Savannah, Georgia
August 1 – 4, 2002
SWEET, SWEET SAVANNAH – PART 2
Our Gulf Games experience started early as we traveled to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in northern Georgia and spent the weekend prior to Gulf Games with Craig Berg and his family.
Gail, Lindsay & I made incredibly quick-time to Atlanta, then promptly sat in traffic for 1œ hours on the highway headed north due to road destruction … er, construction. We spent the night in a hotel outside of Dahlonega, a town I’d never heard of prior to this journey. Turns out the town has historic significance as it was the site of the first gold rush in the United States. The town is quite pretty, with a nice town square area that has several nice shops and restaurants.
On Saturday morning, we headed through the hills to Helen, Georgia. Helen was dying, so the town council decided to remake the town into an alpine village. The makeover is amazing, as all the homes, shops and businesses have an authentic German village appeal, complete with the half-timbered façades (known as ‘ fachwerk’ in Deutsch). We browsed through the many shops and enjoyed a good German meal of Würst & Sauerkraut before heading to Amicaloa State Park to meet the Bergs.
They were waiting for us in the beautiful lodge, so we grouped and decided to hike down to the base of Amicaloa Falls. It sure didn’t look that far. Well, it was. Over 400 steps and some very steep paths tested our endurance. Once we reached the bottom, we realized that we had to climb back up again. ARRGHH! We were all sweaty messes by the time we reached the top. After showering, we all gathered again for dinner and some games.
On Sunday, we attended a ranger-led program on Gold panning. I thought this would be a bit ‘hokey’, but, in reality, we had a blast! After viewing a film on the history of the gold rush in the area, we tossed our shoes, grabbed some pans and jumped into the stream. We all feverishly panned for gold, hoping to strike it rich. Sure enough, we found some gold flakes, but only enough to form someone’s nose on a gold coin. Guess we all have to continue working.
Later, we attended another seminar on the various snakes indigenous to the region, including some nasty poisonous beasts. After dinner, we went on a ranger-led nighttime hike, but, unfortunately, didn’t spot any animals. Of course, we concluded the evening with some more games.
I didn’t keep an exact tally of what we played, but during the course of the weekend I recall playing:
Street Soccer: 2-player soccer game from Cwali. I know many are singing this one’s praises, but I found the game highly dependent on the luck of the die. I scored a goal and Craig subsequently suffered four horrendous dice rolls. He was unable to get the ball out of his side of the field, so I scored another quick four goals and claimed the victory. It was cute, but nothing terribly exciting.
Hilarium: Simultaneous charades … sort of. Players simultaneously act out various situations listed on cards and attempt to identify the other player who also has the same card. Lots of laughter, noise and fun. We played this one a few times and it was played again by others during Gulf Games.
Gouda! Gouda!: Race your mice across the basement to reach the cheese. Cute family game from EuroGames, but it lasts a bit longer than it should.
Chicken Foot Dominoes: I introduced the Berg family to this fun dominoes version. We played this one outside on a warped, wooden picnic table and the dominoes kept falling through the cracks!
Hive: 2 playings with Craig, with each of us winning one match. Some folks are raving about this one, but, I dunno. It just doesn’t grab me. Craig took it home with him after Gulf Games to play with a few others to see how it goes over.
Halli Galli: Quick recognition and reaction game. I usually loathe these types of games and I’m usually terrible at them. I surprised everyone by actually winning the game I played. This one isn’t as painful as some others in the genre.
We departed northern Georgia on Monday morning and headed for Savannah. We arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon and immediately began making contact with the other early-arrivers, making plans for dinner later that evening. We unpacked and checked-out the hotel and the game room facilities. The game room was darned near perfect: 2400 unobstructed square feet of gaming, with an attached kitchen, bathroom and storage room. Plus, it was located in a building completely separated from the hotel building, so we would be in no danger of disturbing other guests. Absolutely perfect.
Later that evening, we gathered all of the early arrivers and headed for dinner. From my recollection, we had the following people with us: The Adams family (Michael, Patti & Nikole), the Douds (Ty, Shay, Zane & Ariel), the Bergs (Craig, Kim, Cassie, Kayla, Kyle), the Schloessers (Greg, Gail & Lindsay) and James Miller. A great dinner was followed by a nice stroll by the River area of Savannah, which is reminiscent of New Orleans’ French Quarter. Very pretty with lots of history.
We then adjourned back to the hotel for a few late night card games. I’m pretty sure we played Trendy and Pepper, but I’m not sure.
Tuesday was a full day of sight-seeing as a large crew headed out to see the sights. We first stopped at Fort Pulaski, a historic civil-war era fort that was besieged and conquered by the Union. Some of the cannon balls and artillery shells are still lodged in the outer walls. We spend a bit of time roaming the fort and perusing the Visitor Center. Ward and I were a bit upset by the ‘ Yankee victory dance’ that Craig and Michael kept doing.
