Questions Answered: Bowling Across America

Yesterday I mused about eating chocolate while getting a massage in all 50 states. I still think that's a good idea.

The idea was brought on by a book I read: Bowling Across America: 50 States in Rented Shoes.

Not only did the book get me thinking about the one thing I'd like to do in all 50 states, it also got me thinking about the idea of a travel quest.

And so I contacted Mike Walsh, bowling author extraordinaire, and asked him what he thought.

A bowling alley is a great equalizer. The setting, rules and equipment are pretty much the same wherever you go. Given that, what factors lent the greatest flavor to all your various bowling experiences?

My book was really predicated on that idea—that the bowling alleys would be the "control" for the experiment, and that the people within them would be the variable. And so it turned out.

There was the bartender who talked nonstop at Ball Park Lanes just outside of Yankee Stadium, the retired Maine lobsterman with tales of life on the sea, the guys at the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Jackson, Wyoming whose club contains the town's only bowling alley.

The people are what made the journey worthwhile, and the book worth writing.

You definitely had a goal when you set off on this trip. What did ‘being on a quest’ add to your trip?

Being on a quest with defined parameters helped keep me going. It added a sense of purpose, and focus, to the trip. It made it less of a lark (though quitting your job to go bowling is most certainly a lark) and more of a mission.

Each state I completed was a tangible measure of progress that affected the mood and pace of the project. Knocking out the first half of the states in just a couple of months was a rush that quickly diminished upon realizing the vastness of the 25 states I had yet to complete.

Coming up on the last two states, Alaska and Hawaii, afforded a sense of reflection. And completing the 50th came with a mixture of satisfaction and loss. What an accomplishment! And what am I going to do now?

Oh, and by the way, that's me with my scorecard after bowling in my 50th state - not my score!

Did you ever wish you could have ditched the bowling and just road tripped sans plan?

I never tired of the bowling aspect of the trip. Had time and money not been factors, I'd have done more sightseeing, but frankly I found the best way to really get to know a place was to go where the locals go. And what better place to do that than the bowling alley?

If you had to pick just one bowling alley as the best bowling alley in the whole country, which one would you pick and why?

Milwuakee's Holler House always tops my list, thanks to the owner/barmaid. Marcy Skowronski is now 82 years old, but that doesn't keep her from telling jokes that would make a sailor blush while she serves Polish beers. Worth the trip just to be in her orbit for a little while.

But it's sort of an exceptional place in that it hinges on Marcy's presence. That, and the lanes are manually set and in the basement—making the bowling more of a novelty.

My top favs from the whole trip are listed on my web site.

But, if I had to have only one bowling alley on a desert island it would be Saratoga Lanes in St. Louis. Eight lanes, a bunch of pool tables, and a bar in between connecting the two halves of the room. A mix of serious bowlers, casual drinkers and pool sharks makes for good conversation. And there's no electronic scoring, so you still have to know how to mark a strike.

Any plans to extend this bowling quest to the world stage?

I would like to bowl on every continent, though I doubt I'll derail my career again to do it.

This summer I'm going on a Mediterranean cruise and, while I don't anticipate using the eight hours I'll have during the Rome stop to find the Vatican bowling alley, there happens to be one on the ship. Given my fair skin I suspect I'll be in there more than I'd care to admit.