Killing an hour or two in Scheels

After dinner, we stopped at Scheel's Sporting Goods to see if we could find the hubby a new Brewers cap since he hasn't replaced his since getting it autographed last fall. Well.... since we were in Springfield, IL it was Cubs and Cardinals gear... nothing for the Crew but we did find some Packer caps.

It wasn't a wasted trip though. As we wondered through the store checking stuff out since we had nothing better to do because it was so hot out. We have Scheels in the mall in Appleton but it isn't anything like the one in Springfield.

There was a full size Ferris Wheel that nearly reached the ceiling. Because of the hubby's fear of heights, we didn't ride the Ferris Wheel.

Upstairs I found a bowling alley. It was a 2 lanes and could accommodate up to 4 bowlers per lane. It was like duck pin bowling as we used mini balls and could have had bumpers in the gutters. The hubby chose not to use the bumpers... I think we should have. After the beer I had with dinner, bowling with a bowl with no holes proved kind of difficult. I had at least 4 gutter balls in a row. I did manage to pick up a spare but I didn't even break 50. However since the hubby barely broke 100, I didn't feel too bad. It was only $2 a person to bowl.

As we kept wandering we found a NASCAR driving experience. There were full size cars that moved like you were really driving in the Dayton 500. Initially I had some difficulties with steering... I did flip the car. You only had to barely touch the steering wheel to keep the car on the road. Once I got the whole driving thing down, I was doing good until I caught up with the other cars. I actually yelled "SH*T, there's cars." I forgot I was inside a Scheels. We drove for about 10 minutes -- long enough if you ask me. I managed to top out at 181 miles an hour and finished 14th out 19 cars. The hubby finished 7th with a top speed of 191 mph. I don't think I stopped shaking for 10 minutes. Driving in a NASCAR race is not my thing.

We also got a history lesson as we saw a few presidents as well. Shopping, games, and a museum all under one roof. Impressive.

James Madison

Harry S. Truman

And of course, Abraham Lincoln

We probably killed a good hour at Scheels browsing and playing games. It was an unexpected way to spend our evening in Springfield but it truly beat sitting in the hotel. Who knows may our Scheels may get a bowling alley and I will already have experience throwing those mini balls down the alley.