A new indoor simulated golf experience is opening in Bremerton, just in time to give golfers a respite from rainy outdoor courses.

Pin Seeker Indoor Golf is opening in east Bremerton off of State Route 303. The establishment specializes in simulators offering 18 holes of golf, but also offers simulated driving ranges and arcade games. The exact opening date is still to be determined, but people can get updates on the business’s website.

That’s all according to Pin Seeker General Manager Theo Miller, who said the business aims to be a home for every kind of golfer.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting, or if you’re really, really good,” he said. “You’re going to get something out of your time on one of these machines. Whether you’re just looking to have fun or you’re just learning how to swing a club or you want to dial in very specific statistics about your game, you’re going to find something in here that’s useful for you, or that’s fun or that you’re going to enjoy.”

Miller said he worked at a different golf simulator business more than 10 years ago, but that the technology has come a long way since then. Pin Seeker’s simulators are created by Korean company Golfzon, specifically the company’s TwoVision model. Miller said Pin Seeker is the only commercial facility in the state to offer these specific simulators, which feature articulating swing plates that simulate the uneven terrain of a golf course for an added sense of realism.

The simulators use cameras mounted in the ceiling and in front of the golfer to take accurate measurements of the golf ball. “It’s an infrared camera and it’s measuring the impact of the club face, the path of the club, as well as the spin of the golf ball,” Miller said. “And it’s kind of making an instantaneous calculation and projects that calculation onto the screen as your shot.”

The business is owned by James Fisher, a lifelong golfer who was looking for a new business venture, Miller said. He had a golf simulator set up at his house and liked the idea of offering such technology to the public.

Although the idea of renting golf simulators to the public is not unique, Pin Seeker’s unique take is that it’s trying to emphasize the golf itself over related frills, Miller said.

“There’s other simulators in the state that kind of act as restaurants and bars that have golf,” he said. “We’re very golf-forward.”

Although Pin Seeker does serve food, it’s inspired by the fare one would find on a golf course. Typically golfers can get food like hot dogs or sandwiches to take with them between holes nine and 10, Miller said.

“That’s kind of what we wanted to create from our menu, is things that are more handheld or more portable, more fast casual, because we didn’t want to go down the whole rabbit hole of creating a restaurant menu and having cooks and all the kitchen appliances you need for that. We wanted to keep it more focused on golf.”

They also serve draft beer through a unique self-serve system.

“The customer actually just buys a card that has a dollar amount on it,” Miller said. “And at the draft system, you tap the card and pour it yourself, and it just deducts by the ounce. So if you wanted to do a tasting flight, you could do that yourself. If there’s one on there that you like, you can just fill up 16 ounces and it’ll deduct the cost per ounce off your card. So it’s something pretty unique — there’s nothing like that in this area and we think it’s pretty cool. And you don’t have to rely on waitstaff to get a beverage; you can do it at your own leisure.”

Miller said he thinks golf is the most beautiful game in the world, and he’s excited to see Pin Seeker make the game more accessible to beginners. 

“You can play holes in under two hours without spending a fortune,” he said. “The cost doesn’t change if you add more players. You own the booth for the amount of time that you rent it for, so it can be one to six people per booth. Cost doesn’t change. Anybody that can swing a club can use it and not feel embarrassed that they’re slowing the course pace of play down. You’re playing at your own pace. … It’s just more enticing to any golfer, because you make the rules: It’s your booth and you can do what you want with it.”

Golf has taken off post-COVID, so Pin Seeker is well poised to help meet the growing demand for the sport, Miller added.

“It was the perfect pandemic activity, social distancing activity,” he said. “And I think more people now than ever are starting to play golf. But … more people are picking the game up in what they call non-green grass settings. So whether it’s indoor golf like us, or it’s driving ranges, or it’s Topgolf, more people are starting here because of the accessibility and because of the easier commitment to your time, and also the repeatability of swinging the club instead of hitting once and then walking 100 yards and then trying to do it again. You can repeat your swing over and over and over again within seconds. So it’s really conducive to developing a foundation for your golf swing for beginners.”

Pin Seeker Indoor Golf

Pin Seeker Indoor Golf is located at 5960 State Route 303, No. 190, Bremerton. The opening date is forthcoming; the best way to get updates is to subscribe to the company’s email list on their website.

If there’s a patron saint of travel advice, Rick Steves is arguably the heir to the role. The Edmonds-based travel guru brings his advice on European travel for two lectures at the Admiral Theater in Bremerton this Sunday, his first appearance in Kitsap County in a long time, he said.

Some of Steves’ advice is timeless, such as how to craft a good itinerary, or how to identify the most important places to go and things to do on one’s trip, he said. Other advice is timely and changes depending on current conditions: What’s it like this year? What are the crowds like? What’s new?

I’ve been back to Europe five or six times since COVID and the energy is there

“I only have about an hour and a half to share these ideas,” Steves said. “So my challenge is to figure out what’s the most practical and helpful hour-and-a-half that I can share with all these people that go to the theater in Bremerton.”

