Previewing a weekend of Scrabble in Seattle

Over the years, I've attended a whole lot of different Scrabble tournaments in a whole lot of different kinds of venues. I've lost count of all the schools, libraries, board game shops, hotel ballrooms, and church basements. After a decade or two, they all start to blur together. But through it all, one thing has stayed constant - there's just no substitute for having a tournament in the comfort of your own home.

Coming up this weekend, Jennifer and I are excited to do just that. And in fact, we're hosting not one Scrabble event, but two - we've got a pair of 1-day tournaments on the docket, one Saturday and one Sunday. All in all, we're getting ready to host 14 wonderful humans for 14 games of Scrabble. And we're looking forward to it for all sorts of reasons.

For one thing, there's nothing quite like treating your Scrabble friends to a home-cooked meal or two. It'll be great to host players visiting from near and far, break bread together, and catch up with everyone. The Friday night dinner before these home tournament weekends has become one of my favorite occasions of the year, personally. I can't wait.

It'll also be great to show people around our local area. I love Seattle in October - you get a little bit of that crisp autumn cool air but not too much, just the right amount. It'll be nice to rove around Northeast Seattle with people, go for walks, check out our favorite neighborhood lunch spots, and so forth. We love our neighborhood and relish any opportunity to share that love with friends.

And then we'll have opportunities after hours to hit the town, too! Past Seattle tournament weekends have featured visits to the city's best breweries, best pizzerias, even its best escape rooms. We're looking forward to more of the same this time around. (And maybe this time our escape room team will actually win for once. C'mon now, guys.)

Oh, right - you also have the actual Scrabble. (I always seem to almost forget this part.) We're expecting some ridiculously strong fields for this weekend's two events, especially considering the setting. It's just a little Scrabble weekend at home, and yet we've got an all-star squad of great players heading our way. Who are Alec Sjöholm, Dave Wiegand, Peter Armstrong, John O'Laughlin, David Whitley, Chris Grubb, and Rob Robinsky? Quite literally, to paraphrase the classic Cheers episode, people who have been in my kitchen.

For all of the above reasons and more, we'll be raring to go this weekend. If you're planning to join us, you can expect a weekend of elite Scrabble competition and even more elite after-hours fun. And if you're not, well, follow along online at your own risk. We are not responsible for any FOMO that may occur.