Renaissance Festival

This weekend my parents were in town and we all decided to go to the Renaissance Faire. I had not been to one since the time I went in Colorado (Hi Larry and Leah!), my parents, Ian and the kids had never been to one. My parents were a little hesitant so I was nervous... I didn't need to be; the Renaissance Faire was GREAT!
To start the morning my dad got kissed by an Irish wench and got to talk to Leonardo D'Vinci.

We then hurried off to go see the first joust of the day. The joust was just the right blend of cheesy action for young boys. Ben and Nik had fun.

We were heading (after the joust) to get lunch when we saw the blacksmith demonstration. Ben wanted to stop so we sat and watched. The guy was a great teacher -- I think everyone in the audience left wanting to try their hands at being a blacksmith. Ben's eyes grew HUGE when he bent a red-hot steel bar in half! After the presentation we went to get lunch which was surprisingly good and reasonably priced faire fare.

After lunch we wandered around, the boys played on they playground and we did a little shopping: the boys got wooden swords and shields (and Nikki got a butterfly fairy wand).

The best part was the raptor show. We got there early and snagged seats in the first and second row -- right in front of the stage. So close, as a matter of fact, that we got to meet the birds personally. The falcon flew inches over my head, the black vulture hopped up to the boys feet, and the hawk kept flying right in front of us. Most spectacular was the Andean Condor. The thing was HUGE. Really huge. And terribly unruly.

It kept escaping off the stage and flapping wildly right in front of Ben. It even hit Ben on the leg with its wing! The wind that was produced by its wings was tremendous. Wow.
We will definitely go back next year -- we probably only saw 2/3 of the fair and only a couple of the shows.

3 comments:

Tina in CT said...

I bet the boys ate the whole thing up - perfect for little boys!

Anonymous said...

Actually, we might of been in competition - we ate the whole thing up about as much as the boys did!
I was absolutely surprised how nice the decorations were set and how pleasant the experience was (I am not a crowd loving person, and close my eyes and cross the street when I see a person painted as statue of liberty)
Olga

Joe Ganci said...

Yes, Renaissance Faires are great fun! So you're saying that the faire fare was fairly-priced?