Rinks on Road Trips

[skategeek]

I visited Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown, NJ today.  Nice clean facility, three surfaces (one being used for other public events right now- last weekend it was a comic book convention), decent snack bar/grill (I had a yummy cheesesteak during the comic con; my husband said his burger was good).  Today's public skate was lightly attended; the ice was good other than a few big scary bumps near the Zamboni entrance.  Staff all seemed very nice.  I wasn't sure about the entry procedure once I bought my ticket at the front window; it wasn't until nearly the end of the session that one of the rink guards came over and asked if anyone had collected it.  (There was supposed to be someone collecting them at the rink entrance.)  It's a bit out of my way, but I'd go again if I really wanted the ice time and the closer rinks weren't available.  (I'm spoiled rotten... several rinks within a half hour's drive...)

[FigureSpins]

I love Mennan, always did, even when it was only one sheet of ice.  Took my pre-preliminary tests there.

My latest rink visit was to the Ford Ice Center in Antioch, TN -- home to the Predators hockey team and the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy.  Beautiful facility, right next to a Public library and park/playground.  Area has a tough rep thanks to economic downturn and a recent movie heater shooting.  Doesn't seem that bad - everything is well-kept and the people are friendly enough.

Two nice sheets of ice along with a little fenced-in space outside.  It might be for roller hockey but it's a small area.  Snack bar and restrooms were excellent, the staff was helpful and welcoming.  Upstairs is a large sitting area with couches and open space plus two big meeting rooms that could hold 50 people each.

The Skating programs are (on paper) well-scheduled but it seems to be a fledgling program, so the only advanced skating program I saw was a power skating class, which sounds great.  It is summer, so maybe they have more extensive programs during the season.

Really nice rink.

[Query]

FINALLY got to visit the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, MD...

The Olympic-themed facility has two sheets of ice, but one of the rinks is down for he summer.

Since I sometimes work there, please allow me to expand on this. Depending on how you count, it has up to 6 sheets of ice.

Indoor surfaces: One is Olympic sized. Two are NHL sized, one of which is usually closed in summer. There is also a full size surface built and maintained by a separate curling club, not by Gardens staff, which isn't strong enough to skate on, so maybe it doesn't count. And there is a small surface run by a separate hockey training organization - maybe it doesn't count either.

Outdoor surface: One small surface, only open in winter.

At the moment 4 surfaces - one Olympic, one NHL, the curling and I think the hockey training surface, have ice on them.

Does that seem like a lot of ice? Not really, I guess we have a lot of hockey clubs in our area, which use most of the time - except for the curling rink, which is only used for curling.

There is also an exercise center upstairs.

The other building is Fairland Aquatic Center, which has swimming pools and gyms, outdoor playground equipment, playing fields, and a tennis bubble. There are trails around it, for walking, biking and inline skating - and according to trail markings, horses.

BTW, original poster, 9 hours sure seems like a long commute...

[AgnesNitt]

When I was in Las Vegas NV last month, I did a freestyle at the Las Vegas Ice Center at 6 am.

Two rinks, one down for summer refurbishing. They have a lock box for early morning freestyle 'honor pay'--no ice monitor. If you're a stranger, people will eyeball you till you pay. I think it was $10 a session.

The people were nice to a stranger, and the freestyle was about 9 skaters from pre-pre to higher levels, but no problems with me on the ice being old and slow.

The lobby was the old fashioned kind, small with wooden benches. They have a pro shop, and they must have food, but I didn't notice a cafe.  I have no idea what they do for birthday parties.

The skating director pointed out that  Vegas is 2000 ASL, so if you're from sea level you'll tire early even if you don't feel breathless.

ISI LTS program.

[Meli]

On a business trip. Drove 50 miles to Goggin at Miami University in Ohio to get my fix tonight.  My usual rink in Northern Kentucky didn't have any ice time.

[skategeek]

Back to back trips over the winter break, which will mean two weeks of no skating unless I skate while I'm away.  Looks like the only option in Savannah will be the holiday rink at the Civic Center (conveniently close to where I'll be staying).  In Portland I'll be at at the hotel across from the mall rink, so I'm hoping to check that one out while I'm there.  I don't want to bring my whole skate bag, so I'm going to see if I can pare my gear down to the bare minimum needed.  (Skates, guards, Ice Halo, gloves and wrist guards, I think.  Washcloth for drying blades.  Skating pants?  Darn, this is starting to get long.)

Often when I travel I bring piles of work along with me in case I have downtime and can manage to get stuff done, but I rarely ever actually do, and just lug stuff around for no reason.  Hoping that won't happen here...