Greg J. Schloesser: Gulf Gaming

A short column this week, as after waiting since late July 2005, Gulf Games 17 has finally arrived!  Gulf Games began back in early 1998, with Ty Douds, Ted Cheatham and me, along with our families, getting together in Navarre Beach, Florida for a “get to know each otherâ€? weekend.  We played games, swam (and for Ty’s wife Shay, this was unintentional!), shared dinner, and had a GREAT time socializing with each other.  It was SO much fun, we decided to do it again in the Fall and invite some other gaming buddies to join in the merriment.  Gulf Games was born.

Now, eight years later, we have expanded our circle of friends to over 75 families.  We meet twice a year for the same purposes as that original get-together:  to enjoy good friendship, socializing and gaming.  The folks who are part of Gulf Games have become wonderful friends, and a second family.  Ask anyone who attends and they will tell you that this truly is a “familyâ€?.  The friendships that have been forged are truly wonderful.

Dozens of folks arrive days in advance of the official opening of each Gulf Games to spend time together visiting the sites and attractions of the area we are visiting.  In the past, we’ve been to Florida (Panama City, Navarre Beach, Destin, Pensacola Beach and Orlando), Georgia (Savannah), Tennessee (Chattanooga, Gatlinburg and Nashville), Alabama (Birmingham and Huntsville), Virginia (Williamsburg) and Louisiana (New Orleans).  While varying the location each time means extra work for the organizers, it also gives us a new area to visit and explore.  Dozens of our Gulf Gamers turn each event into family vacations.  This adds another fantastic dimension to our semi-annual get-togethers.

This time, we are back in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the site of Gulf Games 5 way back in early 2000.  As usual, the event began early for me, as my great buddy James Miller traveled down from Akron, Ohio to spend the weekend with us.  We played several games, including a new 2-player game that was truly fantastic:  Dragons of Kir.  I’ll be writing a full review of this soon, but don’t wait.  This game is really, really good.  We played it four times in row.  Snag a copy.  We also visited Pigeon Forge, meeting Gail’s brother and sister-in-law for dinner.  Monday we traveled to Chattanooga, meeting-up with Leon Hendee.  Dinner and gaming followed.  On Tuesday, Paul and Jennifer Sturgis, authors of Parlay, joined us for some wonderful sight-seeing excursions to Rock City and the incredible Chattanooga Aquarium.  Dinner and more gaming concluded the day.

Tomorrow marks the arrival of dozens more folks, and we begin decorating and preparing the game room for the festivities.  Gulf Games officially begins on Thursday, and we are expecting over 80 folks … er, family members.  It is going to be AWESOME!  Family reunions – at least those with my Gulf Games family – just cannot be beat!

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