Months ago I told my wife and sons that Pinball Wizard might be closing. In February we were able to squeeze in a short trip to there and a couple of other places. Beginning of April we went to Funspot and Six Flags and could not hit Pinball Wizard. When my son called earlier this month and asked if and when they were closing, there was no indication that this was the last month. When I told him on Friday that this was the last weekend they were going to be open he was bummed out and asked if we could make the trek up there. Unfortunately this weekend was already packed with stuff that I could not get out of, so we could not go. I wish there was a little bit of a heads up on a closing date. Would have loved to pull off one last time with enough notice. I respect Sarah's decision and whatever reasons she kept the exact closing date very private and last minute, that is the way it felt to me. Would have given a lot of people a chance and time to come see an amazing place.
One of my son reminds me of being an old soul sometimes. Loves old technology (film cameras, VHS, etc...) My son talked about the place closing all weekend and trying to make sense of why places like this and other places (drive inns, bowling alleys, roller skating rinks, arcades, putt putt golf places, Lanes & Games, old amusement parks, ice skating rinks) disappear. It is sad to see places I use to go to here on Long Island disappear and places I use to visit on vacation disappear. I love finding old school Americana places when we travel and try to give my kids a glimpse into the past. I know things change and change is good sometimes but hate seeing fun places get replaced with condo's and more shopping centers.
Sorry for my rambling. My son and I talked about how long Sara's landlord will give her to get all her arcade and pinball machines out of there. That must be some huge storage place to move everything over to, plus physically demanding. Anyway, once again thanks for the memories and hopefully finding other hidden gems in America.