, while children play
in the trickling waters of the rock fountain. The famed Reno Air Races
which take place every September a few miles away are prominently represented
in the motifs of racing pylons buzzed by symbolic Mustangs (see Reno
Air Races). Satisfy the
hungries at restaurants from Fuddruckers and Olive Garden to the rock
and country music themed Cadillac Ranch, with music stars and collector
guitars gazing from walls, complete with mechanical bull ride to
feed and entertain, but undoubtedly the headline attraction at Legends
is
Scheels.
Scheels All Sports Store
Scheels
has been outfitting the outdoorsman since 1902 and the days of
Theodore Roosevelt and his
wilderness jaunts and hunting trips. To
call the Scheels in Reno-Sparks a sporting goods store, while by definition
certainly true, far misses the target. Scheels is billed as the World’s
Largest All Sports store, and indeed a wonder. Big enough to enfold a
carnival Ferris wheel under its glass roof, as well as a Ferris Wheel
Museum, with room left over for hanging bush airplanes 
and a rocky mountain,
complete with woodland animals, though of the taxidermy variety. Why
go to Monterey or San Francisco for fish and Madame Tussauds. The Scheels
store is entered passing underneath an massive aquarium tank of exotic
fish swimming overhead and among the colorful coral. Along the balcony
overlooking the Ferris wheel, animatronic Presidents, from Jefferson
and Madison to Kennedy and Reagan, recite their favorite speeches when
anyone approaches near, in a sort of stations of Democracy exhibit. "Ask
not what your country can do for you, but what size you'd like that in?"
In
the amusement center, climb into a NASCAR racing car machine and take
a virtual spin around
Daytona. But while all the extras are both
entertaining, intentionally and otherwise, the point of Scheels is sporting
goods, and you’ll find it in all the abundance and variety imaginable,
four floors in a cathedral of outdoor and indoor sporting activities.
Hit a golf ball in the virtual driver
academy, get the
perfect bowling ball
fit for the next Reno tournament, outfit yourself for hunting &
fishing, football & baseball, fit footgear for hiking, running, skating,
skiing, and whatever else
you can imagine. Have
you seen camouflage lingerie? Is that for attracting the prey or for
après hunt celebration? Well, you can get it at Scheels.
Who knows what Mark Twain, the sharp penned humorist whose life in
the
gold rush
Sierras
had accustomed
him to all manner of mercantile oddity and curios exhibition, might
have written of this particular wonder of the West.
The Legends at Sparks Marina outlet mall is on Scheels Drive just east of Reno on I80 at Sparks Boulevard across from the Wild Island Family Adventure water park. The first phase of Legends is complete, while a second phase expansion is underway with theaters and even more wonders in store for the future. For a list of current stores, restaurants and events, check the website. © Bargain Travel West
Find the best hotel deals, compare prices in Reno on TripAdvisor
Web Info
Legends
at Sparks
These
articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel West
and WLEV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
Some photos courtesy Great Reno Balloon Race.
See these other articles on Bargain Travel West:
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CARSON TRAIL - CARSON
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