Pacific Pinball Museum

My husband got a Groupon to the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda a few years ago for my birthday. We had a really fun date there, trying to beat the other's high score on the many dozens of machines. This year we went as a family just before Christmas, then paid a visit to the nearby LDS Oakland temple to see the lights, a tradition worthy of continuing, I say.

I have many fond memories of playing the pinball machine in my grandma's basement, and the Museum had the same backboard on display!  It was so nostagically trippy to see it.  She gave the machine to my cousins close to 20 years ago, and they got rid of it when it started needing repair.  My grandpa built it from a kit he ordered because he liked to tinker with things like that.  I would love to have a pinball machine in my house. 

This one in honor of Elton John from the movie "Tommy" is one of my favorites:

Customers pay a flat fee to get in and can play all they want.  The front room has the oldest machines from the 1950s and 1960s, then the two back rooms have more modern ones.