The Cultural Divide - Maryland vs. Colorado - Bowling

Bowling, it is one of the great American past times, like baseball, apple pie, you know the ones. So I was shocked today to realize that here in Maryland they do not have the same type of bowling I am used to.

Before today I did not realize there are different types of bowling. So here is my lesson on the types of bowling:

Ten-pin bowling = traditional bowling. According to Wikipedia commonly referred to as "bowling" in the United States.

Ten-pin bowling (Wikipedia picture)

Duckpin bowling = some crazy variation in Baltimore, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It involves tiny 2-4 pound balls with no finger holes, you get three balls per frame, and the pins are shorter and lighter.

Tiny ball (Wikipedia picture)

And then there were the pins (Wikipedia picture)

Camera phone pictures, FiFi, see the Maryland state flag in the background?




B and the mini balls

This really threw me for a loop. Can I raise my children in Maryland where they don't even have real bowling? Are my kids going to grow up thinking this mini ball bowling is normal?

I would like to think of myself as a rather smart, college educated woman who knows about life in America and day to day things. So readers, has anyone heard of this or am I just crazy?

Then there is the kickball (Maryland) vs. softball (Colorado) debate but that is for another post...