Scooters, LED Dancers and Pokemon Go... The Evansville Riverfront is Alive!

If you are thinking this piece is going to be primarily about Pokémon go, you will not end up being correct. It is simply the backdrop to the story...

It is indeed true that since last Friday morning, when my seventeen year old son downloaded the Pokémon Go app, we have been driving around town trying to find certain elusive Pokémon, Poke Stops, Gyms and other item.

The game appears to be very addictive and has couple of great side effects like:

I do not have to tell him to take the dog out anymore.

He has walked several miles trying to find the creatures in the game (exercise factor).

He has made friends and wandered around in groups with people he probably would have never met...

And so it goes...

Anyway... apparently city riverfront areas and historical markers are "high target zones" for this augmented reality game. So after two days of him asking to go to either the Newburgh riverfront or the Evansville counterpart, I relented.

Of course the twins came along (see an earlier blog entry called "Scooter Support Parent"), and Luke could not be coaxed out of his cave (full on, summer time crab in his shell). Scooters were loaded off and off we went.

The Newburgh experience was awesome for Michael... Plenty of "Poke Stuff" for him to do with the app, but it was far to crowded and busy with the denizens of phone-in-hand, zombie-like Pokémon Go players walking around with eyes locked on their smart phones (I bet Verizon and ATT are drooling over what has to be record breaking data usage) to even consider getting out of the car.

Evansville's riverfront is far more spread out in width and length. There were probably more people there to, many also playing this new Pokémon phenomenon (I cannot say I am immune as I loved playing Pokémon on a Gameboy back in my 30's... I am a Pikachu fan at heart).

So we parked. Scooters came out for the twins and Michael disappeared to make new friends, find a "Red" group and start catching Pokémon.

The twins and I watched the remainder of the sunset and then I followed on foot as they rode their scooters up and down the mile or so path that is our riverfront.

We eventually made it to the Four Freedoms Monument near our Museum. It makes up a circular plaza with individual monoliths representing each state of our great country with four tall columns... one for each of our four freedoms. It was built around 1976 for the bi-centennial. The place is sometimes a gathering point for prayer vigils, protests, sunset watching and other small events (including... at least for the last four days... Pokémon catching).



LEDs used to see hand motions at night

Tonight, we ran across something new, and there may be a term for this, but since I am uneducated as to what it may be, I will call them LED Dancers.

This was a small group of individuals, probably in their 20's, who were dancing or performing using LED props. One had a wand that he seemed to manipulate in mid-air (while wearing LED shoes), while others had LEDs on their hands that weaved through the air to their motions. They danced and moved to varying music that almost ranged from what could be modern folk music to electronic dance tunes.



Pete and Ree watching from the monoliths

Michael was no where to be found and Peter and Rhiannon were instantly hooked. So was I. I found a concrete slab and settled in to watch. Pete and Ree found a couple of the monoliths and parked atop them to watch. The dancing really held their attention spans well. It was a neat thing to watch in the dark on a summer night under the moon and stars. The river flowed silently by behind us.

It was not professional. It was not advertised. It was awesome.

These people were having fun and it was very relaxing and enjoyable to watch. One young lady danced with abandon to the music and then asked Rhiannon for a "high five."

It did not take long for Rhiannon to remember that her almost four year old scooter has LEDs in the wheels... so she started to ride it in the circle, sometimes weaving through the other performers. They did not seem to mind.

Sometimes she just dropped the scooter and danced to the music.

When she did that, Peter would grab her scooter with it's lighted wheels and ride around the circle too.

It was after 10pm, but who cares. It's summer.

Here are a couple of short videos (with scooter input) to give you an example:

LED Dancers 1

LED Dancers 2

We watched for about 45 minutes until they started to wind down. Rhiannon walked up to one of the girls who had been dancing and said, "Thank you." She smiled and spoke back.

I walked... and they rode their scooters about five blocks back to the car where we found Michael waiting. His phone had died and he was waiting for us to return. He talked of finding a group and roaming the area with it's now superimposed Poke world. He caught some. He "leveled up" twice He was happy.

The twins fell asleep during the drive home.

I sit here now as I write this with one asleep to each side of me. Rhiannon is snoring.

I have resisted the urge to download the app so far. That is an accomplishment for a 52 year old lifelong gamer (have I ever written that I used to own a game store?).

Either way... We will be back next Monday night. I want to learn more of this LED dancing. Little relaxes me sometimes.

This discovery certainly did. The twins and I wish to see more...

Downtown Evansville at night as viewed from the Four Freedoms Monument