For the past few years, COVID-19 has been the biggest issue affecting travel, but that’s beginning to change, Steves said.

Watch the full interview with Rick Steves on Kitsap Scene+

“We’re coming out of COVID and I’m looking at my slideshow and I’m realizing that’s kind of old news,” he said. “I’ve been to Europe on three different trips this year and I just want to share for people what’s going on. What are the challenges? What’s the impact of the war in Ukraine? What’s the impact on crowds? How do you manage getting into museums when they want a reservation, and so on?”

Steves said after returning to Europe for the first time after a COVID-imposed hiatus, he wasn’t sure what he’d find. He was worried the mom and pops, bed and breakfasts, and cafes he loved would be boarded up.

Thankfully, his fears were unwarranted.

“That’s the good news to me, is the energy in the streets is there,” he said. “In fact, it’s there with gusto because people just said, hell no. We’re going to be embracing life like we did before COVID.”

Steves referred to the “revenge travel” phenomenon, with people making up for travel opportunities lost during the pandemic. And, due to the nature of social media and crowdsourcing information, everyone is going to the same sites and complaining about the crowds, Steves noted.

“As far as I’m concerned, you can get rid of the top 10 percent of all the sites where 90 percent of the travelers are going, and Europe would still be a great place to travel,” he said. “So you’ve got to decide, are you going to go to Anne Frank’s house and wait in that line and suffer through all those crowds? And maybe the answer is yes, and that’s great. Or are you going to say, I’m going to leave that to the mobs, and I’m going to go to the Dutch Resistance Museum — which is actually a better site and nobody goes there? There’s alternatives if you want to avoid the crowds.”

One of the biggest changes people should be aware of is that more places are requiring reservations. That was a practice that started during the pandemic, but has become permanent for many sites. “They realized this is a very handy way to control the crowds,” he noted.

Join Kitsap Scene+ to check out the full interview with Rick Steves

Steves said he’s excited to impart his knowledge with those attending his lectures at the Admiral Theater. 

“If people are enjoying travel, if they’re dreaming about travel, if they’ve got a trip coming up in the next 10 or 15 years, there’s one place to be, and that’s the Admiral Theater this weekend in Bremerton, because I’m going to be going over there. I’m excited to be venturing over to Bremerton,” he said.

Rick Steves at the Admiral Theater

Rick Steves’ For the Love of Europe at the Admiral Theater, 515 Pacific Ave., Bremerton.

• 3 p.m. Oct. 8. Doors open at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20. Buy tickets.
• 6 p.m. Oct. 8. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Tickets are $20. Buy tickets.

Featured photo: Courtesy of Rick Steves

A new addition to Kitsap’s nightlife scene opens later this week.

EDEN Nightclub & Lounge in Bremerton opens its doors Aug. 25 and 26. The brainchild of local residents Chloe and Zachary Beach, the club is the culmination of considerable effort — and passion.

Chloe said entrepreneurship runs in her family. She and Zachary own a roofing company — Next Level Roofing — and her parents and grandparents have owned various businesses as well. The couple had been brainstorming ideas for opening a new business — “always good to have more eggs in different baskets,” Chloe said — when she began to wonder why there wasn’t a nightclub in Silverdale or Kitsap County.

“There has to be some kind of law that doesn’t allow you to open up a nightclub at all,” she figured. “Because otherwise, somebody would have done it.”

It turns out there was no such law but, as the pair discovered for themselves, taking the idea from fleeting thought to an up-and-running business wasn’t an easy process.

They started by trying to find a suitable space for a nightclub. An old pawn shop on Callow Avenue seemed like a perfect space, Chloe said, but it turned out it didn’t have a sprinkler system — a must-have for a nightclub — and she was told putting in a new system would cost around $150,000.

That was a no-go, so they kept looking. Chloe said her real estate agent told her about a space that wasn’t on the market — a former pool hall with nearly 7,000 square feet, a wide open area and both a bar and a kitchen. It was perfect and, after getting in touch with the owner of the property, they were able to lease it.

Chloe said she and Zachary initially wanted to open the club for spring break, but acknowledged that was ambitious. It took four months just to get the liquor license, she noted, and it’s taken a lot of work to design the club’s interior to give off the vibe they’re going for.

“As soon as you go in, it’s like a neon jungle,” Chloe said. “Almost every single wall is floral: ivy walls, fern walls; everything is just to the max.”

“I really wanted to make it feel like a very peaceful atmosphere,” she added, noting that they’re seeking to invoke “PLUR” — which stands for peace, love, unity and respect — a concept developed in the rave scene. “The whole vibe comes from that — just to keep the vibe really light and fun,” she said.

The club will enforce a dress code, both so people can feel comfortable dressing up for a night out, and to avoid any of the problems that may accompany gang-affiliated wear, Chloe noted. Generally, the dress code requires “cocktail attire,” she said. The full dress code is available at the club’s website.

