By day, you can find Caleb and Erin Flood working or spending time together and with their three dogs. At night they may be spotted swinging axes heavy in competition.
“Anytime we go, I say we’re not married, we’re not together,” explains Erin Flood.
“We love bullying each other when we’re in deep competition,” adds husband Caleb Flood.
Axe Country, an axe-throwing recreation facility off McDonough Square, hosts the Floods in some of their fiercest competitions—against each other.
“They are the most seriously competitive people I’ve ever seen in everything they do,” notices Axe Country owner Christina Garza. “And they are so in tune with each other.”
Erin Flood recalls they first visited Axe Country about two years ago – nearly after they first opened.
“I knew it was a thing,” she says about axe throwing. “I wanted to think of a cool date night idea.”
About three years ago, the two started a knife-making business called Set It All on Fire LLC. It sells handmade kitchen knives, everyday carry knives, specialty knives, and, eventually, swords and axes. She thought axe throwing would go hand in hand with celebrating its inception.
“I picked up on it fast. I beat him the first time,” exclaims Erin Flood, who has also been a welder fabricator for the last decade. “He wins all the time now, but I got the first victory.”
Caleb Flood says they don’t keep score as much now.
“She was better than me at first for a little while, but then I won 10 times in a row,” says Caleb Flood, who also is a paramedic working in the Emergency Department at Piedmont Fayette Hospital.
Garza says that any skill level is welcome at Axe Country, which hosts players 12 years old and older, but notices that the Floods have what it takes to look like professionals. “They know where to stand and where it needs to be and the rotation,” explains Garza, whose facility boasts projected targets and electronic scoring.
Erin Flood says they were going axe throwing every weekend and sometimes twice a week.
“We went one time, and since then, we go all the time,” she recalls of Axe Country where customers can rent a lane for 30 minutes to 120 minutes at a variety of price levels and lanes can be reserved through the Axe Country website.
Garza notes that the Floods have both strength and precision to be successful throwers.
“You can’t just lightly toss it,” explains Erin Flood, who has only thrown axes in the McDonough facility. “You have to find your spot and you have to really throw it.”
She adds that people will find their own way to play and possess their own skills and tricks to make the perfect shot, noting that “Caleb just chucks it and I have to take a couple of steps.”
When they are competing, Garza says that other customers often take note of their skills.
“People like their energy and personality and vibe they give off,” she explains. “They will even give out tips since they are so good.”
Erin Flood says that sometimes they bring friends with them to play, but most of the time it’s just the two of them.
“A lot of times, it’s just a last-minute ‘let’s go,’” she says.
The couple, who also enjoy visiting nearby Story on the Square bookstore on dates, have even been in so much that they have met a few fellow customers there and keep in touch.
“They are just two amazing people,” describes Garza. “They were one of the first people who came to our place and they’ve now become family – they are no longer just customers.”
Whatever the situation, the Floods know Garza and her staff will welcome them on each visit.
“They are just customer service all the way – the atmosphere and just how fun it is,” Erin Flood says. “It’s nice being a regular somewhere someone knows your name.”
By Michelle Floyd
