When the travel for this trip was being worked out, the arrival choices I was given were 5:38am or 11:30pm. Not much of a choice. So I arrivved at MSP at 5:38am and, fortunately, the hotel had an empty room so I was allowed to check in really early and get some sleep. The hotel is only a little over a mile from the Mall of America so off to find some lunch. I returned to the mall later on to meet ChrisL from EverydayRiding.org for dinner. One of the few benefits of the mall is there are a variety of restaurants available. He was shocked to hear that I've never been to Chipotle and thought that I needed to turn in my "IT" membership card as it is a real favorite food choice within that industry. And it's just another one of those places that aren't in Fairbanks.
It's wonderful to meet other moto-bloggers and especially when they also ride a Ural in the winter! (I appreciate all of the tips!)
In case you have never been to the Mall of America, it is a huge shopping mall surrounding a small amusement park. The last time I was here, it was a copy of Camp Snoopy from Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA. I didn't spend much time walking around the amusement park but did manage 7 miles of walking yesterday. And I only walked through two of the four floors and didn't find anything I had to buy…
I should mention that Fall has barely arrived here in the Twin Cities with only a little bit of color showing on some of the trees and temperatures in the 70s (°F). Pretty nice! Since I didn't rent a car, a huge thank you to Chris for riding out to the mall to visit.
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Sweet. I was wondering if you two would be able to meet up.
ReplyDeleteNot really planned since I didn't have any easy way of getting around. The location was selected for the meeting for easy access to the airport.
DeleteHow long are you going to be away? I bet you will have snow when you get home. I've heard of the Mall of America, I went to a Canadian version West Edmonton mall, but just found it was too big.
ReplyDeleteBoth the West Edmonton Mall and the Mall of America are owned by the same Canadian corporation. I believe that the Bloomington mall has more stores but the Edmonton mall is larger. Or something like that. I leave MN on Thursday early morning headed for OR.
DeleteIt's probably the wave pool (that I've only heard about) that puts the West Edmonton over in square footage.
DeleteWest Edmonton Mall is now 6M sq ft, 800 stores. Mall of America is 4.5 M sq ft, 550 stores. This is according to the Internet.
DeleteThe Edmonton Mall really does "feel" bigger maybe because it only has two levels so it covers a lot more ground.
Safe travels Richard.
ReplyDeleteSomehow it's odd that Canadians would build the ultimate American shopping venue. I thought it was the other way around.
All those stores, and I'll wager that 99.9% is women's clothing and shoes. When did shopping become a thing that people did, like vintage vehicle repair, painting, quilting, and hiking?
I remember that the Edmonton mall was built first and after the shopping/amusement park concept proved to be popular, they built the mall in Bloomington. I have heard that they also bought some super entertainment/shopping mall in New Jersey out of bankruptsy and are completing construction.
DeleteI think all I ended up buying there was an iPhone case. The original Apple leather case split earlier in the week. But you are right about the type of stores.
I remember that "going to the mall" became a past time back in the '70s.
Great to see you Richard. Enjoy OR!!
ReplyDeleteIt was great to catch up at least a little.
DeleteRichard ... I have to say I love mall walking, but rarely end up carrying a bag out the door. Glad to hear you have extended your cyber moto family. Lucky Chris.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy walking through malls as well including these mega malls but rarely end up buying anything as well.
DeleteMalls are nice in bad weather but I prefer the good ole pedestrian zones. Fresh air, and lots of individual stores instead of chain stores. But what really gets me going are motorcycle and moto gear shops. Alas, no malls for that.
ReplyDeleteI think about the only store in the mall that was motorcycle related was the Harley store. But that was mostly clothes and other items promoting the Harley lifestyle (wallets, key chains, scarfs, baseball caps, etc.)
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