You know, you’d think that halfway through your Florida vacation, you’d deign to interrup your poolside lounging only to share the gorgeous photos of your kid alone in an inner tube for the first time. Or your toddler sticking her fingers in a fish’s eye socket. Or the gorgeous sunsets over the picnic table where the 11 of you eat fresh grilled meat (yay Nate) each night. Or the “art gallery” set up by the four cousins, full of finger paints and crayon drawings of cats and rainbows and dots and more cats.
But nope.
Because last night the adults – Nate, my brother Jeff, his wife Maggie and me – were given a free night on the town courtesy of the very doting grandparents.
So what does one do on the town when that town is OldLadyVille, Florida? Well the bowling alley was packed, the movie theater choices are not worth the price of popcorn, and we tried to go to the mini golf place following the iPhone Google Map directions – only it turns out that Monster Golf off Sample Road in Cyprus Gardens, FL is actually Monster Golf off Sample Road in Lafayette, Indiana?
We go to Dave & Busters.
I have never been to such an establishment before although I do recall Brett Michaels giving it the big thumbs up. And that was good enough for me.
Holy hell is it pretty much the funnest place on the planet–or at least in OldLadyVille, Florida at 10PM on a Wednesday night.
I’m not sure however which was the most pathetic aspect of the evening:
-The four of us scolding a ten year-old for cheating at the horse race game (Dude, two balls at once? That’s not cool.)
-The verocity with which we shot down enemy WWII fighter planes screaming DIE DIE.
-My score at Pop-A-Shot: 5.
-Nate tilting the stupid Wheel of Fortune game that pushes the coins into the well.
-A 40 year-old mom attempting Dance Dance Revolution in bare feet
-The fact that we earned 4,094 tickets.
What is the sound of one hand clapping because the other is holding 4,094 tickets? Maggie attempts to demonstrate.Spending 4,094 tickets in the final 3 minutes before closing is no easy task, particularly when you can’t stop laughing. It is indeed challenging to choose amongst a roomful of piece of crap toys made by six year-olds in China, none of which you would pay 5 tickets for let alone 4,094.
A mere 2,000 tickets short for a Guitar Hero Wii game, in the end our four girls collectively reaped the joys of two battery operated dancing pigs, a couple of stuffed cow pillows, and a ring pop each.
Although as Jeff pointed out, the kids would have probably just as well played with the 4,094 tickets.
Seriously, I live not two miles from that Monster Golf.
Bahaha! We're going to D&B's Friday night for 11's birthday so I checked out the link you included as I've never been there before.I love how they make it look like a casino atmosphere…it's Chuck E Cheese on a grand scale!
Dave and Busters is like Chuck E CHeez for grown-ups!!You must be west coasting it because I gotta believe you could have found something else to do East Coast style!
I LOVE Dave & Busters. We call it Chuck E Cheese for adults.
Thank you so much, that was a great post!!! Long live Dave and Buster’s
The worst part is that your brother is probably right. They would have had just as much fun playing with the tickets. LOLGlad you guys had fun!
Last night Bump and I chose the ESPNZone over Dave and Buster's, after deciding D&B was too far away. The last time we visited both places – pre-children, obvs. – they were roughly comparable. Apparently in the intervening few years ESPNZone has become a mall arcade full of 8th graders and no beer. We left quickly. I guess we should have driven the extra few miles.
How have I never heard of Dave & Busters? We need something like that up here, because it looks like tons of the fun. Glad you had a good time!
Dave & Busters? I want me some of that. Are they in NYC?
Oh my gosh, I've heard such good things about Dave & Buster's, but I've never been. THE AGONY!Lol I'm glad you guys had a fun night out!
dance dance revolution makes my heart happy. just saying. 🙂
I ride a mean D&B motorcycle!
I love Dave & Busters. There is one here, that is always packed on the weekends. I suck at dance, dance revolution. However, I play a mean skee ball.
I secretly love Dave and Buster’s, but only when my kids aren’t there. I’m going straight to hell, I know. I’m totally impressed that you did Dance Dance Revolution barefoot.
Well if it’s good enough for you AND Brett, well than it must be too good for me.
Why have I never been to a Dave and Busters?Suddenly I feel so empty.
You didn’t get a spider ring? What a rip! 😉
Did you try to throw any of your old dance moves into DDR? Or maybe jumping rope with a few thousand of the tickets during the dance for bonus points!
I still have a giant, as in larger-than-a-small-child stuffed bear I once won at Dave & Busters. I named him Wendell. (Okay, okay, my SON has the bear now. In his room. It's his.)(I kick ass at Skee Ball.)
We have a Dave & Busters, both in Columbus and in Cincinnati. Love that place. The one in Cincinnati had Battletech and virtual reality games. I spent many an evening there in college, knocking back the drinks and driving 8 year olds off the road in racing games.
Good times.
HAHA…Im so excited you found a Dave and Busters down there..Sounds like a blast…We should start saving tickets and when Thalia and Sage turn 10 we can have a gazillion tickets and buy that prize that you say, “WoW that things sick, and if only I had a gazillion tickets…but you do! and you go home with that life sized panda…Im In!
Oh, Cypress Gardens. If you had been just a little further southwest, in the true heart of oldladyville, I could have directed you to a much more rockin’ video poker joint in Fort Myers.
I've gone to Dave & Busters once.. in Times Square. It was a trip and totally awesome. Drinking and video games are a match made in heaven.
i love D&B…it's actually where i had my bachelorette party 🙂 between tix i already had from before and what we won that night, i went home drunk on a razor scooter!
aw, Dave and Busters is fantastic!!! Glad you had fun 😀
OMG, it's WT tidal wave! Dave & Busters…in FLORIDA! I just couldn't be more proud! The pic of you in the D&G “kiddie casino” just made my little trashy heart melt like velveeta.