2014 New York Renaissance Faire

It's that time of year again, folks. Ren Faire time!

The New York Renaissance Faire kicks off the season in Tuxedo, NY. My family has gone to this one for about 14 years. We love going to see what's new and bringing new people to an experience that would never try without a group. This year Stovetop and Pickleface brought the two new folks and they had a blast.

It was a good day. Good food, great entertainment, and it didn't rain, which is a minor miracle. The only real let down was the bathrooms were broken, so it was port-o-potties all day. They weren't bad until the end of the day, though, so even that didn't put too much of a damper on things.

Some new things I saw this year:



Viking camp! There was the stirrings of something like this last year, but this area was mostly poorly kept flower beds with a walking path last year. There were actors in there all day long, cooking and crafting. The photo is from so far back because there were crowds of folks gathered around to ask questions and I didn't want to grab faces without permission.




Hey Nunny Nunny! We caught half of this show and it's definitely one I want to see in full next year. These two sing and crack silly religious jokes. Lots of puns and friendly ribbing. They ended the show with a song about the five constipated men in the Bible. It was delightful.

In this photo, they were thanking their sponsors Damn It All! Use Damn It All to get rid of sin today! Now in extra strength Damn It All To Hell!



Wolgemut! Which is pronounced VOLE-geh-moot. My mom has a hard time remembering how it's pronounced and calls them Voldemort. She apparently saw them perform last year and wanted us to go see them this year. They were great. They play the German bagpipes (an instrument I was not consciously aware of), but ended up playing all French songs in the set. They kept laughing about that between songs.



The Gabbers and I stopped into a candle shop that has been there for years, but we never went into it. No idea why, but it's always been skipped. They specialized in large sculpted candles and this Avengers one was nuts. There was a Wizard of Oz one next to it and a ton of cool Disney ones.



And, of course, we all hung out at the end of the day at the joust. Here's all my folks. From left to right: The Gabbers, Dad, Mom, Stovetop, Stovetop's Friend, Pickleface, and Pickleface's Friend.

(I was playing with the panoramic setting on my iPod camera and was only mildly successful. It's hard to keep that thing steady.)

I only bought one thing at this faire other than food and drink and it was this skein of hand-dyed yarn:


This is from Reyen Design Studios, who work out of the Foxglove Silk booth. They started dying yarns in addition to silks recently and I love how they layer colors. The majority of the skein is deep red and brown, but there are patches of green and purple in there that don't show up well in the photo. It's lovely.


And that was the first Renaissance Faire of the season. We'll be heading down to the PA Renaissance Faire next!



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Renaissance Faires #1 and #2

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR. The Renaissance Faires are starting up and our family has dived into it full swing. We went to the opening weekend of the NY Renaissance Faire and had a gay old time. Foods were consumed, things were purchased, and jousts were cheered with great enthusiasm.

Because this is the faire that we've gone to annually for... 13 years?...ish, I only have this one photo of the swag I ended up bringing home.


Lotion candle and soap from the Faerie Secrets place. I've got a big jar of the Dragon's Blood lotion candle that I've consistently used to calm down the eczema flare ups and it's good stuff. I figured I'd try out the soap, too.

And I broke my yarn purchasing goal early. I had intended to use what I have without buying anything new until the Fiber Fest weekend at the Coventry Farmer's market so that I could bust some stash, but the silk dyers at the faire had this on their back wall and I could not help myself. This photo's a little dark, but it's the perfect Fire Nation colors. I'm excited about using it. I have ideas.



Renaissance Faire #2 is the PA Renaissance Faire! The family hasn't been able to trek down there in about... 9 years? Something like that. College and illness have prevented the family from saving up or having the available time for a trip like this, but my mother decided that nothing was stopping us this year and she made it so!

We spent Friday driving down to our hotel in New Holland, PA and then wandering around the touristy shops until they closed. The Gabbers and I lucked out because we ended up all being able to pile into my mom's van. Originally two cars were supposed to make this trip, but The Gabbers and I didn't have to take turns driving.

(Not that we wouldn't have, but once Dad gets behind the wheel, no one else is allowed to drive. Mostly because he has all these routes memorized and can improvise highways without a problem. He doesn't like dealing with the rest of us checking to make sure we're still on the right road.)


And then Saturday was the faire! Have some photos!


A magic show, the Mud Show, a joust, and some knitting while waiting for the joust. Good times all around.

Here's my costume by the end of the day (I bought the hat at the faire):


And here's my swag:


Soap from a bee wax and honey shop. I have a thing about handmade-ish soaps right now because my skin has behaved itself since I started buying handmade-ish soaps. My parents bought some blackberry honey from the shop, which is also delicious.


Tea. Pretty self explanatory, methinks.


And then we spent Sunday morning driving around. We visited the Red Caboose Motel, which we had considered staying at, annoyed the animals, and took photos from the top of a silo.











And then we went on a long walk waiting for this place to open up:


Getting fantastic ice cream here is family tradition and we couldn't leave the area without some delicious goodness. It's the only time the parents will encourage ice cream for lunch.

And then we drove home and immediately crawled into our beds because we were exhausted with all the good times.



:D