The Zen of Minigolf

On the way out east on our Great Canadien Adventure, Joe and I planned what were the most important things we each wanted to make sure we did on vacation.  Joe had his list; I had mine; but we both agreed on one thing -- to kick each other's ass in minigolf.

Back when they were kids and we went on family vacations, every vacation from Yellowstone to Chincotegue to the shore of Lake Superior included minigolf.  And, no surprise, I emerged the vastly superior minigolf player.

But somehow Joe got it in his head he could actually beat me at minigolf and all through vacation the topic kept coming up of who was going to humiliate who on the magical green indoor/outdoor. 

We passed many mini-golf courses in the US and Canada in those 13 days, the most tantalizing of which was Pirate's Cove  in Bar Harbor, Maine.  And it broke both our hearts that we were forced to leave Bar Harbor and Pirate's Cove with its sparking 30 foot waterfall and animated sword wielding pirate puppets for lack of lodging and never play the ultimate minigolf grudge match on the # 1 rated minigolf course in the country.  But we are already planning to go back.

And with every minigolf course we passed we agreed you can run but you just can't hide,  and promised each other we could still kick each other's ass in minigolf in, if all else fails, Ypsilanti.  So today, we took the great minigolf challenge to settle this crap once and for all.

Here we are on Hole #9, the dread par 2 Giraffe's Revenge where I lost six strokes to sun in my eyes. 

Here's a picture of Joe lining up his shot on Hole #4 the par 2 Putterz's Trap (pretty much all the holes are par 2).  I lost four strokes to Joe here because my shoe was untied.

Basically, sad to say, even given my superior gifts for minigolf -- I choked.  I was so focused on not making Joe cry like a woman (being his mother and all) and with my reputation at stake as well, I lost my minigolf focus, never became one with the ball, sacrificed the beauty of the game to my competitive drive and maternal instincts -- and Joe beat my ass by 12 strokes.

Not to worry.  Putterz, Pirate's Cove and The Game is always going to be there, Joe, and life is long.  Smile while you can sucker, smile while you can.