WE'RE GOING TO THE RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL!!!!!!!
My best friend and I squealed and jumped around excitedly like you would expect to see in high school girls..... not juniors in college. Another check off our bucket list was coming true, but that was almost a month ago.
The streets are also lined with old 'one-of-a-kind' 'made-by-hand' craft stores as well as food that probably doesn't fit the era. It may be the only place where one store can sell ONLY bacon. Another sells ice cream, another apple strudel, and still more with giant turkey legs (you cannot pass these up!), mead, beer, steak on a stick, pizza, sparkling apple cider floats, fruit smoothies, and so many others. For those of you foodies out there, this place is heaven.
The festival has come and gone. For those of you who do not know what a renaissance festival is or why it was so exciting for us, please continue to read and allow me to enlighten you. For those of you who A. do not find interest in the renaissance era B. know everything about the ren fest and have been to one every year for the past five decades leading you to feel you can learn nothing new about them or C. are already bored, feel free to skip to the line starting with "And that was the end.."
For those few stragglers still with me, lend me your ears. Okay, okay, your eyes will do just as well...
The ren fest (much easier to type than renaissance festival!) is not like any other place you have ever been to. The streets are laden with wood pieces which try their best to grab the hem of your dress and pull you to a stop. Luckily, they're not strong enough to achieve their goal, but the weight is well noted. It may be wiser to not wear a ground-length dress (mental note for next time). The wood shavings will also cling to socks and leggings as if trying to aid in your camouflage... boots are also recommended. My socks still aren't free of the debris....
The streets are also lined with old 'one-of-a-kind' 'made-by-hand' craft stores as well as food that probably doesn't fit the era. It may be the only place where one store can sell ONLY bacon. Another sells ice cream, another apple strudel, and still more with giant turkey legs (you cannot pass these up!), mead, beer, steak on a stick, pizza, sparkling apple cider floats, fruit smoothies, and so many others. For those of you foodies out there, this place is heaven.
As for the craft stores, there are wandmakers, glass tinkers, fairy dust peddlers, leather workers, mask makers, jewelry so unique you won't find it elsewhere, costumes, paintings, walking sticks, nimbus 2000s, there are hand-forged weapons, pottery, and just about anything else you can imagine. Almost everything is one of a kind. Be sure to bring plenty of spending money, because you'll be sure to find gifts and items that you just Cannot leave without. I speak from experience, as does the rest of my convoy. :S believe me, it happens. No. Seriously.
Ah, the entertainment. Perhaps the best part of it all..
The jousting. Oh boy, are you in for a show! Humongous horses, handsome knights, humorous crowd leaders, and plenty of chaos and cheering. The crowd gets just as involved as at a championship football game and the event is much more exciting (now don't get your knickers in a knot, some people just find one-on-one combat with horses thrown in as a plus more thrilling than a group of guys slamming into each other, moving three feet, and being stopped by a whistle.... just an opinion. Like I said, watch for those knickers).
Fire Shows! Now these people can put on a show that has you on the edge of your seat, holding your breath, and praying no one gets burnt (or worse). Fire breathing, fire eating, acrobats with flaming staves.. all while dancing to gypsy-styled music and grinning like naughty schoolchildren. Occasionally looking surprised that a stunt actually worked. Our shows were put on by the Fandazzi Fire Circus, feel free to look them up and get excited about fire!
Belly dancers. Now, don't get me wrong about these women (or men if you see men at a ren fest), they may be a little bit out there.. but boy can they move in ways incomprehensible to the eye. A few talented dancers mixed with good music and you'll feel like you've drifted into another era.
Alas, this entry is running long, it is time for me to tie up the loose ends. I may have been wrong when I said that the entertainment was the best part of the ren fest. The best part is the atmosphere. Every person is grinning from ear to ear. Costumes range from ladies to vikings to fauns to assassins to wenches to pirates, with people in them from all ages, ethnicity's, backgrounds, and beliefs coming out to forget their daily lives and enjoy life with one another. Everyone is friendly. Everyone is laughing and having a grand day. At a renaissance festival, everyone is everyone else's neighbor and no one is unhappy. At a renaissance festival you are free to live in the moment and love life.
And that was the end of a grand adventure..
Until next time...
"The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can.." -Bilbo Baggins
