‘It was where we ended our time together, where we said goodbye to adolescence.’

Rachel Barish couldn’t wait for Grad Night. 

A 10 p.m. – 6 a.m. blur of teenage absurdity, the famed McCallum Grad Night lock-in was held yearly at Dart Bowl in the early 2000s.

“It was such an iconic part of school that you didn’t get to do until you graduated, and you would hear so much hype up about it,” Barish said. “It was where we ended our time together, where we said goodbye to adolescence and had one last chance to be McCallum High School students.”

But even in the years leading up to her graduation in 2010, Dart Bowl was, for Barish, synonymous with high school.

“You wouldn’t even go for bowling purposes all the time, it was just to hang out,” she said. “It just is McCallum. I know it’s an Austin institution, but even the LBJ kids at the time knew it was a McCallum spot, always that kind of vibe. It felt like home.”

Barish says she’ll miss the games and grilled cheeses with pickles (which she feels were totally underrated), but what really stuck with her was the old school ambience of the alley.  

“The whole part of town around McCallum has changed a lot, the businesses are a lot different,” she said. “It’s not as mom-and-pop-y as it used to be, and Dart Bowl is really that kind of old Austin experience.”

When she found out about the closing, she immediately texted her friends from Mac.

“It’s the end of an era, for sure,” she said. “I’ve forgotten teachers’ names, and I’ve forgotten a lot about high school, but Dart Bowl is one thing I definitely haven’t.”

“I feel like it’s a memory I will have my whole life.”