Mall Of America

By Uncle Hans 

We recently had some spare time to kill in the Twin Cities so we were off to see the famous Mall of America.  I haven't been there since it opened about 20 years ago and Renee, although Bloomington is her lifelong home, never cared for the mall, which changed Bloomington forever..............

.....we arrived on Rechsteiner time, which means the stores were not open yet.  Just old people waddling around.  Still we found some weird stuff. This large store, for example, is the American Girl Store.  You can buy only American Girl brand dolls here and their accessories.  This is almost a cult, and a huge headache, I imagine, for people with daughters everywhere.  The dolls are expensive and so are the accessories.  But they are a must in many families, keeping up with the Jones’s in miniature, but for big bucks!  One of my surgery tech's daughters got invited to an "American Girl Birthday Party"  Which meant she had to buy her little girl a doll and an outfit for the birthday girl. 
    Set her back about $150.  The little scene pictured here through the front window of the store is the beauty parlor for the dolls.  You make an appt, and have your doll pampered and "made over".
    Where is this country going?................

......now these dolls are more my speed.  I noticed there were three Victoria Secrets stores in the mall.  I guess one just got too crowded with dirty old men like me..........

....the mall is still famous for LegoLand.  We found this perennial favorite serpent made of Legos..........

................still, it wasn't as cool as the one in our neighborhood last week.  These kids are very ambitious and creative!!.........

 

.......They were featuring a large display of "Princess Di Memorabilia".  Like many people, Renee loved Princess Di, so she kissed the poster.  Caused some tittering with the old people waddling by...........

.......this store was interesting in that we could not figure out what they were selling.  Something from New York is all we could figure.........

........the third floor is entertainment, bars and theatres.  This space was Planet Hollywood 20 years ago. Guess they didn't make it.................

.........But the Hooters are still there!

   ......I have been to the mall only once, soon after they opened.  I went to buy three things in "the place that has everything".  One was a wallyball (a game played like volleyball in a racquetball court,  the most fun you can have with your clothes on!).  They had three huge sports equipment stores, but none had a wallyball.  Next was a Corvette car model, the kind you assemble and paint and collect, etc.  The had one hobby shop, mostly trains, but no car models.  The last thing I wanted, after a disappointing morning of shopping, was a MacDonald's cheeseburger.
       Strike THREE!  No McDonalds! 
     But I see they have corrected this travesty of justice.  In fact they have a whole food court now..........

......and they have added, for good measure, a convenience store!  I could not find the gas pumps.  I wonder why you would need a convenience store in the Megamall?
     Our trip lead to more questions than answers. 
Also, there are a lot of store windows and mirrors in the mall.  Way too many.  After our tour was nearly over it occurred to me that  those waddling old people we kept seeing were US!

By Uncle Hans