If you ever missed what it was like to go back to the family emporium of your youth and immerse yourself in good old-fashioned bowling, Northampton Bowl is the place for you. On a Friday night in October, I got to witness all the action first hand. Welcome to America City, U.S.A Upon entering, you feel similar to how an extra might feel on the set of The Big Lebowski. Expecting to see Walter or the Dude around any corner, I made my way around the left corner and situated myself at the helm of the Grandstands Bar. Everything gets adult really fast and the young college bowlers in the background are of no more concern. Here I met Shaun, a cheery regular who filled me in on the goings-on right away. "Now see, you've got your karaoke over there in the corner," he says as he points to the corner. A grown man stands with a microphone as Van Morrison comes up and bright blue words lit up in the background, guiding him through a rendition of Moondance. Surprisingly, his voice is dead on. This unexpected success breeds confidence, and one after another, grown men get up and throw all their chips into the pile. Blaring bright lights whirl above head, providing a rave-like mystique to the dance floor. A large mural of cheering baseball fans leans behind the dance floor. The whole scene is supposed to mock an average baseball infield, with the floor shaped as a diamond. The chain link fence that borders around the mural drives the flavor home. "No one cares if you're good or not," Shaun explains. "You just get up there and sing and it's a blast." He is an avid fan of the karaoke himself. The stubborn bartender catches my eye and laughs. The karaoke floor is one of the most popular features of the bar, but karaoke is not the only thing that is highlighted. On Saturday nights, Northampton Bowl features a live band every week. "The bands are always pretty good," Shaun tells me. "There's one band, a Bon Jovi Tribute band, who are just out of this world. Their name is 'Jovi,' and they get really into it. Saturday nights are always a blast." While Saturday nights at Northampton Bowl consist of music, Friday nights are all about the bowling. "On Fridays you got your league bowlers. Right around ten, ten-thirty they'll all quit and come in here. Then this place really gets going," Shaun says. I look around at all the children running around with bowling shoes and candy bars and wonder if he's right. The ceiling is high, and the room is dark - but the music is loud and everyone's talking. This is a perfect atmosphere for a bowler. From here, you can grab a drink and watch from Plexiglas windows all the excitement that stretches from wall to wall. The alleys are too encompassing to forget, I realize - and now it's time to head outside. Hundreds of people are walking around like bees to a hive, swarming all around designated strips of polished lanes. The clatter of pins is all-pervading, something that the loud rock n' roll of Grandstands made me forget. Within seconds I'm lost. Huge signs speak of past perfect games of people named Guy Fox and Arnold LaForge. This is, as one sign puts it, America's Number One Participation Sport. It's amazing to find such a place like Northampton Bowl alive with so much action. Sitting next to Shaun made me realize that Northampton is a mirror image of an illusion. Being a college student, I only see Northampton as a city existing only between the months of September and May. These families that were running by were here year-round. With places like Northampton Bowl, one realizes that this college town isn't so different after all. It's not all concerts and late night cafés, but also the hardware stores and bars and bowling alleys. Northampton Bowl is located on 525 Pleasant St. in Northampton. Just take a left off of Main Street, drive past Pearl Street for about 2 minutes, and it should be on your right. And for that eager bowler in us all, they open up shop at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings.
Daily Collegian > Bud Light Bar Guide
Northampton Bowl - a sport of Kings
Published: Monday, October 23, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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