World Series of Skeeball

After months of anticipation and amid fears of a lockout, the 2005 Skeeball season opened last night between Mr. and Mrs. Exile at Salem Willows Park (Baby exile tossed out/threw wildly the ceremonial first ball), the two champions splitting the evening's bout 1 to 1--while I managed to win the best of 5 games, 3 to 2, my wife took the evening's high score with a 310.

Although the folks at the Willows Arcade committed an unforgivable sin in replacing their classic wooden ball Skeeball machines with a row of brand new plastic replacements, at least they went for models which are blessedly devoid of any unnecessary bells and whistles--the new machines also included the infamous 100-point cups in the upper left and right-hand quarters of the target board, so this will likely prove to be an unpredictable and high-scoring year as a result.

Before the games began, however, we took Baby Exile to the kiddie amusements, including the merry-go-round and a trio of revolving small cars, ladybugs, and (her favorite) boats. We hadn't taken her on any rides since last year in Ocean City, when the carousel freaked her out, so we weren't sure how she'd react this time around. We should have known better! Now she cries when the ride stops. Can Six Flags New England be far behind?

(Cue the extremely annoying "Mr. Six" techno-beat)