A vermin infestation? Well, of sorts.
Friday evening, Steph came over to our house and asked if we wanted to have lunch out with them on Saturday. "Sure!" A discussion of when and where ensued and a decision was made: Cheesecake Factory at Chandler Fashion Mall. On a Saturday. We were going to meet there.
Joan saw that there was a WayFair Outlet not far from that mall and wanted to check it out.
Saturday, and we headed out at noon for a 2:00 meet-up at Cheesecake Factory. The stop at the WayFair Outlet was underwhelming. Joan didn't have anything particular in mind for going there, which was a good thing. With over an hour to kill, I suggested we just to go the mall and get some walking in... in air conditioned comfort.
Apparently, a LOT of people had that same idea... we had to drive around to find a parking spot. "Oh, crap - there are 3 cars in front of us as we go down this lane. But fortunately, someone was pulling out just as we were coming up on it. Only a block or two to walk in the 115ยบ heat to get to the air conditioned mall.
Joan asked me, "Do you want to go to Scheel's?"
Not needing a thing, I said, "Sure!"
This is a BIG Scheel's store. How big? Thanks for asking; big enough that they have a ferris wheel right in the store...
And there was a line waiting to ride. That image above is in the store, not in the main part of the mall.
I haven't walked around a mall in a long time. I had heard that malls were dying - you wouldn't know that by the crowds of people. There is a new SeaFood City in this mall, and there was a line waiting to get in the store. This is a big mall, two levels.
A rare break in the crowd in that image above; intentional, because I took it with my Oakley Meta Glasses. We walked enough that I was ready to sit down for a bit; Joan found a sitting area that had a couple open chairs. I texted Steph to let her know we were in the mall - we met them at the restaurant. She had a reservation - you needed it if you didn't want to stand and wait.
The Cheesecake Factory has a pretty extensive menu... but I was there for the cheesecake. Joan picked a cinnamon roll cheesecake that we shared. Tasty! Steph and Dan had a piece and took another one home... sharing that piece with Joan took care of my sugar intake for the week. And so worth it.
Leaving, we joined the line of cars working to get out of the parking lot. This mall seems to be alive and well.
