Annapolis Mall

On my list of things to do yesterday was visit Annapolis Mall (also know as Westfield Annapolis). I've gone by this mall a couple of times but I'd never stopped by and checked it out. Here are my opinions on this mall.

Annapolis Mall is a large single level in-door air conditioned multi-store mall. According to its website (http://www.westfield.com/annapolis/), it has 270 stores and restaurants. The mall is conveniently located in that it is just off Interstate-50 and close to Interstate-97. It has plenty of parking (over 3,400 according to the website). Sears, J.C. Penney's and Nordstrom serve as its anchor stores. It is open 10 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 to 6 p.m. on Sundays. It has a free Wi-Fi hotspot so you if you have Wi-Fi capable laptop, you can surf the web for free there (I didn't try that during my visit).

Annapolis Mall seemed very much a run of the mill single level mall. There was nothing exciting or unique about this mall. It does offer a large number of shops including some of the top names such as Banana Republic, Coach, Godiva and Lord & Taylor which can be convenient shopping wise. I bought the 2007 Lord of the Rings and 2007 Zits boxed calendars at one of the Day by Day Calendar Company kiosks. These are the two calendars I make sure I get every year. I like seeing the pictures from the Lord of the Rings movies and I find the comic strip Zits very funny. One downside about buying calendars right now at Day by Day is that you will pay list price. As I remember, around New Year's, they heavily discount their remaining calendars. Border's Bookstore has a nice store here. I stopped by to see if they had a copy of Foreign Affairs magazine. Sadly, the article I was interested must've been in the September/October issue. I tried an Italian strawberry ice at Vaccaro's. I thought it was all right. I was very disappointed by their gelato selection. They only had four flavors to choose from. Lastly, I visited the Today's Pet store. I wanted to see if they had any Pug puppies I could drool over. Sadly, they didn't. They did have a very impressive aquarium with a number of anemone and four pretty tropical fish.

Overall, I wasn't wiped out by this mall. It isn't anything I'd make a special trip for. It does have some nice shops. Westfield, the company that owns and runs the mall has a handy website where you can find if they have a particular shop you want to buy something from. Another aspect I liked about this mall was that it was so close to Interstate (I) 50. When I decided to head to Arundel Mills Mall, it was very easy for me to hop on the I-50 and be on my way. As it is out of my way, I don't see myself using it very much. However, if I lived in Annapolis, I probably would. How much you use it depends on where you live. If you don't live close to Annapolis, I wouldn't make any special effort to get to this mall. My next mall report (if you will) will be on Arundel Mills Mall. Stay tuned.