Spring has sprung which means it time for your friendly OG editor-in-chief Dale to post a weekend’s worth of impressions on the latest games, local Niagara foodie hideaways, and other nonsense at the annual Gathering of Friends. I look forward to his reports every year like seeing the first robin as a sign of the season or grumbling about the spring weather in New England (which is really a year-round thing). Alas, there will be no reporting from Dale this year as he is on assignment for a family event. In his absence, Dale has given instructions for me and other OGers attending the 30th annual Gathering of Friends to stand in and share our thoughts. While I can’t speak for the others, I’ll do my best to fill the the void. So without any further adieu here is a short recap of my first day.

Its one of the rare years when the Gathering lines up with my school spring break so after packing up the car first thing, we hit the road at 10:15 and pulled into Niagara seven hours later, checked in, and headed for dinner with some friends. Right about here, Dale would have a picture of some part of his dinner. No such picture from me, but I did enjoy a tasty rye old fashioned to toast the official start of vacation. I’ll try to be better about pictures as the week progresses.

Back to the ball room to say hello to friends and get in a game or two. First game of the week was Deep Sea Adventure – the Sponge Bob Edition. One of the regulars in my group is the king of pimping out games . After seeing and playing some of Scott’s upgraded versions of games, I decided that Deep Sea Adventure was a good candidate for a similar treatment. It didn’t take much to give the game a Sponge Bob themed makeover. Instead of diving for treasure from a submarine, Sponge Bob, Sandy Cheeks, and company leave the Crusty Crab to search for the most valuable starfish. Given that they all live under the sea, oxygen is replaced by the consumption of Crabby Patties. Its really rather ridiculous, but it makes a big splash on the table.

We finished the evening with a game of Krass Kariert, a clever Amigo card game that few under the radar from last fall. Not sure how I missed it then, but was glad to learn and give it a go. Seems like this will be a regular late night filler throughout the week given the comments from passers by. The long drive means its time to cash in the chips for the evening. More nonsense tomorrow.