Australia and Austria, Spain, Italy, and other parts of the United States, and I might even be missing a few countries, and other countries later on in the weekend. So let's get our seminar program started with M.G. Brown, reporter and North American Bureau Chief for Pinball News. Thank you very much. I appreciate all you ladies and gentlemen being here today we're going to do something a little different that generally speaking you don't do at Expo a lot of the seminars at Expo are product information or introductions technical and so forth and what we're going to focus on today is travel what my wife and I do and my wife is quite a traveler and has talked me into traveling more. I traveled a lot for my job in the past. I was with the International Division of a very large multinational pharmaceutical and tech company in the northern suburbs of Chicago for quite a long time and I did a lot of traveling and I just didn't want to travel anymore. after Terry and I got married, and she talked me into traveling more. But what we try to do is to visit the arcades and arcade-ish things that are on our travel destination. And we capture the information, and what I do is I used to have a blog that I published this stuff on, and now I've combined with Martin because he has a larger reach, and I share that with the pinball community. I'd like to make sure that you understand that none of these recommendations that we're going to give you today or reviews have been paid for. We do not accept anything in the way of free anything from the people that we visit. We pay for our own games. If we want a T-shirt, we pay for our own T-shirt. we do accept if we're invited to present at the show pre-admission to the show obviously but nothing of tangible value we don't want them to influence us in any way and what we have to say there is a story about a site that we visited in Indianapolis Indiana which will remain in nameless that I was going around taking pictures, and the manager approached me, and he said, are you doing something in particular? And I said, yes, I'm gathering information for publication, and we're going to publish a story on your site. And he said, you're going to have to run that through our publicity department first because we will not allow you to publish anything about our location without approval. and exactly and what I said to him is I said okay and I promptly stopped taking photos and never published anything about their site so one more little housekeeping thing I have a list up here if you would care to have a copy of this presentation I will email it to you in a PDF format a lot of the locations that we talked about today I just mentioned the name of the location and not the address and so forth in at the Atlanta presentation I had a QR code up here where you could scan that and get the information on the site no one cared to do that so I just took them off the you know we're extraneous at that point so like I say I do work for Martin and we we have this publication called pinball news that is the most up-to-date source of information for the industry Martin takes a great deal of pain to make sure that this is up-to-date I with his permission I am saying that we are looking for writers come up and get a one of Martin's business cards if you'd care to and introduce yourself after the presentation but we'd love to talk to you and and generally speaking, we're looking, I'm going to say this without having cleared it with Martin, but we'd like really to get someone in the Far East to cover the Japan and China scene, if at all possible. So think about that. What is pinball news? We cover the major international pinball. Oh, what I was going to say is that I use the IBM-type format to present. If anyone is familiar with that, that's what I'm going to be doing today because my background is in IT. So we cover the major international pinball shows and tournaments, manufacturer announcements of upcoming games, repair and game enhancement how-to, diary of upcoming events, links to pinball manufacturer sites, pinball association sites, and a lot more. any games that are listed on a review on my site, or on Pinball News rather excuse me, the site reviews in this presentation rather, if we list any games or show any games, that was the day that we visited the Pinball Map has the latest and greatest listing of any games that are on any site and you can find them on the app on pinball map or on browser. Okay, the subject of this presentation is arcade tourism, and I've kind of introduced that to you. We're going to have a little 15-minute Q&A session. I've got a lot of information to cover afterwards. If you could hold your questions, I'd really appreciate that. Something recently has come about called agrotourism. It combines the essential elements of tourism and agriculture industries. It attracts members of the public to visit agricultural operations. It is designed to increase farm income and provides recreation, entertainment, and or educational experiences to the visitor. In a more practical sense, arcade tourism is planning and including visits to local arcades and museums during your vacation or other trips so let's start visiting around the united states starting with the area of chicago and as i talked to a gentleman earlier today we generally do not cover the well-known arcades we don't write an article about logan or anterium or anything like that. We go to the smaller locations that are not well known and we also talk about any food service that they have, any drinks that they serve, anything that's unusual about them. So let's begin. In the Lakeview area of Chicago, and the map indicates where we are and where the site is, There is a great place called Replay Beer and Bourbon in the Lakeview area of Chicago. They have an extensive selection of spirits featuring bourbons, and they have a large number of vintage stand-up arcade games that are all on free play. they have a small number of pinballs in the back and they also have local craft beers. If you are a bourbon, whiskey or scotch lover, they have 56 different varieties of those spirits available for you to try. And they also have specialty