Where to play

the bowling alley somewhat bittersweet for players such as Normandin.

“Without the bowling alley full, the energy is not going to be the same,” he said. “You’re not talking or interacting with (players) on the same pair of lanes. They’re separated.”

Normandin said he misses the closeness of bowling, the high-fives and the friendly smack talk in the pits. But he also understands the need for caution.

“I think we need to be smart,” he said. “I’m not afraid of (the coronavirus), but I think people need to wear masks.”

Normandin first went to Astro SuperBowl as a kid in the early 1970s with his stepdad, and then bowled off and on for years well into his days in the military. But, the retired Air Force master sergeant said, he really didn’t take bowling seriously until around 2005, when some guys invited him to bowl in a lunch league.

Normandin would go on to bowl at least three or four times a week. Now he hones his skills for his team of fellow seniors, who call themselves the ICU, for intensive care unit.

“(Because) we’re all old and we need to be in ICU,” he said with a laugh.

But their scores belie their age.

Normandin and his teammates all average over 200. Normandin has also bowled a couple of 299s, just one point shy of that perfect 300 game.

“I may not win all the time, but I’m going to make you bleed,” Normandin said. “I’m going to give you a run for your money.”

Nina Estrada and John Reyes expressed a similar passion for friendly competition at the Slick Willie’s Family Pool Hall off Northwest Loop 410 near Ingram Road.

The San Antonio couple have made Slick Willie’s their 8-ball battlefield for the past five years. Only now their friendly fire comes with a can of Lysol and Clorox wipes, plus masks to slip on anytime someone gets too close.

“We’re being careful,” said Estrada, 44. “But we only stay here for two or three hours, tops. And if we have another couple come to our section here, we leave.”

Before the pandemic, Estrada and Reyes made a weekly trip to Slick Willie’s, where upward of 225 players could rack ’em and crack

’em across 24 pool tables.

These days, Estrada and

Area bowling alleys and pool halls open, or soon to open.

Astro SuperBowl: 3203 Harry Wurzbach Road, 210-824-6348, astrosuperbowl. com. Limit 300. Masks required for staff, not patrons.

Bandera Bowling Center: 6700 Huebner Road, 210-523-1716, banderabowling center.com. Reopens Monday with capacity 125. Masks required for customers and staff; temperature checks. Bowlero: 13307 San Pedro Ave., 210-496-3811; 4330 Thousand Oaks Drive, 210-654-0031; bowlero.com. Six per lane; every other lane open. Masks required for staff; temperature checks. Bowl & Barrel: 17619 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 102, 210-920-1102, bowlandbarrel. com/sanantonio. Seven of 15 lanes open. Masks required for staff, not patrons. EVO Entertainment: 18658 I-35, Schertz, 210-764-6986, evocinemas. com. Half of lanes open; temperature checks. Masks required for staff, not patrons. Santikos Casa Blanca: 11210 Alamo Ranch Parkway, 210-9820180, santikos.com. Limit of 50. Masks voluntary for players.

Banana’s Billiards: 2003 San Pedro Ave., 210-226-2627, Facebook: @Bananas Billiards. Limit

25. Masks required for staff and patrons; patrons may remove when playing. Temperature checks.

Bradley’s-N-Billiards: 7743 Montego Road, 210-520-5295, bradleysnbilliards.com. All 12 tables open; temperature checks; social distancing. Masks not required.

Eddy’s Sports Tavern & Social Club: 11221 Perrin Beitel Road, 210-369-4594, fasteddies billiards.com/perrin-beitel. Limit

60. Masks requested of guests, required for staff.

Fast Eddie’s Sports Bar & Social Club: 9910 Loop 1604, 210338-6707; 7616 Culebra Road, Suite 103, 210-390-5212; 502 Embassy Oaks, suite 133, 210-4011647; fasteddiesbilliards.com. Masks required for staff, not patrons; temperature checks. Capacity limited.

Pockets: 5819 NW Loop 410, 210-908-9148, pockets.com.mx. Limit 160. Masks required for staff and patrons; patrons may remove when playing. Temperature checks.

Slick Willie’s Family Pool Hall: 6436 NW Loop 410, 210-7069595, slickw.com. Limit 65. Masks required for staff, not patrons.

John Reyes and Nina Estrada are back to playing pool at Slick Willie's Family Pool Hall. “But we only stay here for two or three hours, tops,” she says.

General manager Phillip Bracco mixes a drink at Slick Willie's Family Pool Hall. Twelve of the 24 pool tables are open.

AC Jones sanitizes play areas before league play at Astro SuperBowl. Masks are required for staff but not patrons.