#18. Attend A Renaissance Faire
While I was in Orange County last weekend, my friends took me to the Koroneburg Old World Festival in Corona/Norco. They are incredibly good sports, since I’m sure they had better things to do on Saturday than help me work through this list…at least I didn’t make them dress up!
The fair was great. It was Robin Hood weekend! My favorite legend! (Is it weird that I actually have a favorite legend? Is it weird that I have a favorite specific Robin Hood ballad? These are the questions I ponder when I can’t sleep at night…) We spent a lot of time at the fletcher’s booth looking at different types of arrow heads and what they were used for. It was a little frustrating at first, because the gentleman kept talking down to me…very patronizing. (Probably because I am blonde, and a girl…) I asked a couple questions though, which startled him. Once I mentioned that I had looked into doing my graduate work in medieval studies, his spiel became a lot more interesting.
We got to watch jousting. It wasn’t quite as good as “Medieval Times”, but it was riveting…especially when they stopped doing the accuracy work and actually started bashing each other about. I know it was scripted and choreographed, but they did a very good job. Their swords were sparking, and one of them even used a whip. At one point a girl came out and fought…I thought that they were trying to be politically correct, and figured she would be scripted to win. But NO! She was “severely injured”!
We also went into a weaponry shop. I nearly bought a hardwood broadsword. The only reason I didn’t was because I found the “scissors of doom”! (This is blogged in more detail on my knitting site…you can read it here if you are interested.)
My only regret? I wish I had taken more pictures. The only one of me was taken while we watched the jousting…I didn’t realize the men’s room was behind me…so it isn’t posted here…you’ll just have to believe me when I say that I actually went!
I would gladly go to another Renaissance Fair. It was fun. I might even dress up for it!
(I learned that they aren’t too picky about your costume’s historical accuracy…well, the vendors are, but the attendees aren’t…my medieval dress actually would have fit right in…and here I had been concerned because it predated the renaissance by a couple hundred years…piffle!)
