Renaissance Faire!!

Since we got married, Ashley has been working on getting me to let my hair down a little (so to speak) and go out and do some stuff instead of staying in my nice comfort zone, which is about a three foot circle around my computer. First on her list (and one of the conditions of our marriage) was attendance at the Renaissance Faire! I always thought they were a cool idea, though I never imagined that I would drive way in the heck out to one.

It was a very interesting experience. I must say I was surprised to find that it's not really people who are particularly in to history or re-create the way things were back in the day. More like people having fun in any way that's reminiscent of the renaissance. I mean, look at this guy
Yes, very fun. Next time we go to one of these we are totally going to dress up, although hopefully a little more tastefully.

We saw some really awesome jousts and fights. Surprisingly entertaining, really. It's ultimate fighting challenge, with weapons and (for all we could tell) death.


Afterward we took in some acrobatics shows. Those are knives he's juggling, by the way.

We were hoping Kendra would be a little darling the whole time. However, it turns out that she really doesn't like strangers, and we interrupted her routine. So for the first few hours, she cried constantly. It was very embarrassing and we felt like bad parents. We almost went home. Then she fell asleep in the moby wrap and woke up resigned to the fact that there were strangers around and that wasn't going to change.

After that she seemed to be the most popular attraction there

Finally we were able to be the proud parents instead of the skulking, apologetic parents. The rest of the day was wonderful.

We lucked out in another way too, the weather was amazing. I mean, perfect. Summers here in Chicago are really sticky, hot, and generally evil. This day was designed from the ground up for our renaissance faire enjoyment!


I have to say I like renaissance faire people. It's a bunch of nerds getting together and being silly with the understanding that no one is going to break the mood or criticize. No self-consciousness, no bullies to beat you up and take your lunch money. We felt a certain kinship with them. And even though we aren't the type to play dungeons and dragons or wear these kinds of outfits to church, we do know people who do those things, and we like them. There was just a lot of positive energy there, and everyone was your friends. It's a nice break from the usual cold distance people give each other in big cities.

Downsides of the faire: 1) there were far fewer real swords and other armaments than I expected. It's all about the weapons, people! 2) really bad fake accents are hard for me to get over. I guess that's me not leaving my criticism at the door. Next time I'll come in a period outfit and with a silly feigned English accent and get a little more into the spirit of things. Naaice.

By the way, medival helmets are not built with Farnsworth sized heads in mind.

I'm really glad we went. We're embracing the write-and-nerdy culture we've both enjoyed at various times in our lives. And we gave Kendra (and us) a rare chance to interact with people outside of our little three person universe.

A Note from Ashley: I sort of very stubbornly insisted that we go this weekend because we weren't at the Richardson Family Reunion--we had originally decided not to go because we were planning on buying a house, so it made sense not to blow money for a trip that was quite far and only for a few days. But in the end, we didn't get either of the houses we put down offers on, and we found out about the 2nd offer the day before the reunion, so we couldn't even throw it together at the last minute. No house AND no reunion--we were crushed. This cheered us up considerably!