A Quick Trip to Potomac Mills

The plan was the three of us were going overnight for some R & R at a lovely resort in Leesburg.  Being six-and-a-half (NOT six), Sam was grumbling that it would be boring.  Daddy Mac suggested that we stop by the Lego store at Potomac Mills which was right on the way.  Sam had saved up over $20, so he could pick up something that would entertain him all weekend.  Then everybody would be happy.  That was the idea anyway.

Once we arrived at the exit to cut over to Leesburg, we realized that it was not also the same exit for Potomac Mills. Oopsy!  It was actually four exits north.  Since we had already promised him, we drove up there and then spent a good 15 minutes circling around the mall.  There is so much mall around the real mall that it’s hard to actually find the real mall.  Plus we really hadn’t thought hard enough (or at all) to realize that it was 2pm in Northern Virginia on a cold Saturday in March.  Of course it was mobbed.  We deserved a Darwin Award for that one alone.  

So we drove and stopped, drove and stopped, and finally made it to the real mall.  Then the directions didn’t say where the store was located.  Since our last visit was so long ago we couldn’t remember, we decided to join the fray and just look for a parking space.  Finally after sitting with our blinker on to claim a spot someone was about to leave, we parked.  Feeling victorious, we got out and then dodged all of the other cars still patrolling like sharks on the Atkins diet.  

We entered the mall.  Yes!  We were going to zoom into the Lego store, get something cool that would entertain Sam at the hotel, and we’d be off!  Good plan, right?  Well, we kept walking and walking and walking, looking for the Lego store.  Finally we asked some vendor guy.  He said, “Oh, that’s way on the other side of the mall.

“Are you kidding me?” I couldn’t help blurting out.

“Oh, yeah.  It’s about a 15-20 minute walk over there.  It’s way at the end.”

We decided to keep on walking since we were already pretty far from the car.  Plus we were smart enough to know that even if we moved the car, we’d get lost again anyway.  So we walked, which really wasn’t bad, more like 10 minutes.  We finally got there and browsed for a long while.  Sam selected a Batman set that cost more than what he had saved up, but we chipped in to cover the extra $10 or so.  (By then I was actually across the hall at H & M buying a bunch of t-shirts for $5.95.  Why buy one when you can have three?  You’ve got to spend more to save more, you know.)

Then we walked ALL the way back to the car and drove, retracing our steps back to the original exit. Only then did we realize the road we were looking for was actually the same road we had been on at the mall.  Ah, details, details.  Without any further ado or major screw-ups, were off like a herd of cats.  

There is no such thing as a quick trip to Potomac Mills.  However, Sam did love his Lego set.  In fact, he loved it so much that he woke up at 5 the next morning to finish it!

LibbY