Looking for some indoor fun this winter??!! Look no further than the corner of National and Battlefield in Springfield MO. Andy B’s https://www.bowlandybs.com/springfield offers bowling, laser tag, a virtual reality experience and more. Their website is excellent and full of great information, prices, and menu options and also allows you to book a lane or plan an event online.
For my 51st birthday in 2021, I decided to go bowling…because I can still bowl!! LOL. My husband was not amused. I think he’d rather hit is fingers with a sledge hammer than sit in a bowling alley with dozens of loud people including children having their own bowling birthday party. But he was my designated driver for the event and it’s not every day you turn 51. He gave in fairly gracefully.
I invited the usual suspects-the kids and my mom-to come along and join in the fun. On weekends it’s a good idea to reserve a lane for at least 2 hours. I had reserved a lane in the general bowling area for one and a half hours and it wasn’t long enough to bowl 2 games like I’d hoped. We had 5 people on the roster. Andy B’s also has a semi private 10 lane area with an attached private bar for a slightly higher price. They can also set you up with bumpers, lightweight bowling balls and bowling ramps if you have children or physical limitations.
Andy B’s offers lane side service and has a full restaurant and bar. I was impressed with the menu choices, though the service could have been quicker and more attentive. Again, it was a very busy Saturday afternoon and I was not unhappy with the service or the food.
I do want to share the best part of the experience though, and that was taking my 70 year old mom and getting her into the VR experience. Neither of us had any previous experience with virtual reality and this was very cool. We hopped onto a game with 2 young boys who picked the Zombie Attack (eye roll here, I hate Zombies) which turned out to be awesome because at some point the employees figured out one of the boys VR equipment was not working so we went through the scenario for extra time! Soooo cool!! They slipped the eye shield and headphones over my head and I was in a completely different world. I couldn’t hear the bowling alley noise AT ALL. They warned us to stay put on our spot and that we could turn but not to move too far. I would definitely pay to do this again and again, it was that much fun. If you want to check out the video of the kids VR experience, head over to the YouTube Channel at: https://youtu.be/0PnFt1BLKTI
I must admit, I did spend some money on this event, but I paid for a few drinks, appetizers, bowling, VR experience and shoes. Next time I go, I will scale it back a little. For my birthday, it was worth every penny. For a few people to share a lane for an hour or two, have a few drinks, it would be pretty affordable. So get out there and see what indoor adventures await in the Ozarks!
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