Best Worm Bar

Oshman's Super Sport

Here is my dream date with anyone over two and under ten: it's at Northcross Mall, where we take in a movie, then sit and watch the skaters while licking a cone. We check out Petland on the way to throw pennies into the fountain, where we wish our separate child and grown-up wishes, then wind things up at Oshman's. We cruise the driving range, the racquetball court, the rollerblade area, archery range, the ski slope, the basketball court (in case you haven't been there lately, you can really test-drive those sporting good purchases these days.) For a grand finale, we hit the worm bar in the fishing department. This is a set of three wooden counters, each 20 feet in length, in whose 361 individual compartments are 361 different styles of plastic worms, minnows, crawfishs, floating lizards, salamanders and the aptly named gets-itz, in every fluorescent, gaudy, ugly and beautiful color on earth, many with gold and silver sparkles embedded in the rubbery surface. These things cost 5 cents each, so you can imagine exactly just how much bang you get for the buck you give to a kid here. Only problem: the adult-height counters are too high for small children to see without a boost, but this is only because the designers of Oshman's had no idea they were setting up one of the cheapest and most entertaining kiddie amusement areas in the city. Maybe they'll fix it now that they know.

Oshman's Super Sport
Northcross Mall; 2525 W. Anderson, 512/459-6541