cocktails that are made with those. Some of them are in a gaming theme. They also have a kitchen and sandwiches and other entrees are available they have 18 vintage arcade games on free play and they rotate in and out the pinballs but I sure that you have a great time Their philosophy and their slogan is get ready to level up your night. Events that they're having coming up every Wednesday is karaoke night, pumpkin carving and dog costume contests, and what they call the Let's Get Bubbly Happy Hour weekends. These are all on their website if you want to get some more details, and I'll kind of go through them fast because we have a lot to cover. They do the Monday reset. They have the daily specials and what they call Sindistry Sundays, which is, I guess, people that are in the entertainment business. There's another place that I'm going to talk about here shortly shortly that they have a industry night as well. In Mundelein, Illinois, we have all heard that there's a certain, I think it's Giordano's has the best Chicago style pizza in the Chicagoland area. We have found that it's not correct. This little bar and pub in Mundelein has the best pizza that we've ever put a lip to and we're kind of pizza snobs but I realized that everybody's concept of good pizza is different so I would advise you if you have time during apps Expo and you're a visitor to visit Bill's pub it's a fabulous experience even if you don't order the pizza they have some very good sandwiches. They have a very cozy kind of a Wisconsin hunting lodge type theme. If you are allergic to peanuts, please do not go to any of the Bill's Pub locations. There's a satellite location now because they have bowls of free peanuts on the table and people throw the shells on the floor. So if you're allergic to peanuts or those type of products don't know their crust is quite unique you'd I don't even know how to begin to describe it other than it's very tasty and unique they do have sandwiches great beer selection and so forth so please check out their website if you want some more information this shows you a little bit of the interior they had a much larger arcade presence before it became legal in northern Illinois to have adult gaming which is also known as gambling they took about half of the arcade space and they have slot machines and so forth in there now but they still have a good sized arcade that I would encourage you to visit Portillo's Gurney how many people have ever heard of or gone to a Portillo's in the Chicagoland area too. We took Martin the other day so I know for sure. Portillo's is a gentleman, local gentleman in Chicago started what he called the dog house in a trailer. I believe it was in Villa Park, Villa Park with an $1,100 initial stake. He recently sold the entire Portillo's restaurant Empire I think it was for three billion dollars to a conglomerate of investors they have some wonderful food though and if you want to experience the Chicago style hot dog and you don't want to go down to Maxwell Street they do probably the best Chicago hot dog outside of Maxwell Street the reason that it's included in this program is the Gurney location is very near WMS electronics former warehouse and manufacturing operations also known as Williams William Valley Williams once upon a time and I'm going to go back here they have a number of antique playfields and so forth and a Chicago style theme for the interior of the restaurant it's quite an experience just to walk in there and look at all of the wonderful things that are on the walls and like I say this is a very sad thing because this is an abandoned building now in that area now I'm going to give a little caveat here I'm I was very hesitant to include this slide in this presentation because there are a number of wonderful dealers and individuals selling pinball and other games here at the expo. ABT Electronics sells everything and anything that you could possibly think of as far as consumer electronics, including pinball games from the major manufacturers. Please do not go to ABT Electronics and buy your pinball. They have them available for play, and they have the latest ones from Jersey Jack and Stern available for play. Go and play the pinballs and look at the golden tee and check out the pool tables while your wife buys a new refrigerator. please don't buy your pinballs from them but know that they exist and that it's a it's just a fantastic mega store and I'm gonna go back a slide here pardon me I went back too many this is the interior of the store it's about the size of a good in enclosed mall they have each one of these little cubbies here is a specialty like cameras or TVs or stereo systems and they literally carry everything you know you will not be disappointed and one of the things that has kept them in business is that they provide free setup and that they provide free delivery and all after-sale servicing you don't if you buy a refrigerator there and it dies within the first week they'll come out and get it and give you another one their customer after the sale customer service is excellent they also have a site on their page where they have all the latest manufacturer videos if you're wanting to see the x-men a demo that Stern put out recently go to the ABT electronics page in the videos Okay, a gentleman earlier I believe was from Portal Pinball and he was asking me about this. This is in the western suburbs of Atlanta in Lithia Springs. The two brothers own an Airbnb and one of the amenities is that they have a tiny house that they rent out next to their saltwater pool where they also show movies and videos on weekends in a kind of a community setting. This is the rental property again. They have a very strong Wi-Fi system that comes from the house. But what does this have to do with, I kind of got ahead of myself they have their own private arcade that has in addition to pinball they have other arcade games and some wonderful arcade art on the walls 1250 square feet if it was not an Airbnb it would also be one of Greater Atlanta's largest and most diverse arcades according to what they say there are over 50 free play games in their their their arcade and