Things To Do In Richfield

Flabbergast owner Robert Amstadt and son Jeremy take a number of steps to ensure the safety of their smaller visitors—in addition to sanitizing the 15,000-square-foot playground each night, staff members secure each visitor with an electronic security armband that must be manually disabled upon their departure. While they do care about safety, the staff also lets children play freely on towering inflatable slides and obstacle courses, a bounce castle, and a climbing structure riddled with tube tunnels, slides, and climbing walls. The sea of neon play structures blends into an arcade filled with 50 ticket-redemption games. Staffers supervise as wee players test their accuracy in skee-ball, compete in treasure-finding games, and climb inside an inflatable booth to grasp tickets dancing inside a current of forced air.

All of Flabbergast’s staff members are high-school students and expend their own youthful energy as they interact with visitors, often helping children up and down slides, climbing with them in the play structures, or teaching math to imaginary friends. In addition to overseeing unstructured playtime, these staffers also organize play center parties for daycare trips, birthdays, and boy- and girl-scout groups.

The Fox Bay Cinema Grill marquee lights up the theater's outdoor marble ticket kiosk, transporting moviegoers to a bygone era of the silver screen. Renovated in 2000, the spacious art-deco theater drapes its large screens in scarlet curtains, and wraparound, swivel lounge chairs and tables wait to support patrons as they immerse themselves in the digital sound and projection pouring forth from the latest Hollywood hits. The theater doesn't only sate the imagination's appetite with lush filmscapes; servers shell out light finger foods and hearty pizzas and sandwiches throughout the movie, quieting growling bellies that may otherwise spoil the film's ending. Though not included with this deal, alcohol is available via Fox Bay's wait staff and at the lobby bar.

Healthy bodies aren’t born—they’re built. Construction commences at Le Club, where exercisers hone physiques in a fitness center stocked with more than 80 pieces of resistance strength-training and cardiovascular equipment—including treadmills and rowing machines—and a spinning studio with 21 stationary bikes. Ten climate-controlled tennis courts and three racquetball courts await the sound of whizzing spheres, and pools, including the 25-meter indoor and outdoor lane pools and the warm-water-therapy pool, welcome aquatic athleticism.

Spa massages and facials whisk away stress, and locker rooms induce relaxation with attached saunas and recordings of Maya Angelou reciting the phonebook. While parents work out, kids can explore Le Club’s youth offerings, which include a teen space maze and an outdoor playground for younger children.

A PGA Class A member since 1992, Robert Jan has thrived on fairways and greens his entire life. During his collegiate career at Millikin University, Robert shot his way to two-time NCAA All-American honors, eventually earning a spot in the school's Hall of Fame. Since then, he has continued to be a force in low-level golf tournaments, amassing more than 30 titles in amateur and professional events and record scores at seven courses without ever having to cork a driver. Today, Robert passes down tips of the trade culled from his immense experience in golf lessons conducted in the greater Milwaukee and Chicago areas. In addition, Robert boasts club-fitting expertise in both Callaway and Titleist equipment, helping his clients find their ideal clubs based on swing type, body profile, and favorite wind instrument.

The Equinox Jazz Orchestra delivers soul to the stage, paying tribute to influential songwriter Johnny Mercer. At the Mostly Mercer Show, the band aurally embraces the audience with classic American songs, including “Fools Rush In,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” and “Blues in the Night.” Ears perk up at the sound of fondly remembered tunes such as “Moon River,” a greater success than either “Star Stream” or “Orbiting Celestial Body Waterfall.” Enjoy the high-octane trumpet wails and southern groove of band leader Jeremy Davis’s professional ensemble as it performs an original arrangement of Mercer’s music, specially commissioned by the Friends of Johnny Mercer to mark the songsmith’s centennial.

• For $8, you get four 18-hole rounds of miniature golf (a $16 value). • For $10, you get nine holes of par 3 golf for two plus two medium buckets of range balls for use on range mats (up to a $20 value). • For $17, you get a half-hour private swing analysis from teaching pro Frank Robb (a $35 value).