If you've been to Big Cedar Lodge in Branson and you love it, but you're looking for something new, there's a sister property in Memphis that Nail Task wants you to know about. Like Big Cedar, Big Cypress Lodge is also the brainchild of Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, but it incorporates widely disparate segments of the history of the Tennessee border city. It's located in the 32-story "Great American Pyramid" on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. And it includes a cypress swamp with 100-foot-tall replica cypress trees, dozens of ponds and aquariums teeming with fish, live alligators and much more.
The Memphis Pyramid, originally known as the Great American Pyramid and now sometimes called the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, was built in the 1990s as a sports complex that also hosted several groundbreaking art and history exhibits like "Ramesses The Great." Conceived by Memphis artist Mark C. Hartz, the complex was intended to include three pyramids, the largest scaled at two-thirds the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Only one structure, sometimes measured as the 10th tallest pyramid in the world, was ever completed.
The Pyramid went dark after losing money hosting the Memphis Grizzlies basketball team in 2002. It wasn't until 2015 that it reopened as Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid -- attracting a million visitors in the first three months.
"A fish tale in the making, Johnny Morris contemplated the project while fishing in the shadow of the Pyramid with longtime friend, world‐famous fisherman and local Memphian Bill Dance, as well as Bass Pro Shops' first fishing manager, the late Jack Emmitt," Task, the general manager of Big Cypress Lodge, begins the story. "Johnny Morris said if they caught a catfish weighing 30 pounds or heavier he would commit to the Pyramid transformation.
"As the legend goes, they caught a 34-pound catfish, and the rest is history. Today, a tribute to the story and the legacy of world‐renowned fisherman Bill Dance can be found in the grand entrance of the Pyramid."
While the ground floor of the Pyramid is a fully functional -- and huge -- Bass Pro Shop, staying at Big Cypress Lodge has been described as "big city glamping." Upstairs are 103 hotel rooms that are just as lavish in scale and decor -- each including an electric fireplace -- plus two "duck cabins" and two "fly fishing lodges." The duck cabins, measuring 530 square feet each, are designed to resemble vintage waterfowl hunting cabins with Ducks Unlimited artwork and decor, while the fly fishing lodges weigh in at 1,318 square feet each, accommodate up to seven guests and feature a king bed downstairs and a spiral staircase that leads guests to the open loft with queen bunk beds.
And then there's the food.
"Located on the top level of the Pyramid, The Lookout offers lunch and dinner service, a kids' menu and a full- service bar featuring inventive specialty drinks and regional bourbons and whiskeys," describes Task. "The space offers indoor and outdoor seating along with glass observation decks and panoramic views of the Memphis skyline and Mississippi River. A massive circular 10,000-gallon catfish aquarium commands the middle of the restaurant. Guests also get to take a ride up the country's tallest freestanding elevator, dubbed the Sky High Ride, to get to the Lookout and glass observation deck."
"It's also the absolute best spot in Memphis to take in the magic of the Mighty Lights LED light show that illuminates two bridges over the Mississippi River," adds spokeswoman Aisling Mahoney. "Big Cypress Lodge offers an unexpected way for families to experience the spirit of the great outdoors."
