Welcome to a lazy late summer day.  Family and friends are on vacation and kids are getting bored.  What is there to do?  Mini-golf is a time tested summer favorite for all ages.  In the Albany area, there are many choices.  Pirates Hide-Out on Guideboard Road in Halfmoon is a good choice.

Stepping on the green here, is a nice experience.  Although there are plentiful water features on the course, there are not the mosquitoes that plague so many other mini-golf courses.  The landscaping is inviting and the waterfall is a kid favorite.

As you make your way through the course there are pirate facts to read at each hole, in keeping with the theme.  Even the course rules on the scorecard are pirate themed.  The holes are challenging enough for adults, but not so hard that a kid can't get a hole in one every now and then.  The holes don't have spinning, twirling gadgetry, just things like rocks and other, more natural, types of obstacles.

After golf there is a menu of food and, more importantly on these hot days, ice cream.  Situated on the grounds is a very clean and shady party pavilion, making parents think of upcoming birthday parties.  Feeling crowded here is not a problem.  The open space allows room for little kids to run around a little without becoming a hazard to themselves, or others.  This is a well thought out mini-golf course with features that will satisfy both parents and kids.