It was winter break, first there was Christmas and then the blizzard and oh my after four days in the house, Mama needed an escape! I’d had enough of shopping, and while the kids got gift cards for Christmas, I wanted to hold those in reserve for when the newness of the bounty they’d just received had worn off. Ice skating started to early (my kids had no interested in being dressed, fed and out the door by 11am over Christmas break). It was too windy to sled or snowshoe, and we couldn’t agree on a movie. Hmmm, what to do?

How about a Skate Escape? Skate Escape is a indoor rollerskating venue on Court Street in Laconia. Once we found the door, we had a blast!

Skate Escape is a converted store front, a quick Google search shows it used to be an Aubuchon’s Hardware. There’s plenty of parking, but we walked back and fourth several times before finally finding the main entrance (the old service entrance), located on the side of the building (away from Little Caesar’s).

Depending on when you skate, the cost is between $5-$8 per person and that includes admission, skate rental and protective equipment (available only on a first come, first served basis). Non-skating supervising adults pay $2. If you have your own skates (quad or inline), you can bring them, but wheels are checked at the door. They should be clean and smooth and Skate Escape reserves the right to prohibit the use of skates they deem unsafe or a damaging to the skate floor. I have a pair of inline skates. I washed the wheels with warm water and a paper towel before we left and I had no trouble.

I was really stoked for the opportunity to go rollerskating. When I was a kid, the nearest skating rink was Rollerama. The PTA sponsored a skating party in the fall and in the spring. On Saturday’s we’d go for free skate. I have some great memories tooling around the smooth wood floor. I can remember the rush to get in, get your skates and get on the floor. It seemed more often than not that I’d no sooner finish tying the last lace and head for floor when the song would change and the DJ would announce couples skate or Adult skate. My luck didn’t change this time, we got laced up and headed for the floor only to be turned back by a boys only skate. “I can go.” my son announced, but when I asked him if he really wanted to skate for the first time without me, he thought maybe he’d wait for an all skate.

Neither of my kids had roller skated before, so the first few trips around were a learning experience for sure. They have pint-sized chairs with tennis balls at the end of the legs that helped to keep Mim upright. Fish took a doozey of a spill the first time around and was a combination of hurt and embarrassed. She’s ice skated before, she rides a bike and skateboards so I think she was surprised roller skating was more of a challenge. It took a few more laps, but they got in the groove. and I even got a lap or two on my own. There was a skate guard on the floor at all times making sure everyone played safe. She was very kind and a great help to me trying to keep my eye on two kids. The DJ even gave a shout out to my mad skatin’ skillz when my son crashed to the floor in front of me and I was forced to quickly change position so I could pass over him rather than running into him.

When all was said and done the kids had fun and we all burned off some energy. We will definitely go back. When we do, I think we’ll bring our own safety gear (Fish said she wished she’d had a helmet). The walls and lolly columns are padded, but the concrete floor is unforgiving. Not that wood is a cushy, but there is some give, that just isn’t present in concrete. It is worth noting, that this isn’t an “official sized” rink, it really is a converted store. While support columns are not common place in a skating rink, they work especially with a crowd of in experienced skaters.

Public skate times are typically in the evenings and on weekends, they recommend checking their Facebook page for updates.  You can also visit their website They also host birthday parties and the rink is available for private rentals.

If you are looking for a different activity to stave off cabin fever, I highly recommend Skate Escape.

I received no compensation for this post, these are my words and opinions.