they're in excellent excellent excellent condition they also have driving games in games of skill and this is Donald Hopkins who is the fellow that can we hold the questions later this is Donald Hopkins who is your your host okay I was talking earlier and I couldn remember the name of it but Manuel Tavern is in the Ponce Highland area. This is a area where a lot of the local politicians will go to Manuel's and announce their candidacy or announce some part of their political affiliation. The Manuel's is unique in many ways. Esquire magazine called it one of the best bars in the United States and as you can see there's a picture of John F Kennedy there. They've been in the same location in Atlanta Midtown since 1956. He modeled it on the taverns that he had visited while he was stationed in Robert Englunds during the Second World War. He filled the tavern with salvaged furnishings, mismatched chairs and tables, booths, lighting fixtures, wall paneling from grand old homes and stores in the Atlanta area that were scheduled for demolition. Manuel's is the home of this unique stadium dog and here's one that I ordered and consumed with great difficulty. If you order it with everything it includes chili, sauerkraut, cheese sauce, coleslaw, chopped onion, a pickle spear, relish, and other things that I couldn't identify. There are so many toppings on the hot dog that you cannot pick it up. You have to eat it with a knife and fork. But what does that have to do with anything? There's our former President Obama playing sharps darts there at Manuel's, and they have some nice pinball. I think they had three the last time that we visited. this was a few years ago so I'm sure they have some more current games now we also visited another Atlanta in Atlanta in Illinois which is the home of the route 66 arcade museum they were unfortunately closed the day that we visited so I don't have any interior photos but I would recommend that you if you're in that area you stop by Atlanta Illinois and visit the route 66 arcade museum a little bit north of the route 66 arcade museum is Arcadia which is a America's playable arcade museum and this is the exterior this is the arcade itself this is actually a Airbnb and this is actually what they call Arcadia Suites which are available for parties and also available for rental as overnight for overnight stays they the same people own own the Pinball Palace, which used to be a bank. They have some very unique arcade games and pinballs in both locations. He also has a, Mr. Yates, who is the owner, has walls and walls and walls of great video game art, which is very enjoyable. And you might recognize this picture. Stand up, Terry. This is my lovely assistant and bride, Terry Brown, who was also named Brown before I married her. But they have a lounge area for any adults that might be wanting to just take a break while their children play. And they have some vintage stereo equipment there as well. We visited Panama City, Florida a couple years ago and visited the Point Break Arcade, which this is the exterior of the arcade and the interior. They are a lovely place to visit if you're having a bad day in Florida and the Carl Weathers is terrible. I would highly recommend that you visit them. It's a pay once, play all day sort of thing. They also have monthly passes. It's $15, and if you want unlimited access for a month, it's $90. They also have a great selection of beer, and as their sign says, made for those who love pinball and beer. They have a mind-boggling selection of bottled and craft beers, as well as craft sodas available for purchase, but they do not have a kitchen. They have a number of different imported Japanese driving games, always the latest pinballs, well worth it if you're in the neighborhood. We moved from the Chicago area to Tennessee to avoid the tax situation that we have here in the Chicago regional area. And we live in Tennessee now in a more relaxed rural setting. But every once in a while we get to the big city of Knoxville and visit Sutry's High Gravity Tavern, which they also have quite a nice arcade room there. Does anyone know who Sutry is? No one? Well, I'll tell you here in a minute. Sutry's and Harrogate's are named after characters featured in a 1979 best-selling novel written by well-known author Cormac McCarthy. Much of the activity in the story takes place in and around the Knoxville Gay Street neighborhood in 1950, where the tavern is located today. Roger Ebert was quoted after reading the book as saying, I begin to live through this desperate man's sad life. And Sutry was a gentleman who was from a very wealthy family who became disenchanted with the wealthy life. They have a great selection of games. They're all coin-operated, unfortunately. and they have some wonderful, wonderful food there, including the only place that I've ever been to that calls itself a bar that had wonderful gourmet ramen. The bars are made from old pinball playfields and are electrified and lit up. They're very nice. They also have a wall dedicated to the Miracle on Ice, where the United States beat the Russians, and also the Chicago Blackhawks. Why would somebody in Knoxville be interested in the Blackhawks? They also have Super Chex hockey. Recently we visited in Columbia, South Carolina, in the Five Points area, the Bang Back Pinball Lounge, which is reasonably new, but is certainly worth your time to visit if you are in the Columbia area. I was not familiar with Columbia before I visited recently, and I was very impressed with the city of Columbia. It's a university town. It has a lot of diversity. They have a jazz fest once a year that is fabulous, free for all comers. So if you're in the Columbia area, stop by and check out Bang Deck. They have an incredible bar. I sent the manager a sticker to put here for Pinball News. I try to stay under the radar so people don't know what I look like only recently have I been coming out and saying here I am and do presentations and the two managers they were just at the time of changing shift, they recognized me for some unknown reason and helped me a lot with gathering information. Here's the game floor and some of the games that