Getting the flavor of...Minnesota’s mega-mall, and more

Minnesota’s mega-mall

The holidays provide a perfect excuse for indulging in “the dopamine rush of snagging a bargain,” and there’s no better place to do that than at the country’s largest mall, said Andrea Sachs in The Washington Post. The Mall of America, outside Minneapolis, is home to more than 520 stores, 14 movie theaters, an aquarium, and a Nickelodeon theme park. In the rotunda, I walked among 44-foot-tall Christmas trees and caught their recurring light show, a 32,000-LED affair that’s “part rave, part hyper kid commandeering the light switch.” I discovered that if you stroll past every shop on all four levels, you will not only encounter choirs or other holiday entertainers but complete a 5K as well. But there was only one person I needed to see. After listening to my rambling wish for making the world a better place, Santa looked at me “with caring blue eyes” and said, “Don’t you want an iPad? It’s a little easier to deliver.”

Christmas, the Amish way

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A trip to northern Indiana’s Amish country offers a stark alternative to the “clattering Christmas machine, blaring TV ads, and their screaming ‘buy-buy-buy’ incantations,” said Ellen Creager in the Detroit Free Press. Visitors are always welcome in Shipshewana (shipshewana.com), a quiet destination off Interstate 80 that “cultivates an image of a classic Christmas town.” You won’t find “rowdy bars, because there’s no alcohol,” nor will you see ESPN blaring on restaurant TVs. But there’s a lot of Christmas singing, and an appreciation for a simpler way of living. “Unlike many other religious folk, the Amish do not want to change you or convert you”; “they just hope you’ll stop by and pick up an Amish-made desk, quilt, or big wheel of cheese, and stay in a nice Amish hotel.” If there’s snow on the ground, the wheels of the passing buggies might even be quiet enough that all you’ll hear is the clip-clop of the horses’ hoofs.