5 Spots Around Evansville a Rock Dad Can Take His Kids

Kids are crazy. Sometimes too much crazy for parents to handle. Sometimes you just need to get them out of the house and out on the town to keep them occupied, amused and entertained. Red and I recently took our kids out to five local places that would entertain them and keep us sane.

Dad needed his car cleaned after the last round of crappy winter weather, so first we went to Mike's Carwash. Can this actually entertain kids? OF COURSE. Going through a car wash when you're a little kid is like transporting to another dimension...for like two minutes. The kids were in awe inside the carwash and my car came out nice and sparkly.

Next we made a short jaunt across the road and landed at Coconuts Music and Movies. There's all kinds of cool stuff packed inside that will peak a kid's interest while you browse the selection of vinyl, which is exactly what I did. My kids were looking at Star Wars stuff and other colorful, fun merchandise and I was checking out metal records. Plus, this gave me the perfect opportunity to steer them down the right path as far as musical choices are concerned, and a certain pop star to avoid. At least they got the thumbs up and thumbs down right!

A hop, skip and jump from Coconuts is Harp's Exotic Fish and Pets. What kid or adult doesn't like to gawk at cute little animals, neat fish and colorful birds? Maybe sociopaths. But none of us are that. It doesn't cost to browse and the kids enjoy seeing other potential pets besides our two cats and big yellow dog.

After our third stop, we were famished. What's something close by that both the kids and a cool dad can enjoy? Hooters! There's wings to eat, sports to watch and free looks for dad (and my son, I caught him)...and color crayons and cheese fries for the kiddos. My son calls it Ruby's and when my daughter was younger, she called it Doodles...she loved the fried pickles and balloons the servers would give her.

Our fifth and final stop for the day was CMOE, the Koch Family Children's Museum of Evansville. There is so much cool stimuli in there for kids, fun activities and awesome things for them to play with and learn. Plus, adults can participate and act a little like a kid too. It's fun for the whole family, especially when you see the excitement on the faces of your kids as they go from room to room, floor to floor. And when you get tired, there's plenty of places to sit and relax while you let the kids drain their energy.

With a day full of activities like the ones above, fun can be had by all, a rock dad can get his car clean, his music fix, his belly full, gawk at somebody's future pet and spend quality time with his kids while having fun like a kid too. And the kids manage to stay entertained, have fun and most importantly, don't drive you bonkers! And once they expend enough energy being not bored, you'll get a peaceful drive home and they'll end up like this:

Success! Where are some places around town you guys like to take your kids without getting a pounding headache and losing your mind?