The Road Trip Game Three Generations Couldn’t Stop Playing
When I was a kid, my sisters and I used to pass the time on road trips by playing Slug Bug. You remember that, right? The objective of the game was to keep your eyes peeled for a Volkswagen Beetle.
Now, there were variations of the game. My sisters and I always agreed that the Beetles could be driving on the road or parked somewhere. You just wanted to make sure you spotted it before anyone else. Slug Bug was a full-contact sport.
When you saw a Volkswagen Beetle, you were immediately supposed to scream "Slug Bug" or "Punch Bug" and literally hit your opponent. I'll admit. The game was fun, but if the road trip was long enough, we'd climb out of the car looking like we had just spent the length of the Natcher Parkway in a boxing ring. It's the one road trip game that could bruise your arm as much as your ego.
Well, over the weekend, my tennis friends and I played a much tamer (but just as competitive) road trip game on the way to and from The Cincinnati Open. We played The Celebrity Name Game! In fact, we played for three-and-a-half hours as we made our way back from watching tennis in Cincinnati all weekend.
Here's how it works! The rules are quite simple.
First, you pick a player to start and determine the player order. Player #1 calls out the name of a random celebrity. The next player must then call out the name of a new celebrity. However, the challenge is this. That celebrity's first name must begin with the first letter of the last name of the previous celebrity.
For example - if Player #1 calls out Kevin Bacon (whom everyone is separated from by just six degrees), Player #2 has to offer up a celebrity whose first name starts with the letter B. For example, Barry Manilow. Player #3 then has to conjure a celebrity whose first name begins with the letter M. Example- Miranda Lambert.
That's how it works! It's really fun and gets really challenging after about an hour or so. I have to give a shout out to my crew this weekend. We had three generations represented in the car - Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z.
We played from downtown Cincinnati, Ohio all the way to Owensboro, Kentucky. We didn't repeat a single celebrity and the game made the time in the car zip right by! Our only interruption was a necessary (and hilariously fun) stop at a Hop Shops Disco Bathroom. If you know, you know. If you don't, there's a button in a disco bathroom that says "Don't push this button." When you push it, the lights go off, a disco ball starts to spin, and dance music comes on. They're epic!
So, the next time you're on a road trip, rip open some snacks and play The Celebrity Name Game. I promise you that no one is going to ask, "Are we there yet?" You'll get there in no time.
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Gallery Credit: Hannah Lang
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