Quoted from NicoVolta:Then drove eastward across the Everglades to Delray Beach to visit two pinball venues: Vintage Pinball and the Silverball Museum. One of which was to be a very short trip.
I called ahead to Vintage Pinball: “Hello? The pinball? Yes, we’re open today until 4pm. I think my daughter is upstairs on the porch. She can let you in if she’s there.”
I thought… only 4pm? On a Friday?
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Google Maps led me into a tight cluster of shops. All of which appeared to have once been part of a single sprawling large house. Only three parking spaces were available in front, all full. The sign read: Tarot cards, psychic advisor, discount cigars, pet spa, tiki-hut sandwich and smoothie shop, yoga “fusion” (?), and… vintage pinball.
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I suddenly felt a distinct sadness for pinball.
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My destination awaited beyond the smoothie hut and umbrellas. But I’d have to hurry. It was already 3pm.
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A doorbell chimed upon my entry but no one was inside. All of the pinball machines were powered off, with an array of various things around them: pinball legs, a loading dolly, cargo blankets, bongo drums, and an open bathroom stacked with pinball heads.
I peeked around a rear doorway and called out, “Hello? Is anybody here?”
A female voice answered from somewhere down the hall (I could barely see the edge of her face)…
“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here. There are dangerous tools everywhere. Did you see the tools all over the place?”
(I did not see any dangerous tools… but kept it friendly)
“Hello… I’m here to check out the pinball machines. I called earlier and the owner said his daughter might be here to let me in. Are you his daughter?”
No reply, and that was that.
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I thus found myself standing in a dead-silent room of lifeless EM’s, in an odd building, with odd people, uncertain if I was about to be towed away for parking at the clinic next door or perhaps even arrested for trespassing by "mystery hallway girl". I could have switched on a game, shrugged off the weirdness, and started flipping away. But, knowing the Silverball Museum was waiting just around the corner, I decided to snap a few photos and GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE...
Holt, MI
...no wonder you passed. Thanks for passing along the info, though!
