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West Friendship, MD

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Howard County Fair

3.4 (7 reviews)

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Moncerrat S.

Came here for the biding material, and ended up going through my first driving fair experience. They have a set up where as soon as you are pulling in, they handed you the menu and explain the dynamics. For a small stand, they have somewhat wide menu. We got a hand dipped corn dog, chili cheese bacon dog, deep fried oreos, maryland crab fries and a fresh squeezed lemonade and a crispy cream donut cheeseburger can you believe it? Everyone is so helpful, nice and polite. The food was freshly made and hot. Our intake from the food: 1. Hot dog was really good, a small portion but very tasty. 2. Deep fried oreos were delicious 3. Maryland crab fries, big portion and a good amount of crab topping for the fries. 4. The crazies thing was the donut burger, you are getting the best from 2 worlds, sweetnes from it and flavor from the meat. 5. Lemonade was really good too. 6. Large, large corn dog.

HoCo fair - area after going through the entrance (2017)
Gail R.

** Entrance to the fairgrounds located on Rt. 144 ** 2 lanes of cars can enter the driveway onto the grounds. ** Parking on the grassy area - free. Wear comfortable shoes if you have to walk a long distance from your vehicle to the fair entrance ** Most items of purchase in the fair will be by cash, so if you can, use the one of the ATM machines at the entrance to get some funds - expect to pay a $3.95 fee to get your money. Informed there are other ATM's throughout the fair grounds. ** Purchase tickets at ticket booth (cash only) - Adults & Kids (10 & up) $5, Seniors $2, Kids (under 10) free - pick up a layout of the fair while you are here at the entrance. Our layout view - as you pass the entrance, folks were selling fruits on both sides of the walkway; continue a little further and you can get an up close view of 3 horses with one of them looking mighty big and tall (all 3 have been in movies). Continue to your left and we saw more and more animals (be careful where you step...we only saw like one or two of those brown bits). The animals we saw were goats, pigs (huge in size), chicks, alpacas (looks like small llamas), emus and rabbits, etc. Depending on which covered areas you entered, some animals were for sale while other animals were in the petting area. As you exit the petting area, they have several bays for you to wash your hands with soap/water and dry with paper. Beyond this area, you can either play some games or buy some food - be ready to spend an extra or two...well, you are at a fair. Then there are the rides - if you go on one, each person will need a ticket including small children. If you have kids, check their height at the ride ticket booth (there is a height measurement board there) as it comes in handy when you seek amusements for them to be able to ride on. There is more than one ticket booth and they only take cash. For kids - depending on their height, they will need to stand next to the height measurement board at each ride, so you can check to see if they are in range or not - this will let you know if they can ride that specific ride with an adult, or if they can ride by themselves or just not at all. I did not go on any of the rides when I visited, but others in my party did go on a few of the rides and they had a good time. It was our first time going to this fair and the day turned out to be a pretty good day so I was glad we checked this event out. Visited on a weekend.

deep fried green veggies. healthy and unhealthy all at once!

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F1 Arcade - PIcture of the food served - supposed to be for 15 people

F1 Arcade

3.7(149 reviews)
27.7 mi
•$$
Walk-ins welcome
Private events

I've been here a few times and it's always a fun experience outside of the normal bar and…read morerestaurant scene. It's in the Union Market area, and it's helpful that a parking garage is connected to the building. The race simulators are really fun, but a night out there can get pricy, especially with food. I'd go during happy hour (Mon-Fr, 3-6) and catch the food specials to get more bang for your buck.

I've wanted to try this place because I felt it would be something different and something fun to…read moredo. Well on a rainy day we decided to give this indoor activity a try. We signed up to race and we were told our start time would be 8 pm (we opted to walk in instead of making a reservation.) This gave us 45 minutes to relax at the bar. I tried a chocolate martini and it was very good, it definitely had some "kick" to it. There were no complaints from our group on any of the cocktails, and the espresso martini was also a favorite amongst the group. I noticed at the bar some of the staff were not super friendly and didn't have high energy. Though this seems like a high energy place. Nevertheless the bar was extremely large and the few staff members may have just been exhausted. As for the racing, I felt it could be more interactive. It was only slightly better than other racing games at any other typical arcade. Yes, the chairs inside the racing simulators shake and move, and there are nice sound effects but I don't think it's worth the price. We played a package of 3 games each, and each game lasted between 8-9 minutes. While it was fun, it wasn't something I'd likely do again, but I would return for cocktails or appetizers perhaps. Parking garage located directly below the facility. I found the facility was neat and clean.

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F1 Arcade - Margherita pizza

Margherita pizza

F1 Arcade - Clean bathroom

Clean bathroom

F1 Arcade - Espresso martini

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Espresso martini

Spinners Pinball Arcade - Tons of pinball machines as soon as you enter the arcade.

Spinners Pinball Arcade

4.8(54 reviews)
27.4 mi

I took my kids to Spinners after driving up from Baltimore, and we ended up spending the whole day…read moreplaying together. As we walked around, I saw several arcade games that instantly brought back memories from the early 1980s -- the same kinds of games I grew up playing. The highlight for me was the new Star Trek pinball machine. Even though it's not one of the older classics, it quickly became my favorite. Watching the Enterprise light up and move up and down was just awesome, and sharing that moment with my kids made it even better. I also want to mention how impressed I was with the bathroom. It was very clean and surprisingly private -- the stalls have walls that go all the way from the ceiling down to the floor with no gaps, which you rarely see in public restrooms. It made the whole visit feel even more comfortable. Spinners is a great mix of nostalgia, modern arcade fun, and thoughtful details. We had a fantastic family day.

