A chilly, overcast day. The kids finished up their school work, we had a quick lunch, and then we piled into the van. Four miles later we dropped Gena off with laundry and a couple rolls of quarters. I headed back the other direction with the kids. Since we played mini-golf on Sunday, the kids have been obsessed with the idea of going back to Logs of Fun. However, like much of the rest of the area, Logs of Fun appears to be closed during the week.
Many of the local businesses appear closed still, some with signs indicating that they will re-open on May 1. I'm sure this area is going to be pretty hoppin' again come Friday evening or Saturday. During the summer it must be packed. I like this visiting in the off-season. You feel like the whole area is holding it's breath, waiting for the right moment to exhale the smells of lakeside summer for fair-weather visitors to catch scent of and begin their pilgrimages.
But for us, the hearty, the intrepid, the off-season bravers of in clement weather and mostly-closed down townships, we get to see the locals in their local-ness. Like a backstage pass to the theater six hours *before* the curtain goes up. We aren't really here for the attractions...but because it's here. And it's cheap. Cheap is important.
After explaining to the kids for the 8,343,853 time that Logs of Fun is not open, I surprised them with a visit to a similar place just up the road from our place in the other direction. I had seen the add for Funspot in the local paper we received at check-in, and it indicated they had bowling. So as the rain began to come down with some assertiveness, the kids and I tumbled out of the mini-van and sprinted to the beckoning glow of Funspot.
In addition to regular bowling, they had candlepin bowling, something I had heard of but never actually seen before. Guessing that it would be easier for Mika and Caedmon, I opted for candlepin. What fun! After figuring out that each frame gives you three shots instead of two, and that you bowl two frames at a time, we had a blast. It was indeed easier for Mika & Caedmon to handle the balls, which are about the size of a large grapefruit and weigh probably three pounds or so.
After this, we spent a few moments sampling some of the classic arcade games Funspot has collected. And they've collected a lot of them. There were more than a few moments of wistful nostalgia as I ran into old friends that I used to spend hours with in high school, but haven't seen since.
We collected Gena and the clean laundry and headed back to our place. It was a good day!
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