NPR’s recent news piece about duckpin bowling jumped out
at me because the often overlooked sport was born right here in Baltimore. This version of bowling is played with
smaller balls and pins and slightly varied scoring rules, plus you get three balls instead of two with each frame.
Unfortunately, it is slowly disappearing, with only 56 sanctioned duckpin bowling lanes left in the country. That’s
why I think this travel idea is so great — Rosa Qwinn and Pamela Zorich made a New Years resolution to
visit all of the existing
lanes in 2005 — and they are well on their way, having visited 41 already. Despite a hand injury, the pair are set
to visit all 56 before year’s end.
Here’s a list of duckpin houses across the country. I’ve played several times at the
historic and very popular
Patterson Bowling Center on Eastern Avenue in Baltimore. It’s a tiny
cramped building, but there’s room for a bar, a fairly large group and plenty of laughs. It’s a fun time. You can learn
more at the National Duckpin Bowling Congress and
duckpins.org