Yesterday I visited the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota (which is 13 miles from my house).   The mall is a rectangle shape, with a large anchor store in each corner:  Nordstrom, Macy’s, Sears, and…there was Bloomingdale’s.  (Bloomingdales is not at the MOA any more, and their space has been divided.)

There are three floors of shops and restaurants at the MOA; one lap around one floor is .57 miles.  Many people use the Mall as a place for indoor exercise — walking!

Of course, shopping is a huge attraction, with over 520 stores at the Mall — plus numerous kiosks.  The mall attracts over 40 million visitors per year, which is the reason for the 12,550 parking places and the 11,000 year-round employees.

There is plenty of fun at the Mall as well.  Pictured above in the header is Nickelodean Universe, with over 25 rides.  (Of course, it will always be “Camp Snoopy” to us old timers!)  There is also a 1.2 million gallon aquarium called SEA LIFE, an American Girl store and  Lego store.

The Lego store is a popular spot at the Mall, and they always have huge figures created from real Legos.  The blue robot above is over 34 feet tall.

When you throw in restaurants, a theater, attached hotel (plus 50 more hotels within 10 minutes of the Mall),  a wedding chapel, an adult-education school, on-site police and security, its own zip code (no joke!), it truly is a city within a city.  Oh, and if you’re flying in, the MSP airport is right across the freeway.  Did I mention it’s commonly listed as the largest enclosed shopping mall in the US?