Shatto Lanes

The holiday weekend kicked off with a little bowling at the Shatto Lanes. My boyfriend is always trying to plan a night of pinball and bowling there. But try as hard as I might, I could never stay awake past 10 p.m. on Friday nights during the school year, so we never made it over. This is really sad considering it's about a half block from our front door. But this Friday was different!

Shatto Lanes is awesome in part because it has held true to its bowling alley roots. Many other bowling alleys have basically become clubs with dark lighting, laser shows, and more bar stools than bowling lanes, but Shatto hasn't made any serious changes to its business model (or its decor) since the 70's. There's 40 lanes that are always more full than empty, a selection of pretty quality arcade games, a tiny diner in the far corner serving up crappy diner food, an even tinier but fully stocked bar, and 2 rooms with pool tables (a room for adults by the bar and a family room). Plus, there are no laser light shows. The lights are always bright enough so you can see what you are doing because people of all ages are really here to bowl.

Because bowling a Shatto always feels like a step back in time, I wore my vintage Lacoste sweater that I found at a Goodwill in Newark, DE when I was home visiting my family this Christmas. I think it might be a men's sweater because of how big it is, but I just love the obnoxious sunshine yellow.


In addition to bowling, we always play the Pirates of the Caribbean pinball game. I think Pirates of the Caribbean is a particularly good machine because there little pieces that pop or make noise, which I find entertaining. I love pinball in general, though. It's a hold over from when I was little girl. My father managed a restaurant/bar that had an arcade room in it. He would pick me up from school at 2:30, but then I'd have to hang out at the restaurant until he could take me home at 5. So like any 9-year old would do, I'd hang out in the arcade room. The days that Al (the man who collected the quarters from the machines) came were always my favorite because he would give me a million credits on any game I wanted. So I ended up playing a lot of pinball.