they had earlier this year, they had just gotten Pulp Fiction They also have special events During this past summer they did Tuesday Son of a Beach and they also as I said they have industry pre Mondays And these are all on the website. I'm going to go through it kind of quickly here, but you'll be able to pick up these on their website. They also have a children's league, which is kind of unique, called the Little Flippers, which I thought was kind of cool. and they are also home to the Ladies Pinball League. They have a drawing of Bells and Chimes. Thursday they host the Bells and Chimes, which is the Ladies Pinball League. They have a fantastic on-site kitchen with a number of wonderful things to eat and to complement your drink experience. the Five Points Burger Buster, which is here, is an absolutely ridiculous sandwich that you probably could share amongst three people if you so chose to. But very delicious food and well worth it. Now we're going to jump to Oahu, Hawaii's North Shore, which is up here. and we had our son was in the military and was stationed in Hawaii for a few years so we of course had to go see the grandkids I mean it's our duty is as the parents to see the grandkids so we stopped at Jerry's Pizza Mill on the North Shore in the North Shore right here is where they have all the surfing contests in Hawaii. So Haleiwa, which is where we were staying, is where they have the best surf and beautiful beaches and so forth. But that has nothing to do with pinball. Other than if you like pizza, they have good pizza. They also have an arcade room with a number of games and Martin pointed out to me that this back glass is somewhat unique and really being a poster from the movie hook there are only five places on all of Oahu that have pinball available to the public and Jerry's is one I was told by a fellow that has an arcade on another one of the islands of Hawaii that that is because Hawaii in general has a very high humidity and the saltwater wreaks havoc on the circuitry in the pinball games I'd like to before we get into questions I'd like to go over one more thing if you wouldn't mind please this is personal for me and I would appreciated if you wouldn't would indulge me just for a moment here well I had this I had this up here I guess I don't anymore let's see it'll tell me take it here we go I think everyone in the room probably knows Lyman s sheets Jr. who was a figure and well-known fellow in the pinball community and sadly he committed suicide a few years ago. I created this Wikipedia page to remember Lyman because I believe that he was quite a character and an interesting fellow and I was told by the management at Wikipedia that Lyman S. Sheets Jr. was not a significant enough person to have their own Wikipedia page. So on PIN side, we asked for an appeal for people to please put additional information about Lyman on the Wikipedia page and also to visit. If you can please help us with that so that this is not taken down, that would be very much appreciated. We just need visitors and we need anybody who has any little snippets of information about Lyman to please help us keep this page up. I tried to put up some other information about different personalities in the pinball and arcade community and in each case they were taken down because the people were considered to be not significant enough to for Wikipedia to be concerned with but now we have a little space for questions and I know there was one gentleman who had a question for me and I appreciate the fact that you let me get through my presentation before you asked it yes sir Yes, yes. You must be a guest, either invited to a party, which they do have sometimes, or you must be staying on a property as a paying guest to use the arcade. The arcade is not open to the public. That isn't what I chose. That's what they have chosen to do. And actually the entrance is not facing any public access roads or anything. You have to literally come through their house, which is also on the property, to get to the Airbnb and also to the arcade. So that's what they have chosen to do. and they probably have a good reason for it. And, you know, if you have an issue with that, I guess you have to talk to them. But I'm sorry, that's probably not the answer you want. We called ahead and said, we'd like to come and visit you for an article in Pinball News. And they were able to meet us and let us in. Now, if you called them and said, you know, I have interest in looking at your property for a future stay. They might let you walk around and look. But that would be how I would approach it. Okay. Did I answer your question? Okay. Anyone else? Yes, sir. Well, you're going to have to talk to the boss there. I know we're going to head back to Florida next April for our 10th wedding anniversary. we stayed together for 10 years and we've had little disagreements over the way but generally speaking I feel I'm a very lucky man to be in this relationship do you haven't want to say anything dear use that microphone live Martin is that microphone yes yeah No, I got one. So we are planning a trip to Helen, Georgia. I don't know, honey, is there any pinball in Helen? I don't think there's any pinball in Helen, Georgia. Maybe we should encourage the slot car place to put in some pinball machines. Well, I'll talk to them about it. They could put the Hot Wheels in. That would be cool. Yeah. So our trip to Florida, we're doing a month-long combining Antonio Cruz, and his bucket list is full of car museums. So I imagine that we'll be hitting some pinball arcades in between car museums and things like that. If we run into anything in a lot of these places, we find by accident. Yes. Well, yeah. But typically we post our stuff on Pinball News. And Martin is very helpful with making sure I don't have any words that I shouldn't have in there. so just keep an eye on pinball news and hopefully we'll have some new material soon anyone else please if you want a copy of the presentation please leave me your email up here otherwise I don't have anything more just enjoy the rest of your day and thank you very much ladies and gentlemen for coming and listening to my spiel.