NC Trip – Playing Pool

When our one-week stay in the Outer Banks ended, rather than rush straight home, we decided to see a few interesting places along the way. Toward this, we drove all the way across the state of North Carolina to the Smoky Mountains.

We rented a cabin on the Tennessee side of the Smokies, and enjoyed a beautiful view right from the front porch. Our son did not care about that. He was happy because our cabin had a pool table.

Colored balls with numbers from one to fifteen? How wonderful!

Coincidentally, for the long car ride, we had just given him “Donald in Mathmagic Land”, the Academy Award-nominated short film that teaches math in a fun way. The film includes a billiards scene to explain angles.

So, Kai was excited about having a real pool table to play with. He loved setting up the balls and rolling the cue ball with his hands to knock in the other balls. Though I am not an expert by any means, I tried to explain the strategy and how the balls would go depending on the angle they were hit.

We all had fun, as Kai used his hands to play, while my wife and I used the cue sticks.

At the Outer Banks, one of Kai’s favorite activities was playing miniature golf. It wasn’t because he enjoyed the game per se, but because of the numbered holes from one to eighteen.

Miniature golf and pool – yeah, I know we could have done that if we just stayed home. But vacations are not just about seeing new places, but about having fun, too. So we tried to find ways to let Kai have fun. And you know something? When he was having fun, we were, too.