With the stress of today’s world, it seems even more important to seek out the most pleasurable places and experiences in order to connect with as much joy as we can muster. In so keeping, I love to take note of the places that truly inspire me and give me back a sense of wonder. The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo immediately comes to mind, as well as The Mai Kai Polynesian restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale. Besides how elaborate the décor, these pleasure palaces are also of a grand scale. However, there are also some places that may not be quite as large, but are so densely packed with stimulation, that our senses are overjoyed and overloaded. I discovered one of these a few years back, when we journeyed to the long-time tourist town of Lake George, NY for Ohana, Luau at the Lake, a tiki-themed event at The Tiki Resort, dating from 1964 (Roadside America ). We had heard there were multiple vintage miniature golf courses, and there was one I had even heard of called Goony Golf, as I remembered there were photos of it included in the fabulous John Margolies book, Miniature Golf. I was somewhat wrong about the book photos, though, as I found out that Goony Golf was a chain that originated in Chattanooga in 1962. It seemed to morph into Sir Goony Golf, and the current Chattanooga and Knoxville locations are now called Sir Goony’s. The photos in the book are from the Chattanooga and defunct Chadds Ford, PA locations, not the Lake George one. I guess that means I have some more travelling to do! But, needless to say, they all seem to have the same crazy brightly-painted, hallucinogenic figures and scenarios. I never got my story written up in 2024, but we revisited this year (2026), so the photos are a mix of the 2 years. Even with some original water functions now non-operable, they actually do constant upkeep. Both times we visited, there was someone working on painting, landscaping, and repairing the course. I even mentioned to a maintenance guy about a wheel which wasn’t spinning, and he immediately went over and fixed it. The outrageousness and density of the figures and outbuildings, along with the natural setting, nestled into a hillside, make this an idyllic and inspirational destination. A website called “A Couple of Putts” also reviews it here.