Spinners was a fun, enjoyable experience. I could see this being a great place for friends,…read morecouples, and families of all sorts. I'm always looking for ways to have fun without going to bar or going out to eat and spinners provided just that. They have two rows of pinball machines, old and new. They also have lots of arcade style games. All the games are set to free play and you pay one entrance price at the door that gets you all day access. Would recommend to anyone looking for some high quality fun!

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Spinners Pinball Arcade - Party room with a row of arcade 1UP machines.

Party room with a row of arcade 1UP machines.

Spinners Pinball Arcade
Spinners Pinball Arcade

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Timeline Arcade

Timeline Arcade

4.0(53 reviews)
46.7 mi

Timeline Arcade is a retro arcade in downtown York. Parking depends on the time of day with options…read moreon both the street and local garages, but don't be surprised if you have to walk a few blocks. Timeline is like most current retro arcades, you pay X amount per hour for unlimited plays, and you pay when entering. The entry fee for an hour is very reasonable. The arcade is reasonably large and is spread across two rooms. Selection includes retro arcade machines, pinball machines, consoles, and other gaming items. Timeline does get newer Stern pinball machines like JAWS and Star Wars: Fall of the Empire, on top of a handful of older machines like Spy Hunter and White Water. The selection of general arcade machines is good, with machines like Spy Hunter, Coors Light Bowling, Rampage World Tour, and Revolution X catching my interest. Several TV's and couches are available for console gaming. Timeline has some problems however. They need to more clearly define the BYOB policy in its public facing information. From experience, BYOB here means "mancan/tallboy" sized drinks IE larger cans. The bigger issue is the machine maintenance problems which have gotten worse over time. I've run into several issues with machines not working, and during my last visit a bunch in the back room were out of order. Some of the machines at Timeline are clearly B or C grade machines, and simply do not play as better examples would. Is Timeline still worth a visit? Yes. It remains one of the better retro arcades in Pennsylvania, but there are better out there including in surrounding states like New Jersey.

Went here to celebrate a friend's birthday. I knew what to expect. Arcade games are not accessible…read moreto me. There's a great set of old sofas and chairs in the back, with retro consoles hooked up to those huge televisions like your grandparents had... I could have played those if they had any games that had appealed, but my first console was a n64 and they didn't have one of those. No nostalgia for me. Jeremy found the place overly loud so we left before our time ran out. There was a saint Patrick's Day parade going on right out front, since the arcade is on Yorks main Street. I suppose our other friends enjoyed themselves, but I didn't see them play any game for longer than 5 minutes. I think we're officially too old.

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Timeline Arcade
Timeline Arcade
Timeline Arcade

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Shadowland - Best outcome of the week for us!

Shadowland

3.8(63 reviews)
18.1 mi

This is in a large shopping area, behind Advance Auto Parts. Lots of free parking. As walk-ins, DGS…read more& his 4 buddies were lucky because a session was just finishing up and they were going to get in with only a 5 to 10 minute wait. The website says it can take up to 45 minutes! Check in was very smooth & the attendant was polite and helpful. After a time, I used the restroom (the kids weren't done playing yet) and while it was clean, it's very old and tired. Some minor broken stuff (like the lock on the stall) and a big jug of liquid soap on the counter, because the dispensers don't work. But as to the experience, I'll let the 16- and 17-year-olds tell it: M: Violent cardio, 5/5. O: Not recommended for massive parties. J: Very fun experience. A1: It was fun but they don't have regular Coke, only Coke Zero. A2: Fun but most definitely geared more toward kids (this made me chuckle but I guess at 17, DGS is entitled to not think of himself as a kid anymore). I did notice that, as is usual, prices at the concession were kind of ridiculous - $4 for a smallish popcorn, etc. But as I said, the attendant was nice. I asked if they sell coffee & they said no, but they would make a batch for me and it was on the house. I declined, as there is a Dunkin' nearby. But it was a nice gesture. We won't be back - it's a 40 minute drive from home and we are moving out of state soon. But the guys had $101 worth of fun, so to me it was well worth it. ($18.75 each for 5 X 2 sessions, plus tax)

2011. You meet up with an old college friend for a meal and then decide to take her to laser tag…read more You both realize after the fact that this was absolutely a date. 15 years later, you're married with three kids and they're old enough to go to Shadowland. Let's go! I was sad when the Columbia location closed down, but Gaithersburg is still rocking and I think this arena is far more interesting than the Columbia one. The arena is the right level of dark with fog machines running too. There are several platforms with various access ramps. My favorite details is that a few platforms have a grate where players can shoot down at others below (watch out, they can shoot up at you too!). There are always rapid fire and mega power Gems for upgrades and a third that rotates by game (invisibility, invulnerability, dark thief), so definitely sign up for 3 games if you can to experience the full rotation. The prices are reasonable, especially in today's economy. There is a water cooler to refresh yourself between games, because you will work up a sweat between the crouching and quick moving around while wearing a phaser pack. It's our favorite workout, to be honest. There is an arcade with a variety of games, including prize games, driving games, and shooting games. The main area also has concessions to snack on. Overall, if you want some workout and fun, check out Shadowland.

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Shadowland - Overall good game

Overall good game

Shadowland
Shadowland

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Howard County Fair - festivals - Updated October 2026

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