Ashton and Lydia Buswell pose holding croquet mallets across the street from the Alaska State Capitol Building in Juneau on June 27, 2026. (Photo by Jamie Diep/KTOO)
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Ashton Buswell cheered on a rainy Saturday morning as his sister hit a croquet ball at the State Capitol Building in Juneau. His family set up the game in a bit of an unconventional spot.
While croquet is typically played on a lawn, the Alaska State Capitol lacks one. Instead, the family settled for a mossy patch between the building’s parking garage and back entrance.
But a few minutes into the game, Capitol security stopped them and said they weren’t allowed to play there. So they pivoted to playing outside the Juneau-Douglas City Museum across the street. There’s actually a lawn there.
“This is a real course,” Buswell said as they set up a new game.
The game continued with Buswell, his two sisters and his wife taking turns to push balls through small wire gates called wickets. Their parents watched under the cover of the parking garage across the street.
Each player had to make their way through a set path of wickets, and the first player to make it through every wicket wins. The game was close, but Buswell ultimately got his ball through the final wicket.
This was more than a game of croquet. It marked the end of a nearly 20-year-long quest to play croquet on the lawn of every state Capitol and Washington D.C.
The idea originated decades ago, pre-marriage, when he played croquet while visiting the Idaho State Capitol. Years later, when he was engaged, he floated the idea to add a croquet set to their wedding registry. His fiancée at the time, now Lydia Buswell, upped the ante and jokingly suggested playing in every state Capitol.
“And someone actually bought us a croquet set for our wedding gift,” she said. “And so I was like, ‘okay, that’s it.’”
Ashton Buswell’s job at the time took them to Sacramento. He said it felt like a great start, and being a door-to-door salesman took them all over the country. They plotted ways to visit as many state capitals as possible on work trips and managed to reach 47 states in 4 years. Capitols in Hawaii, North Dakota, and Michigan required special trips.
His two sisters joined them for the game in Juneau – the couple’s last state Capitol. One of the sisters, Whitney Buswell, says it was their first time joining them for a capital game.
Ashton Buswell watches Whitney Buswell prepare to hit a croquet ball on the lawn outside the Juneau-Douglas City Museum on June 27, 2026. (Photo by Jamie Diep/KTOO)
“It’s been something kind of a lore in the family about them going and playing croquet on all the capital lawns,” she said. “So amazing to be part of this historic day for them to finish and accomplish the goal.”
During this 20 year quest, the Buswells did other travel, too. About a decade went by where they didn’t visit any capital cities. Then Ashton Buswell said his parents planned a cruise to Alaska to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary, taking croquet into consideration.
“There was a couple of options that didn’t have Juneau in it, and he said, ‘No, we have to go to Juneau because he wanted to make sure that we could get our 50th capital,” Ashton Buswell said.
He says his dad is an inspiration for making the trip to every capital. His dad also completed a 50 state journey earlier this year. But instead of croquet, he got haircuts in every state.
The Buswells included family and friends in a few other states. One friend joined them in Kansas. Ashton Buswell said two of their four children joined them for one of the games in a different state.
The couple said their next goal might be to play croquet at each national park – and take more of their kids along for the ride.
Ashton Buswell said he hopes their kids also find their own adventure to go on. Lydia Buswell wants them to enjoy whatever fun journey they end up on.
“Nothing is too silly, like nothing is too stupid, nothing is too beneath you to try, and especially if it’s just for fun,” she said.
After the game, the Buswells walked across the street back to the Capitol building. This time, they hoped to get in for an official tour – another tradition they try to do when the time allows.
