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| No Shopping for Me, Please ~ continued By Michele Bogue Appelgate Continued next page. |
| WAVE Journey.com Women's Adventures, Vacations & Experiences ~ Your Journey Starts Here! |
| Quick Facts about The Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota: From www.mallofamerica.com Mall opened in 1992 Cost to build - $650 million Economic impact - Mall of America contributes more than $1.8 billion in economic impact activity annually to the state of Minnesota Number of stores - More than 520 Sit-down restaurants - 20 Fast food restaurants - 30 Specialty food stores - 36 Movie screens - 14 Employees - 11,000 year-round, 13,000 during summers and holidays Parking spaces - 12,550 on-site Walking distance around one level - .57 miles Total store front footage - 4.3 miles Key attractions include The Park at MOA™, Underwater Adventures® Aquarium, LEGO® Imagination Center, Dinosaur Walk Museum, A.C.E.S. Flight Simulation, NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Nordstrom and Sears. Did you know? 258 Statues of Liberty could lie inside the Mall If Mount Rushmore was divided into individual monuments, a president could reside in each of the Mall's four courts Mall of America is big enough to hold 32 Boeing 747s Seven Yankee Stadiums can fit inside Mall of America If a shopper spent 10 minutes browsing at every store, it would take them more than 86 hours to complete their visit to Mall of America There is no sales tax on clothing in Minnesota The Mall of America is an impressive shopping experience, even for people who aren’t thrilled with the idea of shopping. I have to admit, I had a good time. We all decided that we would come back soon, leave home earlier in the day and make no plans to do anything else. The best way to enjoy this mall and all it has to offer is to have an open day – or weekend – when you can take your time and enjoy all of the amenities. After leaving the mall, we took I-35 north into Minneapolis. We had dinner reservations at Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse. There are three Ichiban restaurants: Minneapolis, Winnipeg and Palm Springs. When you walk into the restaurant, you can just feel that this will be a wonderful experience. The massive wooden doors at the entrance give the immediate appearance of importance. The large, two-story restaurant was decorated with traditional Japanese décor and artwork. The lighting is dim and comfortable. Our table was on the second floor. We were seated at a large, circular table for 12 people, which our chef in the middle. Literally - "Iron Cooking" is the heart of the cuisine at Ichiban. The knife-wielding chef prepared our meals right in front of us at the table. |
