Friday Fowling Fun

I'd never heard of this strange sport called "Fowling". Well, it's not actually a sport so much as it is an excuse to get a large group of people together to eat, drink and be silly. And pretend to get exercise. It's been around quite a long time, but this is the first I've heard of it.

Basically, it's a mashup of bowling and football -- thus the name. Apparently 'bowling-ball' was too confusing. And already taken.

For us, especially for Cheryl, it was just an excuse to get together with all her fellow teachers from the middle school and have fun without having to deal with the children. Lots of food, drink, socializing, and (for those brave enough) throwing footballs at bowling pins.

We didn't actually partake of the exercise portion of the evening -- except for exercising our mouths -- but it was still a lot of fun.

And I could tell Cheryl was having fun because she turned Italian and started talking with her hands. It was so much fun to see her smiling and having a good time!

She introduced me to lots of people (whose names I instantly forgot), but the ones I most enjoyed were the ones with the crazy backgrounds and even crazier stories.

You have to be on the crazy side to work with middle schoolers. They're all certifiable!! (Just like the teachers...)

After a couple hours, we were all peopled out and ready to head home. But it was certainly a fun evening. And the food was filling: Pizza, pasta (red & white), breadsticks, salad, chocolate-chip cookies, and super-dense chocolate brownies (with frosting on top).

And for the first time in a million years, we got to have a 'tab' at the bar! Endless drinks! "Just put it on my tab." I felt like a character in an old movie!

Of course, I was only able to get through two Cokes in two hours. I have my limits!

We're such noobs about it -- I had to ask the server behind the bar when it came time to "settle up" because I wasn't sure how that worked. Back in the old days, it was a cash-only business -- we don't generally carry cash around anymore -- and even when people started switching over to credit/debit, it was still standard to tip with cash instead of credit. But apparently it's just normal nowadays to tip on the card. Which is easy but kinda weird. When I tip my barber, I still prefer to use cash because it seems more personal and thus more meaningful. Am I crazy? Or just old-fashioned?

Here's a badly-framed photo of the fowling experience from behind the 'fence' (which protects the casual observer from getting a face-full of football):

The best part of the Fowling experience is watching people try to throw a football. And because the 'lanes' are not protected from one another, it's hilarious to watch the ball bouncing between the lanes and knocking other people's pins over!