Amy had to go up to the Northeast this past weekend to get ready for her friend's wedding, so I drove her up there and then decided to hit Franklin Mills with the kids afterwards to give them some morning run-around time. Believe it or not, I've lived on the East Coast for 18 years and had never been before.
For all of the hoopla over the place, I found it disturbingly quiet. It wasn't that the store mix was off, the place was dirty, or the shops unkempt; in fact, the mall scored very high in my book on all three counts. I guess the combination of other major shopping centers, the rise of Internet shopping, and the recent sluggish economy made for far less foot traffic than I would have expected for a major destination on a late Saturday morning.
Bad news for the retail industry, but good news for me and the kids, as we had pretty much the run of the place. I "splurged" for a 75-cent helicopter ride for Jada and Aaron, we mostly window-shopped, and left with only a single purchase (a set of pajamas for Aaron, 50 percent off at Carter's). Not sure I'd make a special trip all the way out there, especially since I always seem to get lost when I travel to the Northeast; but well worth the time spent that morning.
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