Destination: The Mall of America

The Mall of America, in the Minneapolis, Minnesotamany people don't know, jail cells on a separate
suburb of Bloomington, gets 40 million visitors alevel.Eating is an adventure at the Mall of America,
year. Forty million! That's more visitors thanwhich has 20 sit down restaurants, 30 fast food
Disney World, Graceland, and the Grand Canyonrestaurants, and additional specialty restaurants.
combined. Visitors go there to shop at the 500+But many sit down restaurants are open to the
stores, visit the Underwater Adventure Aquarium,mall and the crowd noise is so bad you can hardly
LEGO Imagination Center, Dinosaur Walk Museum,carry on a conversation. Ask if inside seating is
A.C.E.S. Flight Simulation Center, see movies in 14available before you enter a restaurant. Even
theaters, and party at seven nightclubs.Beforerestaurants with inside seating, such as the Rain
you visit the mall you need to make some plans.Forest, can be noisy places. Nordstrom's
Log onto the Mall of America Home Page fordepartment store has an excellent, quiet cafeteria.
maps, directions, a store directory, a list of specialYou order your food, pay for it, and a server
attractions, an events calendar, and a restaurantdelivers it to your table.The Mall of America has
directory. Though this website is packed withbeen hugely successful and Phase II construction
information, there are things it doesn't tellwill make it more so. Plans are in the works to
you.First, you need to understand that the Mall ofbuild hotels connected to the mall, an office
America is city within a city and employs almostcenter, a conference center, spas, and you
12,000 people. During the summer months andguessed it, more stores. IKEA, the Swedish home
holidays this number swells to 13,000 employees.furnishings store, is step one of this plan and has
On weekends the mall is often so crowded thatalready been built across from the mall.You may
walking is difficult. Wear comfortable shoeswalk from the mall to IKEA, but you're crossing a
because the Mall of America covers 4.2 millionhigh-traffic street, so cross with the lights and
square feet.Getting to the mall is easy. Drivingwatch for cars. Just like the mall, IKEA is huge
directions are posted on the Mall of Americaand you can spend a day there. Arrive early and
website. The 35 hotels near the Mall of Americaenjoy the 99-cent breakfast before you explore
provide free shuttle service. If you stay at athe showrooms, displays, and warehouse. Visit
downtown Minneapolis hotel you may take LightIKEA and the Mall of America on a Monday
Rail directly to the mall. Light Rail service is alsomorning for a quiet, leisurely experience. It's so
available from the airport to the mall. Parking atquiet on a Monday morning you could roll a
the mall is free. With 12,550 on-site spaces andbowling ball down the walkways.Going to the Mall
22,000 overflow spaces, it's a good idea to jotof America? If so, I welcome you on behalf of all
down the location of your parking space.Be sureMinnesotans. We're "Minnesota nice" and glad to
to get a mall map from the Guest Informationhave you here. We hope you'll visit other
Service Desk. Desks are located on the first levelattractions while you're in town. For more
at each of the four entrances, North, South, Eastinformation on the Mall of America go to the
and West. Instead of going in all directions, chooseHome Page and request a Free Information Kit.
one area and explore it. Young children shouldTo get the inside scoop on events and sales sign
have identification on them. Some parents dressup for the free electronic newsletter.Copyright
their kids in bright t-shirts or caps so they can2006 by Harriet Hodgson Hodgson has been a
spot them quickly. Decide on a meeting place innonfiction writer for 27 years and is a member of
case a family member gets lost.When you're in athe Association of Health Care Journalists and the
crowd you need to be aware of personal safetyAssociation for Death Education and Counseling.
and this is true at the Mall of America. However,Her 24th book, "Smiling Through Your Tears:
you don't need to be overly anxious because theAnticipating Grief," written with Lois Krahn, MD, is
mall has its own 100-person security force.available from A five-star review of the book is
Security officers walk the mall constantly and areposted on Amazon. You'll find another review on
very visible. One hundred sixty television monitorsthe American Hospice Foundation website under
scan the crowd. In case of trouble, the mall hasthe "School Corner" heading.
130 call boxes, 44 help phones and, something