Saturday morning dawned crisp and bright for us as we prepared for our annual outing to King Richard's Faire. Erich and I were anxious to head back to the Faire - we were forced to skip last year due to the new house expenses. This year, we were greeted with perfect weather - mid 50s, sunny, just a hint of chill in the air (which brought out that wonderful woodsy autumn smell). Some heavy rain midweek caused a few muddy puddles here and there, but it also prevented the massive amount of dust that often plagues the faire by late afternoon.
A good thing, too - all of New England apparently thought it was the perfect Faire day. If there were less than 5,000 people there, I'd be shocked. The place was packed.
Erich and I have gone to the Faire every year we've been together (except last year). Sometimes we've gone twice. Our first photo as a couple is at the Faire- it sits next to my desk at work. I think Erich has his copy at work, too. :) We look forward to it every year. As Labor Day weekend rolls around, we get that 'itch." But we generally wait until late September to this weekend in October, once the last bits of summer heat and humidity have disappeared. We go in full garb every year, and anything warmer than the mid-50s we had this weekend, and we're both dying of heat by the late afternoon.
This year was a bit different for us at the Faire. Normally, we have gone just as a couple or with only one or two other couples. This year, a conversation at Erich's birthday BBQ with The Usual Suspects led to a conversation about everyone going to King Richard's Faire. Many of our friends had never been, but were very interested in going. I offered to organize a weekend, and it turned out to be a very large - but successful - group outing. By the end of the day, we had about 17-19 people (including one very excited 11 month old boy). A few of us were in full garb all day. Several others started their garb with cloaks or hats (the easy stuff to justify).
We started the morning with me being my klutzy self - before we even went through the front gates, I took a spill in the parking lot, managing to twist my right ankle in its yearly downing. It hurt like hell and swelled up quickly. But if there's one thing I've learned about my ankle, it's that I do need to immediately see if I can walk on it. I could. And did- almost all day. We did, however, immediately take to medieval painkillers once we were in the gates:
a glass of mead. It's what's for breakfast. And great, I might add, for eliminating ankle pain. Over the course of the day, I had a couple more glasses. It wasn't until perhaps 3 that I really *needed* to sit down for a while to rest it.
Once we'd had our first of the morning booze, we headed over to the tiger show. We got there just as it started, so we were standing in the far back. It's the most popular show (save the joust) every year, and normally people get there about a half-hour beforehand just to get a seat. This year's show was slightly shorter than in years past, but they still showed some beautiful tigers, leopards, and every year's showstopper, the liger.
For those who haven't heard of a liger, as their name suggests they are a cross between a lion (father) and a tiger (mother). The mixture creates a giant 900 pound, 11+ foot long beast of a cat that is the largest cat on earth. If a female lion mates with a male tiger, the result is a tigon, which is the opposite - a dwarf that reaches a maximum of 350 pounds. And unlike mules, which tend to be sterile, ligers and tigons aren't-- they can continue to cross-breed (into li-lis or ti-ti's, etc).
The boys joined together to do some axe throwing. Many of the group headed to the jousting ring to watch the medieval horseback games. We all took a break later at the field to watch the birds of prey show, including some beautiful training work with falcons and owls.
The one thing that I didn't do like years past was mill through all of the shops. With all of the people in our group, I just didn't wander in. We were chatting and roaming most of the day. A few people purchased items, including me. But for the most part I stayed out of the shops I normally would go "just take a peek" in. Perhaps I subconsciously protected myself from putting myself in a position where I'd be pulling out the wallet. :)
It was a fun-filled day of goofiness that left us so exhausted that we were both sound asleep by 9:30 that night.
Next September can't come soon enough... although I think I'll have to buy a new bodice for next year. My seven-years-running tartan one was rather tight, leaving me extremely well... and high... stacked.
;)
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