TRAVELS TO THE PREMIUM OUTLET

CONTRASTING WORLDS

Clark's Travels | Dusty's Digest Travel Page | September 2013

The idea of buying hundreds of acres of cheap land in the middle of nowhere and building a giant vacation destination is not a new one, Disney did it back in the day when they built that place of theirs in Florida. I guess with the idea: 'if you build it, they will come'?
Well, they do come. By the thousands. Everyday. And, I ain't talking about Disney. No, I mean these 'Premium Outlet' malls that are popping up all over the country. I can't go a week, it seems, without someone I know asking me if I've been to one of these places. Being a well traveled man, I've been to Budapest I'll remind you, I felt I needed to visit one of these places just to say I'd been there. Need to keep my street cred. Imagine, a Travel Journalist like myself, never having been to Paris, or Rome, or Cleveland. Nope, not acceptable. With that I made my way to Boone's Corners, the nearest Premium Outlet, about fifteen miles north of a the tiny farming town of Norwich, Ohio.
I veered off the interstate, followed the enormous 'This Way for Shopping' sign, and found myself on a very rural, and ill maintained, country road. Other than the long line of cars in front of me there was very little sign of humanity. The odd farmhouse, trailer, or garage advertising 'ammo 4 sale', were few and far between leaving me staring out at huge tracts of land growing corn and radishes. After about twenty minutes of mind lulling country road driving I saw something. Something big and green broke over the oncoming hill. It was like Emerald City! A glowing, shining, high walled...and most unnatural looking thing...rose up out of the radish fields in stark contrast to the landscape around it.
I soon found myself at the entrance where a big red traffic light blocked my path. On my left was a field sparsely populated with those black and white cows and on my right was a manicured garden and a freshly paved parking lot. As I turned in, I was gobsmacked by the sheer number of people. Having driven miles and miles without seeing a single face, to now seeing masses of crowding shoppers was a bit of a shock to my psyche. My mind found it hard to accept and I was feeling a bit confused. In addition, when I did parked the car and opened the door, that first blast of 'fresh' air did not match what I was seeing around me. My view was 360 degrees of store front, freshly paved and painted parking lot, and the countless people. But, my smeller was painting a picture of cow manure in my mind. It took a second for it all to catch up and the math to work out. Place self in middle of nowhere surrounded by farm fields = smell of manure.
A few hours later I was back to feeling like my normal traveling self. The travel journalist in me had taken over and I was madly writing observations on the architecture, the people, the atmosphere. Even though the location was classic mid-farm USA, my notes told a different story. One of a busy marketplace with wares from all over the globe. Purses from Italy. Clothing from South Asia. Kitchenware from Central Europe. The lack of American made products had me feeling like I was in another part of the world. Even the dining took me away to another place. I tried a restaurant called Olive Garden. Once inside it was like I was transported to a tiny village in Tuscany. They even poured me a glass of wine, on the house. They must have recognized me as a semi-famous travel journalist and were hoping for a good review. Well, they will get it. The ravioli with spinach tasted just as authentic as the food I indulged in when I traveled through Italy.
After my meal I took in the cooling air, sat on a cement flower pot, and just watched the people. The hustle and bustle of the crowd made me feel invigorated, made me want to jump into the current and ride the wave to the next attraction. There was a carnival feel, an amusement park atmosphere, an energetic pulse. If it were not for the name brand shopping bags everyone was weighed down with you would swear to your God that this place was a busy marketplace in some European country. It felt like a world class vacation destination. I found myself expecting to see time share condos and high rise hotels just outside the Outlet's property, instead of the corn and cows.
These Premium Outlets are really something to experience. The contrasting worlds, side by side, are something to behold at least once in your life. The impression it left with me was memorable enough to recommend that everyone put one of these trips on their top ten vacation destination lists. The good part is you do not have to travel half the world over to experience this - it is right in your backyard.

Ciao, Clark!