Where America Goes to Shop...

Mall of America amusement park.

 Dubai Mall might say it's the biggest mall in the world, but after visiting Mall of America just outside of Minneapolis/St Paul today I think it's pretty close to call.  It's truly huge - so huge that there is a full-size indoor amusement park in the middle of it, as well as the aquarium that Dubai Mall has (pff so last year!).  It's definitely more a middle class shopping experience than Dubai Mall, which aims for the rich Emirati customers with its designer boutiques and expensive chain stores, and I tell you, people watching over our slices of (very nice) pizza, we saw some real American sights..! On the bus from Toledo to Dearborn, we had overheard an elderly black lady chatting to the bus driver about her experiences in New York.  This was delivered in classic 'Black English' style that you hear in the movies, and damn, I wish I had my tape recorder because it was a classic conversation. Anyway, she was saying about New York that it was not so much 'shop till you drop', as 'shop till you DAAH (die)', and I think now I can understand where she was coming from, watching the crowds grazing in shops here!!

The $12 spa treatment...for your 'American Girl' doll...!!

Anyway, what caught Tony's and my attention was the 'American Girl' store. Have you heard of this doll? Boy I wish she were around when I was a kid, or around in some part of the world that I currently reside, because I would have myself a good old spending spree!  This doll is every kid's dream, with every kind of historic era costume and accessories, sports and music stuff...I just could not believe what was there to be bought for this $100 doll.  As one mother tiredly told us in the store (her daughter had the 'made like me' doll, which had the same colour and length hair as the little girl and was sitting in a pushchair dressed in the same clothes as the daughter...), 'I wish I'd never heard of this doll'.  On the second floor was a cafe where you could have food and drinks...with your doll...there were special doll's chairs and party food there for the doll.  And downstairs, well, you could give your dollie a spa treatment.  I kid you not.  A spa treatment, for a doll, complete with a robe and slippers (optional expense). Fancy a new hairstyle, pierced ears, nail treatments or a skin polish (to wipe off those fingermarks)?  All available...remember for the DOLL...for a nice price.  And of course there were lots of matching outfits for girl and doll, so after her spa treatment they could get dressed up and waltz off into the massive mall to do more shopping together.  They sure start their consumers young over here!

We decided to go on a movie date while we were there, so we went to see 'Transformers 3', in 3D, naturally; no big dumb movie these days is worth its salt unless it is flinging body parts at you in 3D.  Yes, it was big, and dumb, but it sure was entertaining! One annoying thing however; we were looking forward to seeing New York trashed, as this seems to happen in every big dumb movie. Because we've now been to New York, we could say 'wow, we've been there' as the building gets slammed by some 3D monster.  But no. Michael Bay decided to set the movie in Chicago, where we haven't been.  So that was disappointing, but at least New York lived to fight another day, until the next big dumb movie!

And we live to fight another day on the uneven roads and mostly plastic food of the USA's highways and byways, as we make our way back to the final stop for this car, Fargo, where we started 13 days ago.  I wonder if we'll look at it in a different, more jaded light now.  Still, I can't wait to get back there.  I liked the place, and I hope we can get another slice of certifiably delicious paah (pie) at the nice little cafe before we hand the car back.  Fargo, here we come!

For random photos from the last part of our road trip, click here.