Get Your Mind Out of the Gutter

At 72, Edwards is going strong. He's president of the Williamsburg Inn Lawn Bowling Club. He plays five or six times a week on this crew-cut grassy patch behind the inn.

New bowling: noise and flashbulbs. Old bowling: calm and sunny. There are shade trees nearby.

The green is open every afternoon, from 3 to 6. It's mostly for members of the Williamsburg club and guests at the inn. But Edwards says anybody can drop by for a free lesson or a game. Members of the local group take turns watching over the green; they'll provide the balls and a few pointers. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the club bowls together.

The green is 120 feet by 120 feet. A game is played on a 16-foot-wide swath called a rink. Several games can be played at once; there's a practice rink near the croquet court.

To begin a game of lawn bowling, someone tosses the "jack," a white ball about the size of a cue ball, onto the grass. Players then take turns lagging balls -- called bowls -- trying to get as near to the jack as possible. There is something timeless and tranquil about the British game. It is like boccie without Chianti or pétanque without Gitanes. It's a little like curling, without the brooms or the ice. It, along with other old-school games such as ninepins, is a primogenitor of bowling as we know it today, Edwards says.

A lawn bowling bowl is not perfectly round like a ball. It is oddly shaped, as if someone took a sphere that is a little larger than a softball, held it between the palms and squished it almost flat on two sides so that it looks like a fat wheel. The bowl is designed to roll to the left if you turn it one way and to the right if you turn it another. After you and your opponent have each rolled four bowls, the player whose bowl is closest to the jack wins the round. The bowl has a certain heft to it and rolls farther than you think it will.

It is a social game. There is much palaver. There are similarities to modern bowling. If your lawn bowling bowl strays outside the boundaries of your rink, you do not get any points. Precision is key. And there are differences. There are no pins, for instance. And you almost never see anyone lawn bowling alone.

Ball-rolling games hark back to ancient Egypt. Archaeologists dug up some pinlike things and a ball in the tomb of a child, circa 5200 B.C. Over the centuries, various types of bowling popped up in various cultures. Lawn bowling, as practiced in Colonial Williamsburg, probably dates to the 13th century. It was a favorite pastime of Englishfolk in the 17th and 18th centuries, according to Susan Berg, one of the game's historians. They bowled in the lanes of Jamestown and on private lots in Boston. The first bowling green in Williamsburg was established sometime in the early 1700s. The game's popularity in America lost its widespread momentum after the Revolution. But it continued to be popular in pockets here and there.

Annual dues for the Williamsburg Inn Lawn Bowling Club: $65. Today there are about 100 lawn bowling greens in the country, Edwards says, most listed on the official site of the U. S. Lawn Bowls Association http://(www.bowlsamerica.org/ ).

Under the sharp white sun, Edwards and I stand side by side and roll toward the jack. We play for an hour or so, talking and walking and strolling and rolling. It's altogether pleasant and much more relaxing -- and stimulating -- than bowling alone.

Edwards confides to me that he likes to wear a little color because he doesn't want the game to be mired in tradition. "People often see it as a museum game," he says. "Some of us would like to see it change."

All he has to do, of course, is drive 40 minutes to the postmodern Hanover Lanes. But he'll need to prepare for the music and the mayhem and the artificial lights. And he'll need to put on long pants. Bowling alone in the 21st century can be a chilly activity.

ESCAPE KEYS:

GETTING THERE: Williamsburg is about 150 miles from Washington. Take I-95 south to the I-295 bypass around Richmond, then I-64 east to Williamsburg.

STAYING THERE: One of the most luxurious ways to experience Colonial America is to stay at the Williamsburg Inn (136 E. Francis St., 757-229-1000, http://www.history.org/visit/hotels/williamsburginn ), a highbrow hostelry very near the historical activity. For most of the year, rooms start at around $350 a night for the main building, $185 for the adjacent Providence Hall. It is most convenient to the lawn bowling green, which is just outside the back door. You'll also find clay tennis courts, a lovely golf course and a fancy swimming pool. There are less expensive Colonial Williamsburg hotels with various vacation packages. Info: 800-447-8679, http://www.history.org . Or you can stay at one of the contemporary motels just a few blocks from the old houses and stores. The Crowne Plaza Williamsburg Hotel at Fort Magruder (6945 Pocahontas Trail, 757-220-2250, http://www.crowneplaza.com ) has rooms for about $110 a night.

WHERE TO EAT: No matter where you stay, treat yourself to breakfast at the Williamsburg Inn. The buffet is around $20, but you can get a sampling of muffins and breads, plus juice and coffee, for $15. For lunch, drive out to Pierce's Pitt Bar-B-Que (447 E. Rochambeau, 757-565-2955, http://www.pierces.com ). It's a little hard to find (Rochambeau runs parallel to I-64), but worth it. Dinner runs about $10 per person with tip. If you're feeling really bowled, try the Super Doc -- pulled pork, slaw, cheese and onions on a sub roll. Call ahead for directions. For dinner, nab an outdoor table at the Fat Canary on Merchants Square (410 Duke of Gloucester St., 757-229-3333). Smoked salmon, some pinot grigio, coffee and dessert will set you back $50 or so, but the food is tasty and the people-watching superb.

BOWLING: The lawn bowling green behind the Williamsburg Inn is mostly for hotel guests and members of the Williamsburg Inn Lawn Bowling Club, but the club invites anyone interested to drop by on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m. AMF's Hanover Lanes (7317 Bell Creek Rd., Mechanicsville, 804-559-2600, http://hanoverlanes.amfcenters.com ) is just northeast of Richmond on the way to Williamsburg Or you could try AMF Williamsburg Lanes (5544 Olde Towne Rd., 757-565-3311, http://williamsburglanes.amfcenters.com ).

INFO: Williamsburg Area Convention and Visitors Bureau , 800-368-6511, http://www.visitwilliamsburg.com .