Walking Atlanta’s Malls

Yesterday, I went mall-walking.  I really need to exercise, but I don’t want to join a gym again nor is it practical right now to buy a treadmill.  I know that I could walk outside, and I will at some time.  But right now I think I need an even surface and temperature control.  Don’t worry, I will still be sweating, even if I walk indoors!

Yesterday I went to Discover Mills, which is a few minutes north of my home in Norcross.  I walked 3 times around in about 45 minutes.  I went in the afternoon on a Sunday, so I did some weaving in and out of the crowd.  I reckoned it to be about 1 mile around, but decided to go online to make sure.  You know, it was not easy to find out.  I did find this walking guide provided by Southern Regional Health System, but there were some malls missing – most of them in Gwinnett County.

So here is the added information that I found today (I just called Guest Services – not difficult!):

• Discover Mills: 1 lap = 1.2 miles

Open for walking at 8 a.m Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. Sunday. Accessible through main mall entrances. Mall Walkers Club offers store discounts and monthly prizes.

• Gwinnett Place Mall: Upper Level – .89 miles Lower Level – .85 miles Total –  1.74 miles

Walkers – Gwinnett Place has established early morning hours specifically for your convenience. The hours are Monday – Saturday, 8:30am – 10:00am, and Sunday, 10:00am – 12:00pm.

• Mall of Georgia:  3 levels – each level is 1 mile Total – 3 miles!

Walking – Mall of Georgia’s Main Entrance is open for mall walkers Monday through Saturday at 8:00 am and Sunday at 10:00 am.

• Phipps Plaza – One lap around Level 1 and Level 2 is 1 mile.

Walking: The AMC/Niketown entrance at Phipps Plaza is open from 8:00am – 10:00am for mall walkers.

• North Pointe Mall: 2 levels – each level is 1 mile if you go in all nooks and crannies. Total: 2 miles.

Walkers may enter through Service Court No. 2 at 8:30am Monday through Saturday and at 10:00am Sunday for your walking convenience. Be sure to stop by the Customer Service Center to register and receive your mall walker’s I.D.

I haven’t gotten the stats for the outdoor malls like Atlantic Station and the Avenues. Hey, maybe I will come up with cute little decals or patches to designate each mall visited and walked.  Sort of like the State Park badges…

While I was trying to figure out the distance around Atlantic Station, I found a neat website called MapMyWalk.com.  Check it out!  It’s associated with Prevention magazine, I think.

Note:  Today, I tried walking around my school.  It is a wierdly laid out place, however, and it would be difficult to lay out a walking path.  Still, I walked 20 minutes, and I could do that during my planning.