Summer is the wistful season. It’s only natural to give in to the rush of nostalgia and memory. For most of us, childhood summers meant the all-important lack of structure, the release from the drudgery of the school day, and time to explore. The skating rink was the stage for so many rites of passage. For me, my mind locks on Parliament’s “Flashlight” and Golden Earring’s “Radar Love,” both white hot and disco-balled in my memory as clear as my first couples’ skate and first kiss. Ahhhh, the Galaxy in West Palm Beach … like at every other rink across the country, parents would drop minivan loads of kids off, and the night was ours. Those incomparable times shared a strange symmetry with later exploits at keggers and bar-hopping nights. Skate rinks remain great places for kids to explore socialization.
We hope you enjoy this year’s “Summer Fun on Wheels” section. No, it is not a comprehensive guide to all things wheeled in Austin. We’ve done bikes and motorcycles and other things in issues past, and will do them again. This year, we launch from the roller rink. Let Sarah Hepola and new writer Verushka Gray take you on a Ladies’ Choice twirl around the rink. Then check out Shadrock Roberts’ listings of rinks and parks and outdoor options. There’s also a funny trip on the Austin Duck Adventures’ mega-truck by Erica C. Barnett and some cool wheel-themed day trip options by Karla Zimmerman and Gerald “Captain Day Trips” McLeod. Even “Public Notice” gets in on the fun, dedicating this week’s column to Austin’s excellent Meals on Wheels. And be sure to check out this week’s Screens feature by Kimberley Jones, or you’ll miss out on the roundup of outdoor film festivals (bikes! drive-ins! canoes!).
We also hope you find some use in our guide of sorts, whether it gets you out under the stars or reveling under a blanket of twinkling neon and disco lights. After all, “Everybody’s got a little light under the sun.”
This article appears in May 11 • 2001.