Williamsburg, Virginia
August 7 – 10, 2003
Wow. One minute I’m getting on a plane headed for Williamsburg and the next thing I know I’m home, staring at a mountain of dirty laundry completely astonished at how fast time can fly.
This was my third Gulf Games and by far the most enjoyable to date. The first time around I was nervous, unsure of what to expect. The second time around I was the kid in the candy shop (I’ve never seen so many games!), eager to see how many different games I could cram into four days. Well, this time was different. I played a scant 25 total games over five days. Why? Well, it could be the fact that I lingered too long over breakfast, visiting with folks like the Bergs and the Kurzbans. Or perhaps it was all the sitting around and chatting with people like Leon, Susan, Richard, Julie, Sarah, K-Ban, and countless others. Then of course there was the distraction of getting to meet the many new wonderful people that I had previously only knew of or knew online. I am hard pressed to even try and understand the magic and chemistry of Gulf Games, but it’s so obvious that the most important ingredient in the mix is the people and this time around it was especially true for me.
Game-playing for me this time was taken at a leisurely pace, with a lot of my enjoyment coming from the excellent company. I’m going to write a boring, dry report of the games I played to post on the other groups, but here are some of my real highlights of GG:
-Spending the day at Busch Gardens with a group of fun-loving early birds. Sure Craig, I really believed you when you said I wouldn’t get wet on the log ride. Yeah, right.
– Getting to help decorate the game room. We’ve never been there early enough before and this made me really feel like a part of the event.
– Playing with the likes of Greg and Craig who can make even a serious game like San Marco feel like a party game.
-Finally getting that Siesta game in with Stven and being shown that there really is a game there after all. Whoever took our copy that we donated to the GG10 prize table must now give it back.
-Getting to play Zendo a total of three times, the highlight being the game with the most excellent “Master Ted,” teacher of the Buddha nature.
-A truly hilarious play of The Gothic Game with Frank B., Sandi, Julie and Richard. Better watch your back Frank, Sandi is Pure Evil!
-Playing two “serious games” with Kim Berg, her first time playing both San Marco and Puerto Rico. Sorry Kim, there’s no turning back. You’re one of Us now.
-Having two of my secret desires fulfilled in a game of More Backpacks and Blisters. Heh. I need to play more games with these guys 😉
-Seeing how thrilled my son Kevin was at getting to play one of his current favorites, King’s Breakfast with one of the game’s designers. Thanks, Alan.
-Seeing the astonished look on Derk’s face when Ed pulled off an impressive move using a rule Derk had missed in a game of El Caballero. Then seeing the look of utter disgust on Ed’s face when Derk turned around and used it to continue his complete thrashing of us. Oh, was it painful!
Sheesh. I could go on forever. Apparently there were a LOT of highlights for me! But, I think I’ll just stop here with a big THANK YOU to Greg, Gail, Vickie, Tim and all the others who make this wonderful event happen. I speak for my whole family when I say that it is now hard to imagine not having a Gulf Games to look forward to!