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.

Questions Answered: Submitting Funny Signs

One of the reasons, perhaps, that the book, Caution Funny Signs Ahead, so captured my attention is that in the course of my travels, I too have snapped some funny sign photos.

Could one of my funny sign pictures make it into a future funny sign compilation?

It wasn't long before I was pulling up image after image from my own digital picture library, trying to find the funniest of all my funny sign shots.

Should I submit the billboard filled with little naked men that I captured somewhere in the Czech countryside?

Or maybe the picture I took of a sign inside a fancy Vietnamese hotel elevator advertising the culinary "words" of art prepared by the chef in the lobby restaurant.

I did submit a picture to RoadTrip America's funny sign collection, although neither of these were my final selection. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see if the one I sent makes the cut.

In an attempt to improve my odds, I figured I'd quiz the collection's co-editor, Mark Sedenquist, about the submission process. Here's what he had to say:

How long have you been collecting funny sign pictures from RoadTrip America readers?

Roughly, since 1996.

How often is a new funny sign picture posted?

Every week. You can see them here.

To date, do you know how many images have been submitted to RoadTrip America?

The total online collection now stands at 466 published Funny Sign photos, but of course that will change next week.

At the present time, we have about 100 images waiting in the “on-deck” circle for eventual inclusion in the collection.

We’ve had over 1600 pictures submitted to us, but we’ve only accepted about 300 of those into the collection. We verify the authenticity of every photo and many do not pass our tests.

What do you think drives travelers to snapping pictures of funny signs and then submit them to your collection?

I think they do it for the same reason we do it – to share moments of whimsy and humor with a greater audience.

What do you like best about editing the funny signs collection?

Writing captions that are not the obvious first choice. We prefer captions that require a little thought when viewing the images.

We spend about 5 hours each week nominating the new featured sign, writing the caption and preparing it for publication on RTA.

What guidelines do you have for photo submissions?

We prefer 300 dpi, jpeg, 600 x 600 pixels as a minimum, but with the advent of cellular phone cameras, we often accept smaller images.

Once a picture is accepted, it could be anywhere between five days to a year before it is posted online.

We don't post them in the order we get them. Instead, we select each week's photo by how funny it strikes us at the particular time we're choosing pictures.

Hmmm. I can only hope my own submitted sign strikes them as funny as it did me!

Do you have your own funny sign to submit?

You'll find the submission guidelines here.

Questions Answered: Caution Funny Signs Ahead

Yesterday, I mentioned a newly-released book that made me laugh called Caution: Funny Signs Ahead.

I enjoyed it so much that I tracked down Megan Edwards, editor of RoadTrip America and one of the book's co-authors, to ask her some questions about it.

Do you remember your first funny sign?

Several signs I photographed very early on in our travels are in the book. One is “Banana Slug Crossing,” which I found in Redwood National Park, California.

Another is “We Make Home Ownership a Reality” next to a trailer mounted on top of a tall pole in Pennsylvania.

Although I can’t remember which is the official first one, somewhere in there I got hooked on nabbing more. And more, and more, and OMG… yeah, I’m forced to admit. It’s an addiction.

Do you have a favorite funny sign?

It reveals my roots in middle school humor, but one of my faves will always be Erik Hollander’s shot of the “Fresh Fudge” banner strung up a little too near the restrooms.

Is there a particular part of the country that seems to have more funny signs than the rest?

There are funny signs lurking everywhere, but Kentucky has more than its share of too-funny-to-be-true place names. That’s where you’ll find Big Bone Lick and Rabbit Hash, just to give a couple examples.

Does it take a certain sense of humor or a certain point of view to notice funny signs?

Nothing more than a middle school sense of humor is required, but it helps to have a hunter’s mindset.

Also, it’s easy to become blind to the hilarious signs in your own town. It’s often easier to find good quarry in places you aren’t familiar with.

Has anyone ever gotten mad at you for taking a picture of their sign?

So far, no one has complained, but I do try to be careful. I’m very aware that Dr. Anil Ram might not think his name is funny, and that the owners of the Poo Ping Palace may not want their possibly excellent restaurant immortalized in a gallery of funny signs.

Even though the signs are out there in public, and I’m not really invading anyone’s privacy, I’m thinking about getting a more powerful zoom lens.

How has your obsession with funny signs changed you as a traveler?

Probably the most apparent effect is that I’ve pulled some pretty silly--not to mention oh-so-slightly illegal--maneuvers to get photos of funny signs.

I’ve also driven hundreds of miles out of my way just because I noticed an enticing name on a map. How could I resist going out of my way to visit Earth, for example, or Mars, or Noodle?

I guess it’s fair to say that it’s added a hunting element to my road trips that wouldn’t be there otherwise. It makes me take the back roads, too, where I’m more likely to find businesses that advertise “Custom Killing” or “Eat Here, Get Gas.”

Read yesterday's post about the book.