Williamsburg, Virginia
August 7 – 10, 2003
The problem with not writing up right after returning home is that, by the time I do, everyone’s used all the good phrases, and I feel very derivative. On the other hand, how many times, in how many different ways, can we all say that the people and the games and the people were great? More, it seems!
I’m also concerned that, in trying to recap memorable moments, I’ll forget someone or something obvious. Writing again later to say, “Oh yes, that was Very Special also!” or “Of course, meeting Vera was one of the highlights” (which it was) doesn’t quite seem to cut it.
Of course, I won’t let that stop me. Here goes!
In some ways, I feel like our Gulf Games started the Friday before we left, when Steve and Sandy K-Ban stopped through on the first leg of their journey, before they had retrieved their kids from various locations. It was the first we’d met them, and we all enjoyed spending an evening with them prior to joining them in Williamsburg. K-Ban plied us with some great Kid Rock tunes for our (interminable) trip south, our favorite of which was the classic, “You’re in Trooouuuble.”
For Thor and me, it was a great joy to finally be able to bring our kids with us, and we are so grateful for how warmly you all welcomed and included them. Similar to what Susan wrote earlier, I think I was much more focused on the people than the games this time, yet had a number of enjoyable, rewarding contests with so many of you. I definitely did not play as many games as I have at previous events, but I have a sneaking suspicion that having our five kids along had something to do with it. The tradeoff was more than worth it, to see them all having such a great time.
Snapshots, in no particular order…
– I’d like to thank Phillip Sasse right off the bat, as I think he personally taught more Samuelsons games than any other individual. We greatly appreciated his thoroughness and patience. Thanks!
– Thanks to Susan, too, for teaching my kids Cartagena. It’s not your fault they were not impressed with the game! I think I’d like it just fine.
Other highlights, in no particular order:
– Smarty Party with Alan, Al, Chris, James, and Craig (cue Steve Martin and Martin Short, Emperor’s New Groove: “Playing With the Big Boys Now”)…. At least once in one’s life, knowing all the original cast members of Saturday Night Live should count for something. This was my moment.
– Learning Klunker and Schnppchen Jagd from Joe Huber. He’d graciously offered (ahead of time) to teach them to me, and we were able to fit both in. Both designs continue to tickle in my brain, which is usually a good sign. I’m not sure how much play either would get around here on a regular basis, but I look forward to trying both again.
– Also with (and from) Joe Huber, Au Backe with Emma and Michael Weston. The next step up from Zicke Zacke (choices! Hand management! Oh my!). A great little game, one that Emma ordered right away with our gift certificate (when we got home, Emma wanted to immediately browse the Game Surplus shelves to redeem her certificate. It, er, wasn’t a Game Surplus gift certificate! We had to re-introduce her to the concept of sending away for games….).
– Meeting and visiting with the Bernazzanis, and playing Crokinole with Dave (man, that guy sucks! Hi, Dave. :-). Surprise accent of the event: Jenn’s. 🙂 It was great finally getting to sit down with them, after seeing their pictures and exchanging emails all this time.
– Likewise, it was grand to meet Patrick Brennan after a year or more of on-line banter. Even more, I’m so glad Fleur was with him. I was really honored to spend time with both of them, and their happy little bub. After reading some of the earlier reports, I thought maybe I’d missed a dramatic goodbye – “We may never see each other again in our lives!!!!!!” Upon further reflection, I don’t think this was the last I’ve seen of the Brennans…. I have no sense that ours was a final goodbye. It might just be because of how at home I felt with them, mixed with a certain naivete about just how far Australia is from here. Regardless of the source of my peace: may it be!
…our 11th hour game of Zirkus Flohcati (Dillon, Sus, Patrick, Susan, George and myself) was one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. I knew that ZF was one of Patrick’s favorites, and he really made it come to life. We’ll never play again without a bit of smack talk, as well as humming the circus song every time we present a Gala. Cheers!
– Another gaming highlight: playing Can’t Stop for the first time ever, with Thor, Susan, and Stephen (Snoop) Glenn. What fun! Stephen’s last gasp for glory, pushing his markers _almost_ all the way up the board, was very exciting. Unfortunately, he… couldn’t… stop.
– Thanks to K-Ban, Susan, Kim, and Emily for bearing with me for our extended game of Puerto Rico. This was my second playing ever, and my Man & Money strategy didn’t actually amount to much at the end- but I think I maybe had more fun on my little island than the others. I especially appreciate everyone’s great patience when I was called away from the game for a while to deal with technical difficulties back home…. Thanks, everyone! Puerto Rico is fine, but it’s just above my sweet spot in terms of complexity. I’m happy to play it now and again (much to the delight of anyone else who might hope to Win), but it doesn’t beckon to me the way that other games do.
– David Vander Ark kindly taught Samurai to Tessa and me. I expected to like it, and liked it more than I expected to. Zooop zoop, up the list it goes. I’m glad we tucked away a copy for ourselves way back when; time to break it out.
– Stven has already described his timely and gracious intervention in Tessa’s and my branch-breaking Pussy Cat attempts. Okay, so who knew that the cats wouldn’t want to just run up all those branches as fast as they could?! (Answer: Stven, after reading the rules). I loved watching Tessa study Stven’s face as she tentatively placed her cat on a certain branch, hoping to discern by his reaction whether or not the branch would hold. I think they mostly both just ended up giggling, and having to (re)discover after the fact whether or not each branch would hold.
