Bloomington, Minnesota: The Mall of America

Sprawling shopping world with its own indoor amusement park and shark tube.

Our family was able to entertain ourselves for two days in The Mall of America. We ate in the restaurants and didn't have trouble finding parking (although we were there within the first hour of opening). I don't feel like you can do it all in one day, but you may not need two full days either, if you aren't an avid shopper. The one frustration I had was that I saw no vending machines, although that makes sense, as there are so many food stands and restaurants.

If you are in a larger vehicle, make sure that you park near the IKEA store in the far back of the parking lot so security does not mess with you.

The 1.2 million gallon aquarium attraction inside the Mall of America has reopened as "Sea Life Minnesota" after more than two years of work. It's been in the Mall since 1996, but has changed hands repeatedly (in its last incarnation it was "Underwater Adventures"). The new owners have promised to make the attraction more "cool."

One highlight: the shark tank with the walk-through plexiglass tunnel is now the "Atlantis Temple" and has a big head of the god Poseidon as a tank decoration.

No need to shop anywhere else. According to media reports, the Mall of America (MOA) gets 40 million visitors a year. That is more than Disney World. The Camp Snoopy theme park has been replaced by Nickelodeon Universe. The park has variations of the old rides and several new ones, all in the Sponge Bob theme and other Nickelodeon characters. Driving through the parking ramp you should be able to find almost any license plate in the union on any given day.