Mr. C

I've been surveying moms since Thanksgiving on the best spot in the city to visit Santa Claus.  The clear consensus was the 900 N. Michigan Bloomingdales building.  

I had heard this in years past as well and as more and more people agreed this was the place to go, I feared the associated logistics of long lines and wait times.  But Sunday, after church, we took the plunge.  We arrived about 11:15 to a reasonable length line, but Santa didn't arrive until 12 noon.  We quickly learned it was hard to gage the line length because many families had one person in line and dozens floating around the mall.  We too took turns waiting and walking around the mall.  Initially Kate was thrilled just to ride on the escalators and look at all the Christmas decorations.  Luke was harder to contain/entertain, but overall both kids did very well.  Unlike some of my childhood visits to Santa, there is no entertainment, music or decorations (other than the general mall decor) to admire while you wait but even in line we heard from the families around us that the pictures here are the best.  We finally saw Mr. C, as the Dad and 4 year old John in front of us called him, around 1pm.  Kate walked right up to him and before he could even ask, told him she wanted a doll house.  Luke crawled over to investigate and was intrigued enough to plop down on his lap for a little while without tears or screaming.  His little fingers were happy to hold Santa's soft suit while he stared at his rosy cheeks.  Santa was incredibly authentic.  His chair and all the decorations were lush and rich and elegant.  Our official pictures from the visit are something out of a Normal Rockwell book, soft yellow glow and all.  Thankfully we grabbed a few shots of our own to share with you as well.

 Here we were getting close and Kate could see Santa, but it was at least another 20-25 minutes.

Finally our turn

I still can't believe we waited almost two hours to see Santa!  It may have to be a weekday next time, but I do think we'd like to visit him here again in the future . . .  maybe.