– Stven also invested a good bit of time teaching Isaac Starship Catan– right up until Stven’s Time was Up, after which Phillip took over. Stven also inadvertently provided Isaac with a post-event highlight, citing him as 15 in his gaming reports. When you’re 13 years old, being mistaken for 15 is quite a compliment.
– Ah, Chebache. I’m told that Richard and I spent a tremendous amount of time over our one game of Chebache. When you’re immersed in teaching and discussing a game you love, with a receptive audience, taking frequent breaks to discuss (and view examples of) All Things Game-ly, why, what better way to spend the time? Thanks, Richard!
– Anyone still reading?
– While this isn’t really my highlight, I enjoyed watching the connection form between Tessa and Frank Hamrick, from her cheering him on in that central (Justice League?) game, to a particularly sweet breakfast-time conversation they shared. Tessa doesn’t really know her grandparents, and I think she received a taste of what was in God’s heart for her, had things gone differently in her extended family. Thanks, Frank!
– After waiting all this time to confirm the existence of the elusive Vera Levy, it was an honor to finally meet her. There’s treasure in the Levy household, and in the depths Larry and Sheryl have found (and withstood) together. I look forward to seeing you both again!
– Goldland: a fun, if frustrating romp through the jungle (but I almost pulled it off. Heh.) This game was memorable for the contest with Michael, for Beth’s resilience, for Jack’s narrated moves, and because I finally got to play a game with Vonda (the Crokinole tournament notwithstanding), who made some brave and fascinating choices towards the end of the game. Vonda, Survivor of Adventures.
– Now see, here’s where it gets tricky, because I have a notion folks are starting to nod off, and it’s mostly the new folks who have gotten all the press, and I have not yet mentioned that I think Ol is a great little card game, or that Trendy’s still fluffy fun, or that I didn’t really care for Tilez (though I’m glad I got a game in with Sandy, and think we may just have to play again), or that Frans and I made a good run in the Crokinole tournament, or that it was great seeing the Arnesons (whom we’ve had the pleasure of gaming with here at our house) enjoying themselves in the midst of everyone, or that Susan R. and I played games together, real and otherwise, after months of online conversation, or that the Hendees are a really cool family (and thanks again, Susan, for arranging the Kids’ Crokinole tournament), or that it was a wonderful surprise to see the Lohroffs, or… or….related any of Thor’s anecdotes, or, or…. Oh wait, I know: I met this guy named Moon Unit, or at least I think that’s what I heard… I’ll have to confer with Billy Bob to get the real scoop.
(It was a pleasure, Alan; thanks again for Beating My Child at Winnie-the-Pooh Uno, I mean, for playing with all of us.)
A lingering picture from about 2am Sunday morning: Smarty Party. A question is read, and a table of grown men straighten themselves in their chairs and get ready to give their answers for, “Famous characters from Winnie the Pooh.” (Ali needs to get Al more Pooh character shirts before he attempts that one again….).
Thanks again to the Schloessers, Watsons, Cheathams, Bergs et al who work so tirelessly to make Gulf Games the event that it is. I’m sure they would all rather plan events and decorate than make the various, difficult administrative decisions that are the backbone of our get-togethers; the wonder is that they do it All.
Regrets: that Thor stepped out to get us dinner right as the Newlywed game started up (again), that I didn’t play one of the 2-player games Larry brought along at my request, with Larry, and that I seemed to kind of miss Julie W. this time around. While those are true regrets, their very paucity indicates that I had a grand time indeed.
This was the first year we’ve been able to stay for the final ceremonies, and I think we may have garnered more than our fair share of Stuff. So, if one of your kids earned more than 10 medals, or one of you women won more than 6 games, let me know. I’ll send you the wrappers of all the goodies we ate in your honor. (Those were very generous, fun gift baskets. Thanks, everyone!) No, Fleur, I haven’t dared the Vegemite yet. I’m waiting for a Special Occasion.
As I said at the get-go, it was a special pleasure to include our children this time around, and in turn to behold them being included by all of you. Thanks, everyone! In answer to Patti’s question, we have no imagination for getting more than two of us to Pensacola, but we’ll see what we can do. Now that the kids know what they’ll be missing if and when Thor and I head off to Gulf Games, it will be very difficult to go without them! Yet, the logistics are staggering. We chose certain limitations in embracing a large family, one of which is the expense of mobilizing and housing our entire family (you all know the hotel prices; 2 rooms x 4 nights = I wonder when we’ll ever get that second bathroom for the 7 of us?). We do hope to be able to bring everyone to TN in a year (could someone post the dates?).
Leaving Williamsburg, we opted for Craig’s “Let’s Head West” approach to getting home. For a short time, we felt we were heading home by way of Utah, but we greatly appreciated actually getting to _drive_ on the highway. Smooth sailing, all the way home, once we left Rte. 95 (-> 17 ->81 -> home). The added bonus was Dillon’s spotting the Bergs zipping along on the same highway, then Craig waving his walkie talkie at us, and all of us ending up on the same channel playing the alphabet game using only game names (“I was going to Gulf Games, and I packed in my knapsack… Andromeda“). Highlights included the Berg kids’ renditions of Drahtseilakt and KKK, and Banner’s solemnly informing all of them (after Kyle stumbled on ” Piratenbucht“) that ” ‘Piratenbucht’ is German for ‘Pirate’s Cove.” I’m sure Craig appreciated this piece of inside information.