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The Moorhead Center Mall is easily accessible by stroller from North Moorhead or downtown Fargo.  It’s a cool respite on a hot day, a warm safe haven when it’s cold and blowing.  Vic’s Bar and Grill is mildly baby friendly (for a bar) and I’ve had fun every time I’ve stopped by, except for the time I dropped in on bingo night.  The place was packed but nearly silent and I left immediately.  Not my brand of fun. 

My mom loves to shop the clearance sales at Herbergers, and I’m told that North Dakotans shop for clothes across the river to avoid paying sales tax.  Cheap jeans and shoddy social services, two birds with one stone.  There was a real gem of a restaurant in the Center Mall until recently, a Country Kitchen that served beer (and liquor?).  The sign on the door now states that they are closed and thank their loyal customers for their patronage.  This sign disturbs me by implying that it was disloyal customers such as myself that forced an otherwise successful business into ruin. 

The highlights of the Center Mall include the courtyard fountain, the bejeweled bison statue and the Pirate’s Den arcade.  The arcade has a creepy unattended/abandoned feel to it that makes me feel like I own the place.  If I want to play “The Simpson’s Arcade Game” I’ll have to plug it in and wait for it to warm up like everyone else.  Baby Boots enjoys pushing on the coin return slots which are just the right height for his busy little hands and he loves climbing on the downhill skiing simulator. 

The décor at the Center Mall could definitely use an update as it seems to project a 70’s bunker aesthetic and the solid colored flags in the courtyard area seem far too comfortable to say anything bold to passers-by.  Sure, there are some empty spaces, and yes, it is a bit too quiet at the Center mall (a fussy baby attracts far too much attention that would typically be focused on playing consumerist search and destroy), but we like it here, dammit, and we are going to keep coming back to the mall in the shadow of city hall, the center of attention, Center Mall.