Renaissance Faire-Game

This past weekend my guy took me to a Renaissance Fair in South Florida. For an entrance fee of $20 a pop, we were in. Into what, you may ask? A world filled with wenches, knights, and realistic-looking weaponry.

Being in Florida, it was exceptionally hot. I felt like I was wilting in the sun, and although there was brew aplenty, I stuck to Gatorade. My hair stuck to my head, and I was grateful for my choice of shorts and a tank top.

I had no idea what to expect from this thing. The college I went to had an organization called the Order of St. George which was sort of a medieval thing. Fellow students would dress up in period costumes and have a literal feast.

People at this shindig were dressed quite similarly. According to wikipedia, the European renaissance era is considered to be from the 14th to 17th centuries. Well, the costumes worn around the festival seemed somewhat interesting. There were quite a wench lady outfits on the women. And for the dudes? There were lots of Robin Hood and Sir. William Wallace types trolling around.

It was like a mix of being transported back in time, or on a movie set. Then there were the pirates. Now, I do realize that pirates existed during that time -- but it seemed a little out of place for a Renaissance festival. The type of costumes I'd expect to see with a pirate would be something out of Pirates of the Caribbean (obviously). It seemed a little Gasparilla-ish to me.

Then there were the people dressed as fairies. That gave the event sort of a Lord of the Rings feel.

I think a lot of people are confused as to how they can dress "Renaissance-y". So they take creative liberties with the costumes.

So on to the merriment and entertainment! There was a tiny elf of a girl hanging by ribbons, who I swear is the most flexible female alive. Then the wishing well wenches, who actually licked audience participants.

And the R-rated seemingly drunk guy in his underbritches singing songs like "Beer is better than women" and another one that was about a medieval orgy. What blew me away was how many parents didn't mind their children listening to some fairly graphic lyrics. At one point in his song, a family stopped by and started listening. The town singer then said, "And for the family who just got here and has no idea what's going on - you might want to move on. This is an R-rated show!"

And lastly some fun jugglers named Pyro and Gyro, who picked out my guy AJ as a potential participant. They asked him to beat his chest, pretend to be The Thinker, and quote lines of Shakespeare. I was actually shocked that AJ did not know any. Instead, the beefcake guy wearing a gold chain belted out the Shakespeare like he was reciting the Lord's Prayer. What a strange world we live in.

One thing I did forget to do. That's eat one of those turkey legs. But perhaps I'm better off, since they probably cost $20 also.