New Home for Laser Tag Warriors

I’m not a Trekkie; never been, never will be. I was probably the only kid on my block who wasn’t into the Star Wars saga. And it wouldn’t faze me in the least if Time Warner Cable replaced the Sci Fi Channel with, say, 24/7 Armenian folk music.

Maybe it’s that thought process that kept me from getting into the whole laser tag thing all these years. But this new place opened up in Carolina Forest – Surf’s Up Family Fun Center – that features laser tag. And when I took the family to meet up with friends there last Saturday, I thought I’d get away with letting the boys have at it while I did some damage to the pizza and pasta buffet.

No such luck. They all dragged me into the laser tag arena (not quite kicking and screaming, but close), and laughed their heads off as I wandered into the briefing room – complete with an all-white shirt that the blacklighting immediately turned into a 200-pound bull’s-eye.

“Takin’ one for the team,” I thought.

The little snipers had other ideas as they licked their chops: “Fish in a barrel.”

But what they didn’t know – and what I least expected – was that as 15 minutes of laser fury raged on, I would be transformed. One little rugrat after the next felt my laser gun’s wrath, and as their vests lit up like a Double Diamond slot on tilt, I was no longer easy pickings.

I … was … Rambo.

When the battle fog settled, the final scoreboard ranked me, “Sable,” second out of 15 combatants – a distant second to some other kid who’d obviously spent way too much of his allowance there already, but miles ahead of my kids and friends.

And I actually liked the whole experience. Promised everyone we’d go again, and give them their shot to even the score.

For $7 bucks a pop, and cheaper if you combine laser tag with a buffet option, you won’t find many better family entertainment values. Check out the battle field pictures, and let us know if you’ve been to Surf’s Up, and how you liked it!