After Pulaski, we then headed to Tybee Island for lunch and a stroll on the beach. Several folks played a bit in the ocean, while others soaked up the sun and beach atmosphere.
We then headed back to downtown Savannah and strolled around, visiting several of the city’s picturesque historic squares. The heat proved a bit unbearable, so we decided to head back to the hotel to relax a bit before dinner.
More and more folks were arriving, so we all headed to the local Cracker Barrel for dinner. After dinner, it was back to the hotel to begin the process of decorating the room. Initially, we were able to get into œ of the meeting room as a church was holding a service in the other half. We did gain access to the remainder of the room later that evening and thanks to a lot of help, we quickly decorated the room. The transformation was amazing as it went from one, large empty room to a room filled with game-related decorations, posters, tabloid covers and more. The excitement was growing.
Even though I spent most of my time decorating and preparing the room, I did manage to get in two games that were new to me.
Emerald: I had first heard of this one back in April at the Gathering of Friends when a company representative was touting this one as a possible Spiel des Jahre recipient. So, when I spotted a copy on James Miller’s table, I was eager to learn. Craig taught the game to Richard Glanzer, Michael Adams, Tim Watson and me.
My reaction? Well, I can see why it was NOT nominated for the SdJ. It is a fairly light family game that really didn’t do much to excite me. Not bad, but nothing I would feel the urge to purchase or request.
Mike proved the most adept at avoiding the dragon and collecting the valuable sets of gems.
Finals: Michael 26, Greg 17, Craig 16, Richard 16, Tim 12
Trendy: This was one of the “hits” of the convention for me. Yes, it is light … VERY light. Still, it has an addicting quality to it and does allow for some decisions. The biggest feature is that it is quite fun to play. It is also extremely funny to hear James Miller do his snobby, clothes designer when playing the game. James wasn’t involved in this one, but everyone who played seemed to enjoy it anyway.
Finals: Michael Adams 107, Ty Douds 106, Greg 100, Stven Carlberg 95, Craig Berg 87
Wednesday was reserved for final preparations and, of course, some early gaming. The day was also marked by the arrival of the vast majority of those attending, which is always a highlight for me. It is always such a joy to see my friends arrive and, of course, to meet my ‘new’ friends.
Here’s what I played on Wednesday:
TransAmerica: This one is swiftly growing to be one a favorite to play with folks when time is rather limited or there is a group of ‘new’ players. It is easy to learn and play, yet not bereft of decisions. It also plays quickly, usually in about 30 minutes.
James Miller proved the swiftest rail engineer, possessing 7 points when the game ended. The game concluded with four of us – Ariel Douds, Kyle Berg, Lee Batty and myself – dumping into the Pacific Ocean. Only Kenton Moore remained on the score track with James.
Crokinole: Yes, I can be convinced to play this ‘flicking’ game – especially when it is an opportunity to play a game with my daughter Lindsay! Craig and I teamed against Lindsay & Kayla. The ‘old coots’ smashed the young ‘uns, 120 – 0!
Tonga Bonga: Kevin Whitmore had never played Tonga Bonga. Since Stven and I are big fans of the game, we gladly introduced him to its joys. We were joined by Craig for a race around the islands.
Kevin quickly got into the nasty spirit of the game as we each continuously blocked each other’s paths. I seemed to get the worst of these nasty maneuvers, but the game still was very close. Kevin captured a narrow victory over Craig.
Finals: Kevin 129, Craig 127, Stven 119, Greg 115
Trendy: Another playing of this neat card game from Reiner Knizia and Spiel Spass. The would-be fashion designers were Larry Levy, Lindsay Schloesser, John Moore, Lenny Leo and myself. Everyone possessed the lead at some point during the game … except me, of course! I scored a dismal ‘0’ points in the first round and was never able to climb myself out of that huge hole.
In the end, it was John capturing the victory over Lenny.
Finals: John 127, Lenny 116, Lindsay 100, Greg 94, Larry 85
Drahtseilakt: Time for one more game before heading to bed. We actually enticed Henry Hunger into a game, which is always a difficult task! Henry’s opponents in this ‘balancing’ game were John Moore, Larry Levy, Stven Carlberg and myself.
Larry proved to be the master juggler, canceling our two earlier scores with two perfect ‘zero’ scores. Even a final round score of 13 wasn’t too much to prevent him from claiming the victory.
Finals: Larry 13, John 18, Steven 20, Greg 21, Henry 21
We sauntered off to bed, eagerly anticipating the official beginning of Gulf Games later that morning.