“Arcade Adventure (25 May 2019)” by Richard F. Yates

In the spirit of “Go! Have fun now! Gather ye rosebuds…,” my wife (Mariah), younger daughter (Elise), her boyfriend (Gabe), and I went on a grand adventure on Saturday (May 25th, 2019.) The original plan was to visit the Oregon Zoo, but when he heard that the weather wasn’t going to be too great (even us lifelong Pacific Northwest residents to LIKE hanging out in the rain---we do it, but we don’t really LIKE it…), we decided to swerve a bit and visit our favorite retro-arcade, instead: Ground Kontrol (on 5th and Couch, in Portland, Oregon, USA.)

We left Longview, Washington, (after stopping by Grandma Lucy’s house and giving her some brownies and visiting her and Uncle Randy for a few minutes), somewhere in the vicinity of noon. We made it to P-Town in about an hour and found a parking spot ($8.00 for the full day) less than a block from Powell’s City of Books (although we didn’t actually stop at the bookstore, this time. I’ve purchased a FEW books recently that I haven’t had a chance to read yet, so…)

Our first stop, after abandoning the automobile, was a place called Little Bitty Big Burger, where Ellie and I had burgs, and Mariah ordered a veggie burg. We also got three orders of fries, which we quickly discovered was FAR TOO MANY fries… (We still had about half-a-bag left when we gave up munching!) The food was good, not too expensive, and (best of all) the hallway heading towards the bathroom is a cool, trippy sight to behold!

I have no idea WHY the hallway looks like this---I just enjoy it!

After we finished our food, (Gabe ate a few fries, for those who were worried… We stopped at a Taco Time on the way to grab some food for him, so don’t think we didn’t let him eat anything... We aren’t MONSTERS…ummm… Okay, we ARE monsters, TECHNICALLY, but we didn’t let him starve while we scarfed down our own grub… So just back off…before somebody gets hurt…) Anyway, after we finished our food, we hoofed it down Couch Street towards Ground Kontrol, which was maybe four or five blocks away. Not too far.

For those who have never been to this classic arcade, IT IS HUGE! It has two stories, multiple rooms full of games, a couple of bars, and visual delights GALORE! (I wrote a post about visiting Ground Kontrol for Elvis’s 21st birthday---maybe you read that already???) There was no cover charge to get in during the day, and most games cost between 25 cents and a buck per play. I think, in total, we spent less than ten dollars per person to play for HOURS!

The visuals are great. Stunning! They have a display as you first walk in where you can see the t-shirts and posters and other goodies that you can BUY…

…and they have neon and L.E.D.s and cool, Tron-looking graphical touches EVERYWHERE! One of my favorite features is this huge wall, near the main bathrooms, that is somehow (through techno-magic, I imagine) itself a big display of moving 8-bit looking images. THE WHOLE WALL! I snapped just a few images; (it’s a busy area, so I couldn’t just stand there and take pictures all day, or I might have…)

Like I said, the place is a virtual FEAST for the eyes…but then you also have to consider the GAMES!

Our group is particularly partial to pinball---and this place has a TON of pinball machines. Ellie and Gabe played a lot of the South Park table, and Mariah and I spent a couple of bucks each on the Pirates of the Caribbean machine, but I also played the Guardians of the Galaxy, Dr. Who, and Game of Thrones machines. (We never made it to the Lord of the Rings, which is another fantastic pinball table, on this trip---but there will be others!)

Personally, I wasn’t on my best form that day. I got second place scores on Robotron, Ms. Pac-Man, and Arkanoid. (I spent about 8 quarters trying to crack the #1 spot on Arkanoid, but I just wasn’t feeling it!!!) I did, however, get the high scores (DAILY high scores---not “All Time”) on Lady Bug, Joust, and Donkey Kong… Here's my Donkey Kong score. (I usually put "DAD" as my initials.) It's not a great score, but it was enough to crack to the #1 spot on that particular day!!!

…until some HOT SHOT had to come along after I played and take over the #1 slot! (Notice the smart-ass “KID” initials in place of the “DAD,” which SHOULD have been at the top? Yes, it was Ellie who bumped me off the hill…) (The next two photos, including the one where she wants to show that my score has been dethroned, were taken by Elvis. The rest of the photos for this post were taken by me…)

Gabe, when not playing South Park pinball, seemed to really enjoy The Simpson’s game!

I think, overall, everybody had a really good time…and for a relatively small amount of cash! We got out of the house and got a tiny bit of exercise, (despite the HORRIBLE rain that was pouring down on us as we marched back up the hill to where we parked), and we spent some quality time just having fun as a family!

It really is worth the effort to take the time to discovery what you enjoy---however nerdy or silly or seemingly unimportant that thing or activity might seem---and then do it every chance you get! If you like role playing games or board games, if you like dancing or camping or fishing or gardening or singing or feeding the pideons, then GO DO IT! (Although, you shouldn’t do anything that hurts other people or that might needlessly endanger your own life!!!) Personally, I like writing and drawing and painting and reading and listening to music and making things… So… I try to do those things every day! And make sure you spend time with your family and friends every day---don’t wait until it’s TOO LATE!

END OF LINE…

---Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)

[P.S. - If you've never seen the documentary, KING OF KONG, about a guy trying to get the world record high score on Donkey Kong, it's a brilliantly entertaining, surprisingly moving film! Who could have imagined that video games could inspire so much DRAMA and INTRIGUE!!! A must watch!]

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