This series explores aspects of America that may soon be just a memory -- some to be missed, some gladly left behind. From the least impactful to the most, here are 25 bits of vanishing America.

While you may be seeing your local bowling alley closing down or getting very old and decrepit, the sport of bowling is not disappearing -- it's morphing into other things. Most people think of bowling as what has become a tradition in U.S. -- ten pins at the end of an alley that get hit by balls that have two or more drilled holes in them. BowlingBalls.US claims there are still 60 million Americans who bowl at least once a year, but many are not bowling in stand-alone bowling allies. Today most new bowling allies are part of facilities for all types or recreation including laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars, video game arcades, climbing walls and glow miniature golf. Bowling lanes also have been added to many non-traditional venues such as adult communities, hotels and resorts, and gambling casinos.

If you've got the urge to bowl and want to find a bowling alley near you, go to Bowling Centers USA. New York has the most bowling alleys with 410 listed in the directory. Following clsoe behind are Michigan (393), Wisconsin (356) and Illinois (368). Only Washington DC has zero bowling alleys left, but those living in DC can travel to Maryland (95) and Virginia (101) if they feel the need to bowl.

Yes, ten pin bowling still has its followers, but there are other forms played both inside and outside. Popular indoor versions of bowling include candlepin bowling (eastern Canada and New England) duckpin bowling (mid-Atlantic and southern New England states), five-pin bowling (Canada), nine-pin skittles (Europe) and bumper bowling (primarily played at children's parties). Popular outdoor bowling varieties include lawn bowling, bocce ball, and petanque.

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Bowling is fun but I haven't been in years -- mainly because I think it's too expensive.

But if you click here, you can print out a coupon for a free game of bowling at any of the alleys listed on GoBowling.com. And it includes a ton of lanes, so you should be able to find one in your area. What's the catch? You'll still have to rent shoes and you can only bowl between 8:00 AM and 6:30 PM.

Another thing: if you bowling with any frequency at all -- and you might want to start because the coupon doesn't appear to have any limits on the number of times you can use the promotion -- it might be worth investing a pair of your own bowling shoes. You can buy them on eBay pretty cheap and, even if they're used, it's probably less gross than the ones they've had at the bowling alley for the past 30 years.

I bet Mark Twain, who called golf a "good walk spoiled," would have liked bowing because everybody likes bowling. The same can't be said for golf.

The New York Times recently painted a pretty depressing view of golf business. For instance, the total number of players has declined or remained flat since 2000 and the number of people who play 25 times a year dropped by one-third between 2000 and 2005, according to the paper.

This is a sign of the times.