Bridge Building

Much to my delight, playing Bridge has been the key to making friends in my Rice Lake life.  I could never have guessed that so many played in this community, but the more I play, the more people I meet who are avid players.

Last weekend, I joined 8 other women in retreating to a resort in the north-woods for 2 days of non stop Bridge play.  

We arrived at The Hoinville House @ Heartwood Conference Center & Retreat, near Trego, WI, on Monday afternoon.  The house sleeps 10, has 3 bathrooms and 2 family rooms.

On a nice day/evening, in the backyard, there is a fire-pit with a view of the lake.

Back Yard - Hoinville House

Hoinville House @ Heartwood

All moved in quickly; foods stuffs & other items were stored and then the cards were dealt.  Planning had been done to provide a framework for tournament pairings and small prize games were explained and then the first bids were made.

Two tables of play

With 9 players, it worked out that one person would be on 'time out' every 8 rounds.  Each round consisted of 6 contracts.  After 6 contracts, partners switched.

We played 18 rounds over the course of the stay, so with two 'byes' per person, 

everyone played 96 contracts of Bridge.

Total scores were tallied at the grand prize winner was awarded with a small prize.

Taking tricks with a 2 involved a traveling gift landing on the last person to be so lucky.

Having 'honors' got you into a 'white elephant' competition, and after stealing and swapping, each ended up with a prize, new or slightly used.

The house is very nice, big fireplace in the upper family room, gas fireplace in the lower family room.  Over sized windows gave great natural light and a wonderful view of the woods and lake below the hillside just off the backyard.

We had enough food to stay a week!

Everyone pitched in on the work and the fun.

There was much laughing and teasing and many great hands of Bridge were played.

Before leaving to go home, we took a couple of group photos.

For fun, I brought some silly sunglasses that I had found a couple of years ago.

We are already planning the next time that we will retreat to build friendships while playing Bridge.