I've never been to Bloomington?

For work today, I visited a number of stores with a co-worker who lives in Bloomington. Thus, most of the stores we visited were in Bloomington/Richfield/Edina and we drove on city streets between stores. Apparently, I have never been to Bloomington aside from the MOA.

I have no idea how I've lived in Mpls more than 5 years all together, but never had a reason to venture to Bloomington. I felt like I was on a vacation in a foreign city - it was weird. Some was good, some was bad - but definately more good than bad. It was S. Minneapolis-ish, no icky suburban sprawl. Relatively few chains, lots of strip malls that looked like they were built in 1969.

Have you ever explored Bloomington? I was pleasantly surprised.