Upstate Destination: Skate Time in Kerhonkson

  |  February 2, 2012

The first time I discovered Skate Time 209 was when I was invited there for a birthday party. It was my boyfriend’s daughter’s 8th birthday party, and I hadn’t been skating in at least 20 years. Naturally, it took me a while to get my rollerlegs back under me, and my 7-year-old daughter Madeline was positively apoplectic because she couldn’t stay upright on her skates. Nonetheless, we had a marvelous time at Skate Time. And when we could no longer stand upright from the amount of skating we did, we played a whole bunch of video games, the kind with the ticket dispensers so you could walk out the door with some pencil erasers, whistles and plastic dinosaurs.

There was also a huge indoor skate park attached to it, filled with teens and tweens doing half-pipes and ollies and gleaming cubes or whatever it is that skaterfolk do, but that was a little outside of my abilities.

Skate Time comes completely out of the blue as you head east on route 209, surrounded by auto body shops and farms. The interior is immaculately clean, and the roller rink itself is an old-skool wooden floor. It’s the type of place that I would hang out in all day and blow all of my allowance on video games…and I’m 36 years old! Our kids loved it and beg to go back there all the time. And we would love to, but there’s the thing: It’s not cheap. Just to walk into the building costs you $8, and if you don’t own your own skates, you can expect to pay another $3 for rental. If you’ve got two kids (like we do) and need to rent skates for all four of us, that comes out to a hefty $41. And, if you’re anything like me, you need to have some fries with your skate, so expect to spend another $20 to feed everyone. And that’s before you hit the skee-ball and air hockey tables.

Nevertheless, it’s a really nice place and definitely worth the money for a once-in-a-while special treat for the family. Or just leave the kids at home and spend your date-night there. Because nothing brings a couple closer than watching each other fall down a lot before splitting a giant pretzel and racing each other on the driving games in the arcade.

Skate Time 209 is open Thursday-Sunday, and there are lots of special events going on. Times and admission prices, as well as a list of activities available, can be found here.

 

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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