You think South Dakota is cold? Well, warm up at the Carousel Roller Rink in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

I have roller skating rink envy. Although I've never been to this rink (or even to South Dakota), this place brings back memories of my childhood. 

Most of us have an impression that the Dakotas are cold all the time. When I lived in New York and commented on how cold it was, there was always someone who would say, "Cold?! You need to try living in North Dakota (or South Dakota, or Minnesota)." Well, if I ever do make it out to South Dakota, I want to swing by the Carousel Roller Rink, that's for sure. The ones I went to as a kid didn't have a cool practice room like this one has. But, they did have snack bars where you could sit and have a hot dog break after hours of rollerskating. I remember the candy behind glass cases in the rinks I grew up with too, as though candy bars were the diamond rings of the snack bar.

I love the lighting at this place. It makes me want to put on a pair of smelly rented rollerskates and skate for hours. And when I say smelly, I'm just having memory flashbacks (I'm not saying the skates at THIS place are smelly... I'm sure they are as sparkling clean as the dance floor. I mean skate floor. To me it's both. Anyway, this place really does look as clean as a whistle!) 

As a child I was never comfortable using the brakes at the rinks, so I would just crash into the carpeted wall to stop myself. I remember the Hokey Pokey, just like they did in this video. I also remember some sort of game where everyone on the floor divided up into the four corners of the rink. A bowling pin was spun around in the middle, and if it landed on the corner where you were standing, you had to exit the rink. The remaining people would split up into the four corners again. And again, the bowling pin would spin, and the people in the next corner would be eliminated. This would go on and on until there was a last skater standing, who would win a prize (probably something like a free bag of popcorn).

A friend of mine fell and broke her arm there. As a six year old, I felt very traumatized by that. To see a friend happy and smiling while skating for hours, then see her down on the floor sobbing, unable to move her arm, made me feel like I was living the Bee Gees song "Tragedy" in that moment. I couldn't even look at her. She was taken to the hospital and was given a cast. Now THAT turned a tragedy into a TROPHY. Everyone wanted to sign her cast. I wanted to know what it was like to wear a cast and have the opportunity to collect autographs all over my arm too. 

Back to the rink. I remember the gift shop sold hologram type sparkling stickers of popular rock groups (we said "rock groups" then more often than "bands") and I purchased a PINK FLOYD bumper sticker there as a gift for my brother. He was much too young to drive, but he proudly stuck it to his album, "The Wall". 

Thank you to NightFlyyer for posting this great YouTube video. Retropolis digs South Dakota!