Putting down the phones and turning off the television for a game of chess (or checkers)

When we travel my husband and I try our best to put down the electronics as much as possible, but it's hard when work associates need you as do children, but when we play chess, or other activities such as tennis, golf, or pool, we are able to put the phones down and enjoy our quiet time together, Okay, so we may have had our phones out to take the following pictures, but living in a world where social media is part of your job, sometimes it is just habit.  Even though I am not good at the game, there is just something about setting up a chess board and knowing I am allowing myself the time to think about nothing else but how not to hear Check Mate too fast. I'm not even sure if we know all of the rules, but since we follow the same rules, we have fun. 

I realized tonight how many places we have actually played chess, including in the West Indies during our honey moon.  I now wish I took photos of each and every place we have played, but I found a few to share with you.   

As of this post, this was the most recent game of chess other than one we just played. I loved playing chess with glass pieces like the one here which comes in three different sizes. 

The Queen has arrived! During our honeymoon at the Four Seasons on Nevis, I was thrilled to find this outdoor set on our way to lunch.  I quickly removed the Queen and took her place! If I were only wearing black! :-)   If still available, this large chess set, seems very similar 

Another outdoor set was found at the Winnetu on Martha's Vineyard, but it was raining hard each time we went to play. Luckily, there was a set inside for us to play. 

We were the last to play chess with the above chess set for the 2016 season.  The staff was packing up everything around us due to it being the last day of the season and since there was a storm outside, most of the guest had left early.  When it was time for our ferry to leave, we found out the departure was being delayed due to high winds and waves, so we had time for one more game. 

This set gets used a lot! After a long day of being outside at our cabin in Maine, we like to pull out the chess set.  Sometimes we sit out on our deck and play while we watch the boats go by and other times, depending on the season, we are by the fire. 

The sad thing is.... for the amount of times we have played together, I don't think I have won one game; not one! And you know what?... I don't care!  I still have fun and enjoy our quite time together even when I hear "Check Mate"!