As aluded to in the previous post, last weekend I did all things festival. On Saturday after Neighbor Kitty’s model shoot, ‘Pickpic’ and I went to the MN Renaissance Fest.

care of here 

This gentleman was in our hearts and minds at the door instilling fear into what we had just gotten ourselves into.

I have not been to the Ren. Fest. in ages. The last time I remember going was when I was in elementary school and my mom chaperoned the event. Ages ago. And what I remember was not really what I saw there. You know how when you’re a kid you watch movies that have humor just a *little* above your kid like naivety but of course you have no idea at the time. Then years later you watch the same movie again and you are shocked by all the ‘adult jokes’ that were thrown in there? This was totally true for The Princess Bride. I remember watching it in my friend’s basement in MPLS when I was real young because it was her favorite movie. She made popcorn in her ‘Popcorn’ bowl and we had lemonade {or maybe it was water} out of her mason jar glasses – which by the way inspired me to use mason jars for my own glasses when I was to the point to actually have my own glasses.

But the point of that tangent was that going to the Ren. Fest. after 15 years of absence was crazy different! I am not one who likes to be ‘disturbed’ while I’m walking around. In places with large crowds I usually appreciate the crowds because I can blend in and no one sees me and no one talks to me. That way I can mill around and take photos and go on my merry way. Whoa. Not here. Here if someone saw you taking a picture of them, you most likely got jeered at. And sometimes even joined for a photo. 

please excuse my creepy face. It only looks this way because I was in total shock that this guy just walked up to me and wanted to be in a photo. It could have been the fact that large leather glass in his hand was getting to a sloshingly empty state.

… and moving on

I also have never seen so many people in age appropriate dress.

I am used to the state fair or valley fair or the ‘regular’ world where Renaissance attire does not appear in large numbers. But here, I  felt out of place because I was in a sweatshirt and jeans.

(thanks to Rebecca for the previous photos. They are wonderful additions to my collection of ‘weird event photos’)  

The grounds itself were quite impressive.

These ‘aged’ buildings lined the complex – and whoa nelly, my sore {and quite dirty} feet can attest to the fact the grounds are huge! There was a ton of food and crafts and several games and general store type stuff. I managed to find the handmade dog bone store where the rawhide braided chew that i bought for Roux paled in comparison to the ginormous dinosaur bone I could have bought her. Sheesh! I can’t imagine what sort of dog would even know how to go about devouring something like that. I mean it was HUGE.

I also located some very cute dogs while there. In looking into the festival online I learned that you are able to bring your dogs or cats to the festival. But only your dogs and cats. No turtles. No horses. BUT to bring them in is crazy expensive! It was something like $10 if you had a photo of them which isn’t horrible BUT if you didn’t have a photo of them, you had to spend $15 and then $5 to have their picture taken. Goodness! But regardless of the cost, I saw quite a few cute pups there.

I believe this was mom to the adorable pups that were for sale at the Festival. Suuuuper cute fuz balls.

And this was a beautiful and fluffy 2 year old pup named Madeline. And directly behind her was a comedy show where a guy was throwing knives at someone else. Comedic, I know.

In addition to cute dog hunting, I took in my surroundings which included all the people, buildings and ‘attractions’ that you can do there. We found a secret garden that we ventured through. 

It was a bit strange. It was back in the woods behind the festival and there were all kinds of little houses tucked back along this trail. The houses were super cute {see above} but then there were these random items just dropped along the trail that seemed a wee bit out of place {ie: the chess set with the chair so weathered there was no seat anymore. The ‘garden’ that looks more like a splattered mud pit with dead branches in it}.

But all in all the Ren Fest was an interesting experience. The kind of experience I don’t think I need again but am very glad to have spent my Saturday having. Thanks PickPic! And a post about the Ren Fest would not be complete without a series of Troy skipping along the trail…

Happy Friday! Hope others have fabulous plans for the holiday weekend. For the last zillion years I have gone camping with a group of family friends which has been great but this year we are all taking a break from that. And because of late planning Mur and I are having a Staycation right here in MPLS. Probably will go check out some wineries or brew pups or other various entertaining things. Have a good one!