Seattle has Shorty's and TILT

Portland Oregon has Ground Kontrol

Sounds like a very fun vacation enjoy

69 Pin emporium in AZ if you can get the invite from the end user.

Hey,

SS Billiards in Hopkins, Minnesota is more or less an institution. Not a museum, but a lot of really good games under one roof.

Luke

Thank you Luke !

Valentin, check with Jean-Louis, he is in your country and visited here last year and had a blast. Pinball and some Famous Dave's ribs. He's a great man.

If I know you are coming, I'll make your trip special.

LTG : )

If you do end up going to PPM I can give you the tour. Also in the Bay Area, depending on your stay, there is Playland not at the Beach, which is special in its own right.

Musee Mechanique is a very cool place full of vintage arcades, but only a few pinballs. If you're specifically looking for pinball, it's not a place I would recommend.

That's Full Tilt Ice Cream, specifically. The Ballard location. If you make it out to Seattle and want to stop by and hang out, let me know!

pinballz arcade in Austin, Tx www.pinballzarcade.com. 130+ machines and a living, breathing arcade NOT a museum!

If you are lucky, and passing thru the Detroit Mich area, at the right time
there might be a meeting of the Michigan pinball collectors club
(i.e. clay harrell's and others collection)
There is another nice (100+ pins covering all eras) collection near san diego CA
(Steve (astscy) Yerkes), by appt only though.
OR give Sam Harvey a call in Los Angeles area, (he does not do email)
and he will talk pinball with you for hours,
he has about 200+ pins (stacked to the ceiling) at his house,
(another 200+ are stored at Matt's Pinball Ranch in Hollister CA)
Unfortunately only about 10 are set up playing at Sam's house in Pomona CA,
he also has (arguably) one of the largest collections of pinball flyers and other associated pinball paperwork and other pinball history archives.
In Orange County CA there is Pinball Forever, only open on special weekends,
not sure if they are still in business?
http://www.pinballforever.com/welcome/
In Colorado there is Lyon's pinball.
In New Hampshire there is (~100 pins & more)
http://www.pinballwizardarcade.com/gallery/pinballs/

Could go on and on, but you should easily fill up your schedule for those 4-5 weeks.

As long as you're in the Boston area you should go to Lanes and Games in Cambridge as well. They have a smaller collection (around 10) but they're in great shape. Lots of the newer sterns and a few older classics. They have a local pinball tournament third Friday of every month. The place also serves beer and food which is a nice bonus. Oh and there's candlepin bowling which you ca. Experience if you never have.

If you pass through the Midwest I highly recommend CP's Pinball. Its near St. Louis Mo and has around 100 pins set up. The owner is a super nice guy and you can even bring in your own libations to enjoy while your there. Sounds like your pinball tour is going to be a blast!

Boston, San Fran, Vegas, Seattle... Wow, I hope your not just coming here for Pinball! Save some time for the sights... your visiting some great cities with a lot to see and do that is non pinball related.

Houston, Texas: Joystix's Friday night 8pm to 2am party. Only done two Friday's per month (the first and the last Friday). The propriator opens the doors to his contiguious bar and turns his show room floor into an arcade set on free play for six hours. Tons of fun.

Is he on Pinside???

While I've never been (hopefully someday), I think a visit to Molly's "Pins and Needles" in Los Angeles would be worth a visit. Seeing videos of her place, it looks like it would be a lot of fun. Molly is on Pinside and I'd bet she'd be happy to have you stop by.

Dave

Pinballz in Austin, TX has a phenomenal selection of DMDs (somewhere around 120 +/-) all kept in great condition by roving techs. Also a few EMs, SSs, and vids.

Open 7 days a week. In general, no wait to play (coin-in).

Owner welcomes emails on specific games you want to play on your trip to ensure they're working.

http://www.pinballzarcade.com/

PBHOF is also open 7 days a week; has great mix of DMDs and a large/fantastic line-up of EMs with a nice row of vids too. Over 200 games. Also coin-in.

http://www.pinballmuseum.org/

Joystix in Houston is also a really nice place; but unfortunately, it's only open to the public two Friday nights a month from 9 pm till 2 am. Games are on free play for a $20 admission fee.

http://www.joystixgames.com/

Also looking forward to visiting some of the other venues mentioned...including a pilgrimage to LTG's SS Billiards!

