Way back in 2014 I started a tradition of visiting Santa at Northwoods Mall.
Below are the links to every post and some photos from the past visits to see Santa at the mall.
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2014
This was the first visit with Santa at the Northwoods Mall back in 2014!
Santa was friendly and welcoming as I approached him with the MBIP Camera.
I brought a beer for a little holiday cheer, but Santa just said no.
That’s fine, all the more for me! Ho, ho and ho!
Somehow I skipped the year 2015, but in 2016, I thought I’d try and have lunch with Santa at the Northwoods Mall.
There’s the jolly old soul in the center court of Northwoods Mall!
I got us a sandwich from the Northwoods Mall food court and had them cut it in half for our luncheon treat.
Santa took a pass on the sandwich, but here I am on his lap enjoying my half of it.
In 2017, I thought I’d try and tempt Santa with some Chinese food.
I got a couple of egg rolls from the Famous Wok at the food court at Northwoods Mall.
Here we are enjoying the egg rolls. They were delicious and Santa said I was a very good boy for bringing them!
This year I thought I’d turn the tables on Santa and bring him a couple of gifts from Relics Gift Shop.
There’s Santa in his usual spot in the center of the ground level at Northwoods Mall.
Here’s Santa with one of his elves that assist him at the mall.
Santa enjoyed the gifts from Relics very much in 2018, so in 2018 I went and did the same thing!
Insert your own X-rated Santa joke here…I’m trying to be a good boy, so I’m just going to leave it be!
Santa loved his presents and it’s always fun to turn the tables on him and give him some gifts!
Okay, 2020 was one Messed up year. The Covid 19 Pandemic blew into town and turned everything sideways and shut about everything down!
I wasn’t sure how the Santa visit would go, but I checked online and they said they were taking reservations for a socially distant meeting with Santa Claus.
So I dutifully made a reservation, got a confirmation and when I got there, Santa was nowhere to be seen.
There was just this sign saying Santa was gone.
Yep, 2020 was an empty chair. I thought that pretty well represented that foul and horrific year.
But, I tried to have hope for the next year as you can see in this link to the original post.
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2021
I didn’t even make a trip to the mall this year, as I was trying to inch my way back into a post-pandemic life.
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2022
In 2022, Santa was back and so was I!
We just posted our Pause With Mr. Claus 2023 edition last Thursday.
If you missed it, here’s the festive link. Ho, ho and ho!
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Related Posts: Meanwhile, Back In Peoria’s Past: Peoria Drive-In Theatre, A Pepe Taco Timeline, The Captain Jinks Show.