My sister and her family participated in an axe throwing event a few months after I’d done it for the first time. Apparently, my nephew was the guy to beat.
As soon as my sister announced that they were coming down to celebrate Father’s Day with our 87-year-old father, I immediately said that I wanted to take my nephew axe throwing on Saturday before our late lunch, which my octogenarian parents refer to as “dinner.”
My niece invited herself along, at which point, I extended the invitation to my other sister.
Originally, my sister agreed to drive us there and watch. Thankfully, she changed her mind because she was definitely my comic relief. For one attempt, she threw the axe so hard to make it “stick,” but caused a very loud noise as wooden shards rained down along with the axe. Then, she sheepishly looked around to confirm how loud it was.
I thought I’d have better technique that time around. I only remembered the basics with very little muscle memory. Whereas everyone else tried throwing with one hand, I knew from my previous visit that that wasn’t a good strategy for me.
Since we were the first ones there, arriving a few minutes after the place had opened, I felt no reluctance at shouting “dammit” after my axe hit the board then dropped. When our 30 minutes were nearly up, a father and young daughter arrived. Didn’t stop my cursing since I figured he’d brought his child to such a questionable place for kids in the first place. The child didn’t hear much of my cursing since they entered the rage room to beat an old water heater along with some other items.
When I’d come by myself the first time, I didn’t bother keeping score, so playing an actual game added another layer to the experience. For both games, we placed the same: my nephew in first place, me second, my niece third and my sister defended her position in fourth place.
Since my first throw for the second game had stuck on the board, but way above any part of the target, I called it a “fancy zero,” which my nephew recorded as “F 0.”
Regardless of the results, we all had a good time during our short visit. Next, we picked up my other nephew and arrived at the seafood restaurant before anyone else to get the long table set up.
Although we’d gathered around to celebrate Father’s Day, the special guest was the newest edition to the extended family. She’d never met us before and was in no mood for a crowd of smiling strangers.
Regardless, we all enjoyed celebrating at a delicious seafood restaurant where none of us had ever visited before.
On Sunday, I woke up in such a wonderful mood. We’d dined together as a large family before and the experience hadn’t put me in a good mood the following morning. Must have been the axe throwing. Some other friends credit the sport to relieving stress, which I’ve not felt during the activity, but this time around, I definitely felt the after effects.
The key to maximizing the joy of axe throwing is going with family and friends.