FORT SILL, Okla., Feb. 4, 2016 -- With the Super Bowl around the corner I wanted to find an activity that would double as fun on Super Bowl Sunday as well as any other day of the week. I remember reading the Twin Oaks Bowling Center was going to have a special for the big game and decided to check them out -- admittedly, I also saw the Fort Sill Golf Course was having an event as well but seeing that I'm not a golfer I thought this wouldn't be a good time to go experimenting(side note: If anyone wants to take me golfing and explain the game to me in small, patronizing words so I can understand, I'm up for a day of humiliation).
I picked a Monday night to check out the bowling alley. I'm not a total cheapskate, but I'm pretty frugal and $2 games with $2.50 shoe rental is exactly my kind of inexpensive fun. I walked through the doors shortly after the cannon fired signaling the end of the day and set up on lane 22. On my immediate left were a group of youth bowlers (maybe in a league, I'm not sure) who were killing those pins. On my far right was a group of what I suspect were three junior enlisted Soldiers who, many years ago, I might have tried to impress with my serious lack of game (bowling or otherwise). They took the farthest lanes from the rest of us. I may or may not have heard them ask for that specifically. I don't blame them.
With no massive rush I took my time at the lane. Stopped at the seventh frame, grabbed a burger, fries and a drink and enjoyed the entire meal before going back (as an additional side note, the meal came with the most fries I've ever received at a burger joint -- and the entire meal was around $5 -- so at this point I've spent a total of $9.50 on myself -- not a bad deal for a mom or for a single Soldier wanting an inexpensive dinner and entertainment).
I finished my lane almost an hour and a half after I started.
I Took. My. Time.
I wish I took a photo of my final score. You all would be impressed. Sixty points. That's right, a whopping 60 out of 300. I've got mad game I tell ya. But it was fun. Even on my own. I didn't even mind that the people around me were laughing at my bumpers on my lane or the dragon ramp I used to guide the ball to the pins. It was great!
By the time I finished the original people I started bowling with were all gone and a new cast arrived on the scene. This one included two bowling leagues -- one for youth and one for women. I met Simone Stanfield, 11, a relatively new bowler who said she enjoyed bowling as a sport. I learned Simone has been playing for seven months and was from a family of bowlers. It wasn't a surprise to anyone in her family that she took to bowling so well.
Nearby was 16-year-old Megan Wehmeier, who has been bowling for 11 years. That's right, eleven years. That means she started bowling when she was 5 (I better get my little one started). Megan had big plans for her bowling career including securing a bowling scholarship for college and to one day join Team USA bowling.
"I have a drive for it," said Megan. "I do a lot of bowling. I've been to Chicago and this summer I'll be going to Florida to bowl."
On the other side of the bowling alley were the members of the Ladies Night Bowling league. The league is open to all women 18 years and older of all levels of experience.
I met Sonya Laney-Tucker and Tammy Nix at a nearby table and chatted with them between frames. Laney-Tucker has been playing with the league for four years after a 10-year-hiatus, and Nix said she has been playing with the league since before Twin Oaks Bowling Alley was open.
"We have fun," said Nix. "We sing and dance. It's just a night out with the ladies."
The ladies laughed and played as I walked away and I was caught thinking about how wide the net is cast when it comes to those who enjoy bowling. Even as I left I met Airman 1st Class Carlos May who is stationed at Altus Air Force Base and was in town picking up a bowling ball. May doesn't play competitively but says the competition draws many people to the game.
"Before I joined the military I worked at a bowling alley and after a while my friends got me playing but the competition kept me in," said May. "At some point I noticed I was getting better. But you don't have to be good to have a good time. You can play a few games for cheap and have fun."
So if you're looking for something to do this Super Bowl Sunday, or any day, consider visiting the Twin Oaks Bowling Center. You just might find you have a knack for bowling. And even if you don't, you'll have fun. Pick up a drink and some fries and strike it up with your friends. You just might have more fun than you have time to spare.
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