Old School Fun

Over the weekend I hit up Hartford and Old Lyme, CT, to parlay with some old friends and enjoy the outdoors a bit. Even though a lot of bamma ish goes down in New York, a Friday night out in Hartford reminded me that it could be a lot worse, and I should be thankful that I at least have the option of going to bars that aren’t terrible. But that’s neither here nor there, because the real wonders of Connecticut are in the ‘burbs. I went for an awesome snow run in Penwood State Park, played indoor mini golf, and did some insane sledding. Hit the jump for some pics.

The above creature is the animatronic piece de resistance of Monster Mini Golf in Windsor Locks. Upon arrival, we quickly realized that were the only people over 10-years old who weren’t A) parents, or B) ornery teen employees. I wondered if all the parents were drunk, not because they looked like they were but because my mom told me that whenever she took me to Chucky Cheese birthdays all the parents were completely blotto. She also said that Chucky himself reaked of booze and once tried to grope a mom.

As a long-time mini golf enthusiast, I was excited to see how the “glow in the dark” theme would work. The black light and neon obstacles made for an interesting course visually, though the hole layout was somewhat basic and repetitive. There was no failure of imagination when it came to the “monsters,” though.

I definitely would have been terrified of this place when I was a kid.

Pirates of the Carib-tee-in (not my best work…)

The 19th Hole

A nice coating of snow and no sled called for improvisation, so we raided the boathouse for a kayak. The first time I took the run I had no idea how fast I was going to go and ended up launching myself straight out onto the frozen river. I was convinced that I would fall through and die like that kid from The Good Son, so of course I did the only sensible thing and bailed out of my floatation device, leaving myself stranded on thin ice. Smart.

Tony was looking like a champion as he launched off a jump in the snow ‘yak. We eventually realized we could use the John Deere gator above to pull the kayak to pick up speed, thus making the whole endeavor infinitely more dangerous.

Snow biking was slightly less successful.