Antidote to the Mall

I've decided to not set foot in the shops till December 27, giving the gift returners ample time to swap sizes, colors and whatnot. It's probably a dumb idea because the deal hunters will be out there in droves when I'm trying to do my usual surgical strike type shopping mission. In and out in less than an hour; that is the maximum amount of time I can breathe mall air before I start turning blue.

If we had quaint, street side shops that you could duck in and out of, I would last much longer. Once you park at the Mall of America, you're stuck for at least five hours and that's just window shopping the three levels and 520 stores at four miles per hour. Cutting through the center atrium with the amusement park rides is not a guaranteed shortcut if you want to bypass a section either. Shoppers generally have a bewildered/comatose expression regardless of where you encounter them in that monstrosity.

Why go there rather than one of the many smaller malls around the city? Because its the only mall with its own visitors guide.