We started the day by walking through the Minneapolis Skyway system. I love sky bridges. To have an entire downtown area connected by them is a small fantasy. We happened to be walking around right around lunchtime. We saw swarms of Target employees heading to or from the local restaurants. Hungry, but discouraged by the crowds, we decided to try to find food at our next destination.
We went to the famous Mall of America (the largest mall in the United States). Again, we took the light rail from downtown. After wandering around the mall for a while and taking pictures with the giant Lego statues and roller coasters, we sat down for lunch at the food court. (In retrospect, we probably should have eaten lunch in downtown.) Aside from the amusement park and the giant Lego statues, the Mall of America is just like any typical American mall, except larger.
We went back to downtown to eat dinner at Restaurant Alma, which served an excellent 3-course dinner for ~$55/person. Valerie was excited that Restaurant Alma is a James Beard Award semifinalist.
Yes, I spent many an evening at the Mall of America, when I was working for the now defunct, Northwest Airlines. It was winter & wandering around downtown was like being on the north pole.