I'm going to be revisiting an old pastime. From my childhood to my early adult years I played pinball. I used to be good, I've won a few local tournaments and lots of free drinks! That was before Pong came along and ushered in the video games. I stayed at a summer campsite in Brimfield Mass which was about 45 minutes from our house. My parents had a trailer on a lake there and we'd spend pretty much the whole summer there. It had a small pavilion and there was a jukebox and a pinball machine.
The pinball was 10 cents or 3 games for a quarter. I could go there when it opened at 9:00 AM and play all day long until they closed at 9:00 PM for only 25 cents. I'd get on the game and keep winning free games almost every game I played. I used to leave 15-16 games on it when the place closed at night.
Kids would get pissed off when they saw me on it because they knew they weren't going to get a chance to play. I used to take breaks to smoke some weed and I'd sell 5 games for a quarter and let them play those while I got high. I'd come back refreshed, and with a buzz, ready to kick the machines ass some more. I did this for years being the product of a misspent childhood.
When I got to be 16-17, I could go to bars and drink all night as long as I could find people to play and bet against me. I loved pinball and of course I had the song Pinball Wizard dedicated to me at dances and shit.
But, I haven't played in probably about 35 years or so. I didn't want to stop playing but everywhere went to video games, which I pretty much sucked at.
Now, there a place about a block from where I live that opened up that has nothing but pinball machines. While I like the idea of going there to play, they charge $12.00 for all you can play for as long as you want. Kind of a sleazy way to do it, I like to earn my games not have them given to me. I rather pay per game, but that's not up to me. I'm going to go there and give it a shot, to see if I still enjoy it and like the atmosphere in there.
Event Space in downtown Brattleboro offering 16 pinball machines on free play. Open to public Fri 4-10 Sat 12-10 Sun 12-6 for $10 admission.
gravitatepinball.com