We're on Vacation in Northern Iowa. The town I am from is busting at the seams with 2000 residents. We have 1 small grocery store, an 8 room motel (where we are staying), and fewer than 5 restaurants in town.
We decided to venture out a little yesterday to make the 110 mile trek to the Mall of America. Boosting the largest mall in the United States it has 4 levels with an indoor aquarium, amusement park, and 2 mile circumference lined with stores of all varieties. It was truly an amazing spectacle. I've never been to a shopping mall quite like it.
What's my point you ask?
I didn't realize how much a part of our culture was the shopping experience until I realized we made a 220 mile round trip to go to a mall. Wow! We collected our magnet for the refrigerator at home (that's our family tradition to record all the places we've visited), and then headed back after dinner.
At breakfast, I asked my grand parents about their favorite vacation. I got a great story about a shopping trip to Mexico.
Is that what we do in America? Are we such a consumer nation that we look for ways to vacation near a place where we can buy more stuff?
At the mall, each of my children had $5 dollars they could buy something to remember their trip. They each chose a toy they could buy at the Wal-Mart 5 minutes from home. Goes to show, they don't care so much about all the glitz of the "great shopping spree vacation". They know what they like and it doesn't matter where they buy it.
Interesting observations from the road...
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