For this spring break, Mark and I traveled to the infamous Mall of America. Now a bit of background - for our wedding, we received a very nice down comforter; unfortunately Mark is allergic to down (plus it has never gotten cold enough in our apartment over the winter to require more than our basic blankets- and this was a rather cold winter). So the intended purpose of this trip is to return the comforter to Macy's. Now you are probably asking, why not go to the closer Chicago, because everyone I speak with thinks that there must be a Macy's in Chicago - well there isn't. No kidding, so hence the trip four hours away to Minnesota to the famous Mall of America.

Mark had already been to the Mall years ago, but this was my first time. The first thing that we did was return the comforter which took an hour... we had just driven four hours to get here and we arrived at lunch, so all of the managers were on break... but the comforter is returned!!! Then we headed to the food court in look for a healthy quick lunch... well, it is rather like trying to find a healthy lunch when you can't leave your car, all there was to choose from were places serving fried foods... we settled for sandwiches from a steak and potato joint.

As we toured the third level, there was almost every shop you can think of- one of the first we entered was a fun looking game shop. Oddly enough, we like our local Pegasus Games better; for a small store, they have a better selection and pricing. On the second level there was a game store going out of business so we got a good deal on The Queen's Necklace and I got the cutest sea blue soap with an adorable rubber green frog (which will soon be free :) ). There was a wonderfully overpriced soap shop with amazingly beautiful creations- giving me the inspiration to make more crafts :) We also found a wonderful scrapbook store- yet again we like our local "Scrapbook Superstore" better. Then we found a small game store selling juggling supplies and Carcassonne with the River expansion on sale- our second game of the night.

On the first level we were getting tired and after hitting the Lego super play station, cut through the plant strewn theme park to return to the third level for dinner at Kokomo's Island Cafe. While a bit loud on the inside, the decorations, waterfalls, and food was unforgettable. I had a great rice noodle dish with Thai dressing and crunch steamed veggies while Mark enjoyed a delicious ginger chicken and the best sweet potatoes ever - they were like cinamoned candy.

After our brief revival we went back to Macy's and found ourselves drawn to the cooking section. We purchased a cleaver for me, a Japanese Santoku for Mark, some long tongs, a stove top griddle, and some spring-form pans for $9 after our gift certificate. Then we happily headed to a local Econo Lodge with the help of AAA and finished the evening with a game of Carcassonne.

On the following day we went to the renowned Science Museum of Minnesota and enjoyed their displays about the human body and robots. It is amazing to see so many of the early types of robots and their amazing behavior (like the tiny swarms and light sensitive cars). We enjoyed testing our minds and senses with labs. There were wonderful displays of artistic creations like music in water (where water and alternating patterns of bubbles create truely memorable scenes and patterns), metalic pipes (which played ghostly xylophone-like music for the cafe) and a long wave maker (which facinated parents and children alike). There was an old tug boat to explore (since we were next to the Mississippi) and live water bugs to examine up close.

Definately a fun and satisfying trip to our northern neighbors, and a good weekend getaway from Madison.