Wichita Falls – Downtown Wichita Falls is full of fantastic stops on The Texas Bucket List. Progress and Provisions, the World’s Littlest Skyscraper, Gidget’s, and the Elvis Always store are a few of the places we’ve checked off the list. But I got all shook up when I heard about an arcade in the Falls that’s fond of another great time in history, the 80’s and 90’s.
Marcus McGee grew up in Wichita Falls. Marcus has an obvious obsession with arcades, and that’s why he opened Maniac’s Mansion. Instead of going back in time, Marcus decided to bring the past back to the present with his unique arcade for kids of all ages.
Over the years Marcus has worked at game stores, arcades, and even the ancient video rental store. In 2010, he bought his first arcade game and started collecting these machines that made so many memories. So Marcus took his nickname from school, Maniac McGee, which happened to be one of his favorite books and combined it with one of his favorite games, Maniac Mansion, to create, well, Maniac’s Mansion.
When dealing with machines this old, it’s inevitable that something’s going to break. Marcus says that each game has its own personality, and it takes a special kind of tender love and care to keep each one running. On the other hand, sometimes all it takes is simply turning them off and back on again.
Now we’ve seen our fair share of old arcades around Texas, but Marcus wanted to make his standout, so he added a snack bar unlike any other we’ve seen. A cereal bar, complete with all sorts of collectible boxes, different sorts of milk, syrups and toppings.
Marcus had his mind set on creating a cereal concoction dedicated to The Texas Bucket List, and decided to go with a red, white and blue theme. Strawberry milkshake frosted flakes and waffle crisps are the cereal base, and those get a pour over of blue milk. That gets topped with whipped cream, strawberries, fruity pebbles syrup and blue sprinkles, and one spoon later you’re ready to chow down on the sweet taste of Texas.
Playing the games of our youth, surrounded by the signs of those times, while chowing down on some seriously sweet cereal definitely takes you back in time. It provides a nostalgic feel that Marcus is happy to manifest.