So how will the nightclub be different from the current crop of nightlife venues in Kitsap County?

“The vibe is a lot more outgoing,” Chloe said. “A lot of the people I’ve had in there for private events have said they feel a lot more comfortable on the dancefloor because that’s what’s expected — to go and have a good time, and not feeling like you’re being watched by the people at the bar.”

The dress code also lets people feel comfortable dressing up, she said. Outside of the nightclub environment, “if you’re a female and want to wear a nice cocktail dress or something fun, you get all the eyes on you like you’re a piece of meat,” she said. “Everyone else is wearing jeans or a T-shirt or whatever, and it makes you feel uncomfortable.”

The club’s interior aesthetic also takes things up a notch, she said.

“A lot of people feel like they enter a whole different world; an oasis,” she said. The furniture lights up with LEDs, and there’s an expansive lounge where people can relax apart from the dance floor.

A recent staff training event that served as a test run for the club confirmed the versatility of the space, Chloe said. 

“People were able to go with their group and sit … there’s always a spot for you to go and not feel overwhelmed in the crowd,” she said.

Security for the club is a priority: Staff will perform checks upon entry and will be equipped with wand-style metal detectors, Chloe said. Security will patrol the parking lot to make sure people aren’t doing things there they shouldn’t be, she added.

And the club will feature several live DJs per night, each doing different genres of music, Chloe said. Some are local, but have moved here from scenes like Las Vegas, she said. As the club grows, they hope to attract more nationwide DJ talent.

In addition to drinks, food is available at the club courtesy of its full kitchen. Eventually they’d like to expand to include a more extensive menu, but for now the offerings are typical bar food, Chloe said.

The club recently passed its final inspections and is ready to open this weekend.  “It’s been quite the journey with it all and we’re really excited to finally be open to the public,” Chloe said.

EDEN Nightclub & Lounge

Eden Nightclub & Lounge’s grand opening starts 8 p.m., Aug. 25, at 2817 Wheaton Way, Bremerton, and continues on Aug. 26. $10 cover until 10 p.m. $15 cover after 10 p.m. 21+.

Stay up to date by visiting the club on Facebook and Instagram, or on its website.

For many people, there are fewer things nicer than curling up with a warm drink and snuggling with an adorable cat. The owners of a new café opening in Bremerton agree.

A new cat café called Ziggy’s Cat Lounge opens this Saturday.

A cat café, for those not in the know, is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: The café is divided into two parts: The café side, which offers a variety of drinks (including coffee, cocoa and even beer), and the cat lounge side, which features fluffy felines ready to be adopted.

The café teamed up with the Humane Society of Mason County to foster nearly a dozen adoptable kitties, said Shannon Gabel, who owns the café with her husband, Shane.

The first cat café opened in Taiwan in 1998; the concept expanded to Japan in the early 2000s and it’s now a worldwide phenomenon. The Gabels got their first look at a cat café in action when they visited one in Seattle.

“It was packed,” Shannon recalled, adding that it was heartening to see that so many people wanted to be there. The couple hung out with the cats for 45 minutes to an hour, and they were struck by how happy everyone there was to be playing with their new feline friends, she recalled.

Other than just being a fun place to interact with cats, Ziggy’s gives potential pet parents a chance to evaluate adoptees up close.

“We want to let their personalities shine through,” Shannon said. “It makes sense for them to be able to be out and play with each other, and us,  instead of just being in a cage and being timid about that. Cats aren’t the same in their cages compared to being able to roam around and interact with you.”

New pet parents are in great demand currently, she added.

“There’s so many people that have a cat, but it’s not fixed and the cat gets out or escapes one night, and then that cat has babies,” she said. “If we can at least adopt them, then you know they’re fixed already, so you know you’re not going to have that kind of mishap if they do end up escaping one time.”

Shannon grew up with animals, so it’s not surprising that she gravitated toward a business venture that features them so prominently. Their family always had cats and dogs growing up, she said.

“I always seemed to bring the cats home,” she said. “My dad, of course, was the guy that says ‘no, you’re not bringing that cat home.’” But bring them home she would, and he would begrudgingly accept it, she said. Shannon got her cat Ziggy, the café’s namesake, when she was living in Texas. “I had him forever. He was just a lovable big guy,” she said, adding that he sadly passed away a couple years ago.

Shannon said she and Shane are happy to alleviate some of the strain on local animal shelters, which can easily become overwhelmed. 

“They have too many cats and not enough people to adopt, so being able to have a lot of them here is great,” she said. “Hopefully we can get more eyes on them and get them adopted.”

Ziggy’s Cat Lounge

Grand opening: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Aug. 19. The lounge is located at 3627 Wheaton Way, Ste. F, Bremerton.

Get the latest updates by visiting the lounge on Facebook and Instagram. Schedule a time to visit the cats on the lounge’s website.