Bernie and I went to the Carolina Renaissance Fair in Concord this morning and had a blast. We had heard of it last year, and it runs from September thru November every weekend each year. What we didn't know is that it's a permanent attraction. The buildings and stages are real, not tents. It's almost like Busch Gardens, except there aren't any rollercoasters and high-tech rides. It's been here for 14 years and gets bigger every year.
Lots of people in garb, 6 stages with rotating acts, probably a mile of walking to get from entrance to end, lots of food, lots of interesting wares, and a real jousting show 4 times a day. There are also a bunch of medieval characters walking or sitting around, some of them shouting insults at passersby.
The jousts are a continuing story, apparently. We went to the first one of the day and three knights compete to become the new general of the queen's armies. One is a bad guy, one is a crazy guy who hears voices, and one is the heroic guy. The bad guy won by cheating, and the good guy lost by claiming that one of his faults wasn't counted properly. At the end, the queen declared that the contest wasn't over an that they would compete further at the next show. From what I understand, the next show will have the bad guy and the good guy duel, and the last show of the day is apparently a joust "to the death".
I was surprised to see that they sell beer on the premises, and even have ale brewed on site for sale. The wares for sale are real, not cheap toys. The food was really good, consisting of turkey legs (of course), soup in bread bowls, sausages on sticks, etc., and the prices were quite reasonable, especially compared to the state fair.
Chris, Elizabeth, this is something we should all go to together next year. Athena will love it.
Addendum: I nearly forgot to mention there are games of skill - throwing knives, throwing stars, throwing axes, shooting arrows, crossbow bolts, etc. Real weaponry!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Renaissance Fair
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8 comments:
A: If you're interested in going again, I am seriously thinking of taking Athena on Nov. 4. We have to be in G'boro for something else on the 3rd, and I'm thinking we could spend the night either with mom or in Charlotte and go to the Faire on Sunday. (Note this would only be me and Athena, most likely)
B: I used to go every year. The year I stopped going? 1998 was my last year. Coincidentally (?), I got married to Chris in November of 1999.
C: If you haven't figured it out by now, getting Chris to go will be nothing short of a miracle, and when he goes, he will mock the whole thing. You'd think someone who used to pretend to be a vampire and still plays (nay WRITES) D&D scenarios would be open to this sort of thing.
D: I hope we can get him to go because he will enjoy it... especially when seeing it through the eyes of his little princess. Let's work on that. After all, I've gotten him onto the UNC campus once or twice now and he's lived to tell the tales...
We've tentatively made plans with the Austins that weekend, before they go on the grand vacation, however, you could work your wiles on Sophie and see if they are willing to take Elise on a field trip, and then it'd be a group thing!
I don't think the Faire is all that mock-able, honestly. No one seemed to be taking themselves all that seriously. If this were in the realm of SCA-like grit-your-teeth seriousness, I'd have been mocking it myself.
Yeah it's a lot of fun and I've wanted to take Sophie for a few years now. Back when I was in college we'd get discount coupons from Harris Teeter and go for an afternoon of drinking mead from a horn.
I think Elizabeth is taking it a bit too hard. Would I find it amusing? Of course. Do I find most everything amusing? Yep.
I wouldn't go around calling people losers or anything. What is this, high school?
I saw an episode of "The Girls Next Door" during which all three bunnies got all dressed up and spent the day at the Renaissance Fair. Also, they learned some of the language...I now know what a "sausage wallet" is....
I'm not very interested in the RF, however, if everyone insists enough, I could be convinced.
I'll definitely go if someone promises that I can finally try a fried dough thingy something or other... the name escapes me at the moment.
Funnel cake?
Hmmmm..I don't think they have it there. I guess those were only invented recently.
But they do have some good bread bowls!
I'm not sure if I'll go again so soon tho.. the tickets are rather pricey.. but I could be convinced for the sake of meeting up with everyone again :)
Funnel cakes... yes, that's it!!
How much were the tickets?
Tix are $17 online or at Teeter.
Not really any fried stuff there, but lots of other good food. Soup/stew/chili in bread bowls, sausage on a stick, steak on a stake, roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, scotch eggs, Roasted corn on the cob, Apple dumplings, pies and cakes, Carolina Blonde Ale, etc.
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