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Skee Balll
When I was a kid my grandparents lived a few blocks from the beach in Far Rockaway, in Queens, New York. I loved visiting them – and especially in the summer when Rockaways Playland was open for the season.
Created in 1902 by roller coaster designer LaMarcus Adna Thompson, Rockaways Playland had an adjacent ferry dock making it convenient ro reach from almost everywhere in the city. In addition to a roller coaster, a ferris wheel, and the usual amusement park rides, it boasted amenities including a gym and a swimming pool, and welcomed millions of visitors over the years.
Sadly in 1987 the cost of insurance became prohibitive for its owners and Rockaways Playland was closed. But as a gutsy kid, I remember my father holding me on his lap on one of those death-defying rides as we whipped through the air.
And I also remember playing skee ball there. Altho now it’s apparently more a social sport played in bars and arcades, in those days it was one of my favorite pastimes at Rockaways. And in my mind’s eye I can see those skee balll alleys and those balls rolling up the ramp to rack up points for one proud and happy little girl!
– Dana Susan Lehrman
Dana Susan LehrmanThis retired librarian loves big city bustle and cozy country weekends, friends and family, good books and theatre, movies and jazz, travel, tennis, Yankee baseball, and writing about life as she sees it on her blog World Thru Brown Eyes!
www.WorldThruBrownEyes.com
I always enjoyed Skeeball moreso than any of the daredevil rides!~ Holy shit, don’t even make me remember the “mad mouse” with its right angle turns.
It must have been amazing to have such an exciting, magnetic attraction so close at hand. Thanks for the vivid descriptions.
Thanx Dale, so glad you too enjoyed skee ball more than the daredevil rides!
I think I found it addictive – which is how I now find pickleball!