The Captain
During one summer in the mid 1970's, we spent alot of time with some
relatives. My parents were good friends with my Uncle Earl and Aunt Sue
and we spent most of the summer down at a marina on their boat. They had
two boys near my brother and my age. Sean and Mickey were the boys and the
four of us spent the summer swimming, boating and just having fun. It was
a good summer and it was a time when I first really played pinball.
While I played a pinball table here and there, it was this summer that I really played a table. At the marina, there was shop that sold tackle, snacks and other stuff. Inside there was a Captain Fantastic pinball machine. While I really did not know who Elton John was or the whole pinball wizard thing, I was attracted to the machine and found myself playing it alot. It was the only machine they had at the marina and over the summer, I learned how to beat that table. I could rack up some free games and really make my quarter stretch (or was it a dime, I cannot remember).
While there was plenty to do that summer, Captain Fantastic added to the fun. Whenever I play the machine, I think back to that summer when we just had fun. For reasons I do not know, it was the only summer we spent with them. But it was a magical summer, in fact it was Fantastic!