Since we had no big plans for today, we laid back this AM, had breakfast, and, just before noon, drove the 15 miles to the West Edmonton Mall. This mall has over 600 stores, a replica of the Santa Maria, a sea world type sea lion display, an indoor beach/sea wave pool, an amusement park, a hockey/ice skating rink, 2 or 3 food courts, 2-3 Starbucks, and one section of the mall with very nice sports bars and restaurants.
When we arrived, we found the parking spaces to be ample. We entered the west side of the mall at “Entrance 55” which begs the question: 55 of how many??? As we entered the mall on the second floor, we were astonished to find a corridor ahead of us that seemed to extend beyond sight. We were also amazed that the mall was fairly crowded – especially for a Tuesday.
In the center of the corridor we found a full-sized replica of Christopher Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria sitting in a blue lagoon. Directly next to it was a Sea World-type sea life pool. These folks explained the life of a penguin and then had a great show with trained sea lions. It is absolutely amazing how well trained these sea lions were. The show lasted approximately ½ hour.
.jpg)
.jpg)
We walked the mall and found many of the same stores that we see in the Spokane malls, but there were many stores with names we have never seen or heard. As we walked along, we discovered a HUGE indoor water park with a beach, lounge chairs, and an ocean setting complete with waves. This park covers 5 acres, has 23 water slides, and can accommodate 40,000 guests. We watched the people play in the surf for a bit.
.jpg)
We also discovered an ice hockey/ice skating rink. It just so happened, that a Starbucks was located directly above the rink. We enjoyed a blended, iced mocha while watching the people skate.
.jpg)
We ended the day with dinner at Mikes Steakhouse (in the mall) and an ice cream treat at a Cold Stone-type kiosk in the mall.
We arrived back at the RV park exhausted. But it was a great day.
