Candlepin bowling–invented in the mid-1800s in Massachusetts–is New England’s version of bowling (primarily Maine, Mass, and New Hampshire). The balls are similar to bocce balls, and the pins are, you guessed it, shaped like candlesticks. There are few things I love more than regular, non-candlepin bowling, but I have to say, there’s no substitute for the sound that little wooden ball makes when it knocks over those little wooden pins. Also, unlike standard bowling, you get to roll three balls on your turn, and the pins you knock over each turn are not cleared away, so part of the strategy is to hit fallen pins in hopes of sending them spinning into those left standing.

While visiting my mom and super awesome sister in Maine this weekend, we bowled a few strings at the Bowling Bowl in Brunswick. Seeing that I had a camera, the owner asked if I’d like to go behind the lanes and see the pin-setting mechanism, which dates from 1941. Would I?!