The Renaissance Faire

This past weekend Mamastep, Tiffy, and I went to the Renaissance Faire down in the border area – you know, the area where you see people in Packers gear AND in Bears gear. (We even saw a guy in a Vikings shirt!) Mamastep and I actually drove to Tiffy’s house the night before and stayed up way too late playing Angry Birds, a stupidly addictive game. It was enough to make Tiffy want an iPad.

The Ren Faire was so much fun. We got there just before opening time and left just before closing time, and in between we watched jousters, sword fighting, falconry, and acrobatics. We went shopping, and I bought some amber jewelry. Mamastep and I got henna tattoos; mine is a Celtic symbol on my ankle. I will post a photo soon. She got a beautiful floral design around her wrist.

People wear everything at the Ren Faire, and this weekend there were a lot of people dressed in steampunk. They even had a steampunk costume contest we watched. Tiffy had not heard of steampunk before, but the aesthetic pleased her. The guy who won had a contraption on his back that actually lit up! There was also a woman’s category and a couple’s category. Overhead, there was a creepy absinthe fairy watching the proceedings. I forgot my camera, but Mamastep took plenty of photos, so hopefully she will remember to send them to me so I can post them.

I was happy to see that, while most people at the Ren Faire were white, there were certainly many people of other colors there too. It’s good to know we white people are not the only ones crazy enough to dress in corsets and chain mail for no reason. (We actually did not wear any garb this time, so I was wearing an Aloha shirt.) After all, everyone’s ancestors lived through the Renaissance! There were even people of various colors in the steampunk contest. Nerdiness – not just for white people anymore!

We did not find anything but toy wooden swords with the symbol of the Isle of Man on them, which is kind of a bummer. I would have loved a necklace or something. We did see a unicorn just before the jousting. Seriously. It was a white horse with sparkles in its mane and tail and a stuffed horn on its head. And I hadn’t even had any absinthe!

Famous Hat