This is an excerpt from a larger list, where I give various activities a Sober Fun rating of 1-10. Entries from this list are scattered throughout my website, or you can find that complete list HERE.

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BOWLING: 6

This one surprised the shit out of me! The fact that this “sport” takes place pretty much in a bar.... well, that had me expecting to immediately chunk it into the "Lame When Sober" pile. But holy cow, who would have guessed, bowling with friends still makes for a very pleasant evening!

Similar to being on a boat full of drinkers with no activity planned, going to a bar where there isn’t any entertainment or food— only drinking— is something that I now avoid at all costs. It’s undoubtedly one of the reasons I’m still sober all these years later. Places like that have nothing to offer me, there is nothing for me at a bar aside from unnecessary temptation. However, just like adding WAKEBOARDING to the boating day, add bowling to a fun bar-like atmosphere and now we’re taking! It gets a Sober Fun rating of 6.

And if you are wondering, after that glowing recommendation, why it didn’t get a higher number, I’ll tell you the same thing I told McDonald’s (when they pressured me into leaving them a review, then had the audacity to inquire why I didn’t give them a full 5 stars): there was nothing wrong, it’s just that even at its best, McDonalds simply isn’t a 5 star kinda place.