The Very Big Mall

Friends and loved ones, it snowed today. Yippee. There's a nice little covering out there in the yard where yesterday I looked out and felt hopeful for spring.

And as we always say, "A snowy day at the Mall of America (MOA)is better than a snowy day at home . . ." or something. Okay, we don't really say anything of the sort, but we did pack up the morning and head for the nation's largest mall.

If there's one thing Minnesota does well, it's malls. Minnesota, and I'm sure you know this, created the fully enclosed -- climate controlled -- mall when Southdale opened in 1956. That's older than Big Daddy! My dad liked to go to Southdale because it's in the neighborhood where he grew up, but I have also spent plenty of time at Ridgedale which was the closest to us and Rosedale which was the closest to my friend Roberta.

My friend Michele took me on my first visit to MOA shortly after it opened in 1992. I had just gotten dis-engaged and had run away the weekend I was supposed to get married. Upon returning home, Michele and I stopped for -- truthfully, I suppose it was cocktails -- when I got home. The Very Big Mall is right across from the airport. I remember standing on the second or third floor overlooking the amusement park thinking, "Wow! This is a very big mall," and the name has stuck with me ever since.

Since we did not take a tropical spring break, we went to MOA today. The boys went on rides and down to the aquarium. We ate lunch. Toddler D and I had our picture taken with Dora the Explorer. I bought shoes I do not need. We stopped at one of the three or four Caribou's in the building. It was a good day.

It's always a good day at MOA. It's always a climate controlled 70 and sunny.