Things to Do in Highland Park

At Benthic Scuba Center, a PADI Five-Star Development Center, a knowledgeable staff draws on more than 40 years of collective experience as they unlock the ocean's depths for seafaring visitors. Certified instructors lead all levels in dive courses such as Open Water Diver, Rescue Diver, and Air Diver Specialty. In addition to instructing divers, the centre also houses a vast selection of diving gear from top brands including Sherwood Scuba, Poseidon, and Oceanic, and loans rental equipment ranging from wetsuits and hoods to gauges and rubber duckies. The staff can also repair and maintain equipment to ensure safe aqueous excursions.

PGA pro Alex Macko propagates sound pin-hunting form from his post at Jawor's Golf Center, which fosters year-round practice with indoor and outdoor training areas. Alex can demystify the subtle mechanics of the golf swing at the center's 44-tee driving range, which features 14 covered, heated stalls that enable practice sessions during inclement weather. With clubs and apparel from brands such as Callaway, TaylorMade, and Titleist, the full-service pro shop offers equipment upgrades as well as repair services for club shafts snapped by players who mistakenly teed up a bocce ball. Two outdoor, 18-hole mini-golf courses buttress the facility, inviting players to work on their putting form as life-size cartoon characters break the tension after a missed gimme or a dispute about whether or not an abandoned shoe is an acceptable ball marker.

Since 2002, the instructors at Hazel Park Learn to Skate have honed hockey-skating abilities and figure-skating techniques throughout the year, regardless of outdoor temperatures. They hold court inside the Hazel Park Municipal Viking Arena, allowing students of all ages to get acquainted with a full-size, well-maintained surface. Figure-skating sessions follow the U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills curriculum, whereas the hockey curriculum focuses on speed and agility, allowing athletes to win the referee's favor without learning how to care for his orchid patch. Basic-skills courses provide beginners with fundamentals required for progressing into specialized skating areas. For preschool-aged skaters, Snowplow Sam sessions help develop the basic coordination and strength necessary to maneuver on the ice.

A steel-encased solar system of gun ranges, firearms retail, and educational classrooms stands within the 10,000-square-foot indoor facility of Action Impact Range. In the range, safety officers enforce the rules and regulations while assisting shooters, who lock and load in one of 14 computerized firing lanes and unleash a hailstorm of ammo from the retail store on paper targets. Every 60 seconds, a military-grade ventilation system sweeps through the firestorm to completely exchange the range's air, ridding it of contaminants discharged from guns and softly whispered one-liners from Schwarzenegger films.

Action Impact Range is the domain of Bill Kucyk, an NRA–certified and law-degree-toting former lawman who spent 29 years commanding a detective bureau, conducting special investigations, and serving on the SWAT team. His years of expertise lend a wealth of knowledge to both classes on carrying concealed weapons and online educational videos, which offer safe, legal guidance to gun enthusiasts.

At Five15's weekend bingo matches, players don't come to win a jackpot or to appease their grandmothers. They come for the drag queen hostesses and their good-natured abuse, adult humor, and vivacity. A rotating roster of queens includes Hershae Chocolatae of America's Got Talent fame, Mr. Joan Rivers, and the acerbic comedienne Queen of Mean. Clustered around round tables, sipping smoothies or chai lattes from the full coffee bar, the patrons of Drag Queen Bingo defy categorization—gay, straight, men, women, and even the occasional 90-year-old, according to the Detroit Free Press. Each patron is fair game for the hosts' humorous darts, especially when they pick up their prizes. Historically, adult-themed prizes have included mugs, T-shirts, and clippings from the Wall Street Journal. _ Detroit Free Press_ quotes a patron as observing, "It's not my mother's bingo. It's nobody's mother's bingo."

Modern Skate & Surf’s skate park and alternative-sports shop was founded in 1979 and has since hosted events frequented by Olympic and professional athletes—including superstar Tony Hawk—as well as earned a feature as Best Snowboard Shop in 2012 from Real Detroit Weekly. In Modern Skate & Surf’s world-class, 60,000-square-foot Royal Oak skate park—one of the largest facilities of its kind in the US—skateboards grind across rails or glide over jumps, and inline skaters whiz over obstacles and BMX bikes hang in midair. Customers can build on their extreme-sports skills in clinics and lessons or rent out the facility for parties or high-speed chases. Committed to supporting the next generation of extreme athletes, Modern Skate & Surf offers discounts to students who bring in report cards sporting A’s and B’s.

In addition to the skate park, Modern Skate & Surf also maintains a Lansing store that stocks snowboarding, skateboarding, wakeboarding, skating, and protective gear to facilitate exciting adventures.