A very special thanks to Dan & Nicole at American Axes for hosting our visit at a discounted price. All opinions are entirely my own.

If you've been following around for any length of time, you may know that I create a goal list for myself every three-ish years called 101 in 1001. It's a list of 101 goals I'd like to complete in 1001 days. This time around, I was really hoping to visit an axe-throwing facility or a break stuff room. Lucky for me, several axe-throwing rooms have been popping up all over the place, especially in the Atlanta area. After some research, I really gravitated towards American Axes in Marietta - the first axe-throwing facility in all of Cobb County. Before you say "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Marietta's not Atlanta," I'm here to convince you why this was such a good choice. First of all, the Atlanta-area is expanding, and the Braves are now in Marietta - very close to American Axes, actually. There's also a ton of great food options in the area. We opted for The Bowl, which is Asian fusion, and the servings were huge and delicious.




Now, let's talk about axe-throwing.

Leading up to our fun little palentine's adventure, I was so excited. So pumped! But I got reallllly nervous when it came time to actually throw real, live axes. We had to sign a waiver beforehand, which I read thoroughly. We were able to actually read and sign the waivers a couple of days beforehand, which gave me the opportunity to actually read it. That way I felt like I knew what I was actually going into. Having some ground rules were helpful.

Basically, don't get too drunk, don't throw axes at people, and use common sense.

Once we got to the facility, we were in the main room, but we had a private lane (not beside anyone else). Something that's really cool and unique about American Axes is that it's completely themed on the outdoors and American National Parks. It keeps the focus on the American Great Outdoors, where axe-throwing originated. Each lane is named after a national park. Our lane was the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which ironically is the only national park I've ever visited.




We started with a brief demonstration by a staff member, who gave us directions on how to actually manage the axe, which was helpful. It took me probably more than 10 tries before I actually even hit the board. Then I tried one-handed throwing, and I was much better at it than using two hands. Weird, I know.










American Axes is strictly an axe-throwing facility, which is different than a lot of other facilities. Because of that, safety is a top priority, and the entire facility is top-notch and everything inside is of the highest quality. In fact, this being specifically for axe-throwing (as opposed to a bar with axe-throwing available, etc.) makes it kind of like a bowling alley. It's a chance to compete (if you're into that), or just have fun!









Something else that makes American Axes different is it's BYOB, and what's perfect is that there's a fantastic brewery in the same complex. In fact, it's maybe my new favorite brewery. It's called Schoolhouse Brewing, and they're a home brew company. So they only brew a beer once, and when it's out - it's out! But they'll give you directions to brew your own beer. You'll also get a discount if you mention you're going axe-throwing.





We had such a great time. We were all pretty nervous at first, but once we started throwing and got the hang of it, it was so much fun. We'd definitely go back in the future. We're also planning another trip to Schoolhouse Brewing, once life goes back to normal.