I'd also put S.S. Billiards on the list.

My favorite arcade, without question.

Wow! You're doing a USA Pinball Road Trip? Amazing.

Cal Extreme, Pinball HOF in Vegas and Lloyd's place are must visits.

If you find your way in this area, let me know!

If you'll be in the US in August, and want to see something you'll absolutely, positively never forget, take in the Sturgis Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. It has absolutely nothing to do with pinballs, and there probably isn't a pinball machine within hundreds of miles.
You'll get to see 400,000 motorcyclists gather in the scenic Black Hills of South Dakota. August 2nd - August 9th. Bands, babes, motorcycles.
People come from all over the world to attend Sturgis. If you're in the area, include it in your plans.

Wow- this sounds pretty cool.

i already live in the US and I havent been to half those places

Might as well see Mt.Rushmore and Crazy Horse monuments and visit Deadwood S.D.
if going to Sturgis Rally, as they are all within about 50 miles.
Deadwood has casino gambling and slot machines and a few pinballs can be found there.

Is the Crazy Horse monument even completed?

Crazy horse is one of my favorite rock sculptures of all time and it is not even completed.

Also if in Florida travel over to Kennedy Space Center. Seeing rockets up close really puts their size in perspective.

I can attest to that...

Valentin, we are both Pin AND Boardgame geeks then! My all time favorite is Race for the Galaxy.

Thanks Dave! Yes, Valentin, I always make special accommodations for out of towers who want to see the spot, so feel free to contact me if you'd like to check it out. Pins and Needles isn't really of the caliber of most of the aforementioned pin-meccas; it's not fancy and the games are, for the most part, not what pinheads care to see in the wild. However if it's variety you're looking for, PNN is very different and worth checking out, it's unique. Sometimes people who make it known that they're "really huge into pinball" come in and just sorta go "what the hell is this?" while others have gotten hooked so hard on the spot that I can't pry 'em out at closing time. Takes all types! But yes, if you think crazy Molly's garage-of-D-titles might interest you, let me know and I'll do it up for ya! Either way have a great trip, you're one lucky dog!

Oh, and Sturgis is absolutely nuts, haha; if I were still all young I'd tear that up again! Now I'm old so I recommend National Parks, but Sturgis is a real American institution for sure, what a GD hoot.

Um, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon?

The northern coast of California up into Oregon?

Heres a good trip:

Start in SD, hit the local pinball places and some of the best breweries on earth, like Stone and Greenflash. Check out Coronado and Navy SEAL training sites, Then hit LA for Pins and Needles, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu beach...up the coast to Santa Barbara and the Hearst Castle north of that. Keeping heading north to Big Sur and Carmel...maybe play a round of golf at Pebble Beach...then SF Bay Area for Lucky JuJu in Alameda and a million other tourist attractions, including the Anchor Steam Brewery and wine country in Napa/Sonoma Valleys. Head north on 1 and hit Mendocino, maybe ever off into the Anderson Valley (some killer breweries up here to). Up through the redwoods forests of Northern CA and the Lost Coast...up in to Southern Oregon...there are some great pin places in Portland, finish up in Seattle for Shortys, hiking or skiing on Mt. Ranier...lots of great micro brews and outdoor activities.

There you have it! A trip worthy of a King, with plenty of pinball and good booze thrown in for good measure!

^^I had to set my iPad down so I could stand up and clap!

Oh Yeah... seems the most reasonable option. This is what I did to reach SS Billiards (=LTG). Make sure you have a GPS or an i-Phone application such as Citymap2go.

May be you could add a visit to one of the pinball manufacturers? (Stern, JJP... or Skit-B... they seem to be really nice guys!)

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Cannot miss The 1UP in Denver. Must stop!

What ever you decide, you'll have a great time !

Safe journeys my friend,
LTG : )

The USA public transportation is way behind (lacking)
from what you might expect in europe or even asia.
Bus or train will be almost as expensive as car rental
and you will much more freedom to go where you want and when you want, with a car;
as the public transport infrastructure in very limited especially east of the Atlantic seaboard.

have a fun and safe trip.
hopefully the east will have recovered from the big snow storm hitting this weekend.

One of your NY days you should do Sunshine Laundromat. Around 40 top titles. Plenty of other pinball options in NYC.