“You mean Alton actually has a bowling alley?” I had asked my husband when he mentioned to me that we could join Master Ranch for bowling the following Sunday afternoon following church. I had never figured that there would be any bowling place withing 50 miles of our rural neighborhood. After all Alton has somewhere in the neighborhood of merely 900 people tops. That town has very little to offer with anything recreational. Well, there is a canoeing rental place and maybe 3 small places to eat. You can tell how much I hang out there. Anyway I was pleasantly surprised by this bowling alley. The ranch had rented it for the party and attendees only for that afternoon. We had it to ourselves for about 4 hours. I was impressed by the cleanliness of the place. We had cake over to the side behind a screening of ply wood which separates the game tables (pool, Foosball, etc.) from the main bowling area. (And about the only thing that did not impress me about this establishment was that this area, though set up well was a pretty thin area to congregate in.) There were several tables and you can only work with what you have so there might be no other way to remedy the width of the area. I loved the personal service and kindness of the employees. This is a small bowling alley so the employees were very welcoming and helpful. there were the usual games to get your quarters out of you in the bowling alley. They had a snack bar and a great variety of snacks to offer you for purchase.. I have seen better prices, but have also seen worse ones. I kept the kids to just a drink -which since the bowling came with the invite- was not bad for several hours of fun. The bowling balls were laid out and easy to find and get one you could use. I do not know if I have ever had bad bowling shoes , but their shoes just seemed nice. I do not know how many games we played that afternoon, but my family and I had a great time. I had not bowled in probably 10 years and was sure my right arm would be sore the next day.
I really recommend this bowling spot if you are anywhere in the neighborhood of Alton, Mo. ( Not Alton Illinois which is a lot bigger city with that name and thus probably more bowling places.) It is located at the junction of P Lane and P Highway. There is no web site that I could find, But several sites have the business listed with maps. The name of the place is:Spare Time Bowling. The number for it is: 417-778-2695. Hours are: M.-Thurs 3-10 Fri 3-12 12-12 on Saturday. Call for pricing.