The Hunger Games at the Mall of America

About a month ago, I made an impromptu visit to my old stomping grounds in Northern Wisconsin and the Twin Cities. After landing at the airport, I drove my rental car across the freeway to the Mall of America. I wanted to stop in for a just few minutes before heading north to Wisconsin.

Yes, it is possible to stop in for just a few minutes.

If you have willpower.

I was there for a half hour, tops, and that includes walking to and from parking. The visit would have been even faster if not for the day’s scheduled event and me with my camera.

I guess I’m getting old. I hadn’t heard of The Hunger Games before stopping at the Mall of America. Maybe I led a sheltered life, too, since I had never been part of a screaming frenzy of teenagers.

Both book-turned-movie and screaming teenagers filled the south end of the MOA (Mall of America) when

I stopped in at the mall for a few minutes to get my own teenager a t-shirt. Standing on the second floor, this picture shows the balconies for levels 3 and 4, packed with teenagers. Some rode the escalators up and down to get a look at the excitement on stage, below.

  The cast of the upcoming movie based on the book The Hunger Games was going a huge meet and greet, and signing posters for the mob. At one point, all the girls started chanting Josh Josh Josh… An announcer said something into the microphone and a roar went up from the crowd, not unlike Beatlemania. The energy in the rotunda was high.

I’m another balcony back from the stage. So many people. I’m not big on huge crowds, and avoid them whenever possible, so this fascinated me.  Ok, that’s enough of the screaming teenagers. I bought my shirt, checked out an odd socks store (I’ll show you tomorrow), and took a couple more pictures. Next time I’m back in The Cities, I’m going to have to plan on a full day here. Since we moved away, they have added three more roller coasters. (Yippee!)