Yesterday was really, really cool!
In honor of Kevin Hoppel's Birthday, we took to the road at 7:00 am and headed up to Lancaster PA to attend the Renaissance Faire Youth Day.
This Was Tommy Hoppel and his Grandma. The peasants were bowing to his Knightship.It was such a great day! The boys had a great time! We got there around 9:00 and were in time for the opening performance. The whole thing is like a big show. When you arrive, they seat you in a theater and tell you the story that will be played out over the course of the day.
The story centered around the Queen and Sir Walter Raleigh trying to fend off the efforts of the Lord of Essex to become the king.
So as the day goes on there are shows and demonstrations that play out this story.
After the plot introduction we gathered at a local tavern to watch a Sword Swallower perform.
His name was Damian Blade "The most Dangerous Man in the World".
He really swallows swords, really. I watched the first demonstration, ascertained that he was, indeed, ingesting an actual blade, and at that point was forced to look away from the rest of the performance due to a very queasy feeling in my stomach. I get queasy just thinking about it. The coat hanger was just to prove that he wasn't using trick swords.
Our next stop was the resident magician. He was very funny and talented. He did several rope tricks, did some fire eating, a trick with an egg, and the finale was to have someone put him into a straitjacket, which he managed to get out of pretty quickly.
Then we went over to the jousting arena to watch the gaming tournament. It was a very good performance. The three guys that played the knights were excellent riders and showed the crowd how the knights used to use games to practice and train their horses for battle. One of the guys gave a talk about the warhorse that was very interesting.
There were also some themes of the story involved in who won the games. The Knight in the green was the winner and he was a knight for the "Lord of Essex".
This then played a part in who would go on into the next challenge. The only inauthentic part of the show was the Appaloosa...
We had a nice lunch while the boys watched a live "Chess Game" that took place on a huge chess board. This was the next part of the story. I guess the Lord of Essex won the game and the Queen was concerned...
After the game we split up and John went with the Hoppels to watch a mime show, which he loved! Brendan and Paul and I walked around shopping and looking for souvenirs and observing the various Characters. Like Mr . Shakespeare for instance.
There are lots of actors all over the place, but the people that are really strange are the ones who come dressed up and seem to think that the world inside the walls of the Faire is more authentic than the one we are returning to at the end of the day. There were quite a few of these people. I think this is the old "Dungeons and Dragons" syndrome. It's kind of sad. There are also lots and lots of Pagan images, and really just a pagan influence that kind of permeates the whole place. I did see some Christian aspects too though. Probably all pretty true to the Middle Ages.
We found each of the boys a wooden sword and John found a dragon figurine that he wanted to remember the day.
It was time for the final Jousting competition that would decide the fate of the Sir Walter Raleigh and the Lord of Essex.
The Queen's Knight won the competition but then a band of brigands tried to over throw the queen's guard by force. There was lots of fighting, dead people everywhere and a cannon that finally had to be fired to take care of business. The queen won in the end.We went back to the theater for the finale and a lot of singing and dancing. There was a group of people from a place called "Camp Joy". They were all developmentally disabled and were having such a great time!
As we were leaving we went into a pirate ship that was just outside the court area. Inside the ship we found replicas of several helmets, swords and some armor from the "Lord of the Rings" Movie. It was really neat!
We went back to the cars and had a little party and Kevin opened his presents. Then we headed home. Boy, were we all worn out! It was showers and to bed for everyone.
Today we are going to be getting ready for the boys to go to camp. John and Brendan have scout camp this weekend. Paul and I are heading up to Frostburg to help Laura and Andrew settle into the new apartment. I can't wait to see it.
