Hello everyone!

If you are reading this, then I assume that you either live in central New York or are considering it, and I'm glad you're here.  I am a lifelong resident of the Syracuse suburbs, and I truly do feel that it is a great place to live.  We have a lot going on here, especially for the size of the area.  I am going to begin a series here called "Syracuse at its Best," where I will be featuring things to do in and around the greater Syracuse area.  I am going to do my best to feature a mix of things, from shopping to nature to even great places to eat!  I am a newer "blogger," so please forgive me the mistakes I might make.  I hope that I will get better as I go.  I have a long list of places to write about,  but I want to start with something basic, so this week I will be covering the Great Northern Mall.  I invite you to subscribe to my blog, or check back frequently, to see all of the great places I will show you.  Then, please keep my in mind for all of your local or national home buying and selling needs.  I am always accessible through my cell phone number or e-mail.  Thanks again for reading and have a great day!

The Great Northern Mall is located in the town of Clay, just North of the city of Syracuse.  It is conveniently situated just near an exit from route 481, which has direct access to routes 81 and 90 (the Thruway).  Nearby, you will also find a variety of other places to shop, eat, or play.  These are free standing stores or in plazas along route 31, but not attached to the mall.  Some of them are:  The Olive Garden, Subway/Dunkin Donuts, Toys R Us, BJ's Wholesale Club, The Golf Dome, Wegmans grocery store, Smoky Bones, The Sports Authority, Raymour and Flanigan Furniture, Sam's Club and Wal-Mart, Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Kohls, Home Depot, the Outback, Aldi's and the Red Lobster.  There is also a large freestanding Barnes and Noble.  It is a veritable shopping mecca, isn't it?  The area can be very congested at times, so plan ahead if you are going to go there at peak shopping times such as daytimes on the weekends and evenings during the week.  Near Christmas time, it is especially important to know that you will spend extra time sitting in traffic because there are a series of lights to allow traffic in and out of all the various entrances and exits.

The mall itself is very nice and has a lot to offer.  The major anchor stores are Dick's Sporting Goods, Sears, and Macy's.  The mall has a large food court with a variety of food choices, as well as a Dunkin Donuts in the center with a comfy seating area.  It has couches and chairs arranged nicely so the guys can chat while we girls shop!  It is always clean and bright, and the kids love the arcade and the indoor miniature golf course.  There is also a virtual reality ride in the mall and a movie theatre. 

Okay, so that's the basic bio type stuff.  Now I feel like I can add my personal sidelights to it.  The gardener that works at the mall is obviously very good and I always look forward to seeing what they will look like each Spring, so I suggest heading out there around Memorial Day just to check out the gardens if you are looking for something to do around then.  There's also always a carnival in the parking lot around that time- I'll try to post when it is for people to go and do that, too.  It's small, but that makes it perfect for the smaller children.  I used it as a test run with my little ones for the State Fair, which I will also be covering when it gets a little closer.  What we learned last year was that it made our younger one nuts with the lights and the noises and that our older one gets crazy about those silly goldfish.  As a result, we have a pond full of those fish in our backyard.  And I love the fish and all- but why is it that they always die when you put them in a bowl in your house, then you have a heartbroken kid and you have to have the whole talk, but when I put them out back in the pond where we really would just as soon not have them, they thrive and have babies?  How does that work, exactly?  It is just bad luck, or is it Murphy's law?

Thanks once again for sticking by me during this slightly patchy blog, and I hope you were able to glean some amount of information from it.  Please visit me again to see what I can do with my next featured areas and events that are the best of Syracuse.