The Texas Renaissance Festival
This past Sunday, I went to Renfest! It's been nearly three years since I last went, so I hardly knew what to expect. This was also my first year going in full costume and let me tell you, it was a pain to get everything together! LOL! eBay to the rescue!!!
I went with my sister, her husband, our two friends and a friend of theirs...six in total. We left at five in the morning because of how long the drive was. We wanted to get there as early as possible so we could enjoy all of the events...especially the Joust, which my sister wanted to get pictures of on her brand new digital camera that she spent WAY too much money on! LOL! Of course, my main reason on wanting to get there was to go to the Pirate Cove and the weapons auction they were going to have! Dressing up as a pirate is a plus, of course! And I wanted to walk away with some REALLY inexpensive swords!
Well, that's not quite how it went...of course. When we arrived at our friend's house that when everything started to go bad. She had spent all night working on her costume because a part of it had been sized wrong. Bad news? It would have taken her two hours to finish it! TWO HOURS! And we still had a nearly three hour drive ahead of us! She eventually gave up and went without her corset. She was pretty depressed about it...until we got to Renfest and she bought one there. After that, she was one happy Pirate Wench! LOL!
Anyways, the trip wasn't without problems as Danna forgot the tickets for herself and her husband! Which meant she had to make about a twenty to thirty minute drive back to her house to get them while the rest of us (we were going in two vehicles) waited for her and my sister at the gas station after picking up Danna's husband's friend. But we finally got everything in order and headed off. BORING TRIP!!! Over two hours spent in a car with an air conditioner that really never made it to the backseat while wearing the majority of my pirate costume was very uncomfortable! I was extremely happy to take a quick restroom break so I could stretch out my legs, but then by that time, we were already pretty much there! Sigh...
Skipping past the rather unadventurous final costume preparations, we made our journey to the front gates, handed off our tickets and entered the medieval world of quasi-16th Century Europe. Two pirates, two pirates wenches, a lone Crusader (minus his conical helm because it was very heavy and very uncomfortable for him to be wearing for the next seven hours) and one mutual friend dressed in khaki shorts and a polo shirt...well, five out of six wasn't bad. Coolest thing of the day? As soon as we entered, my brother-in-law was tagged by the Sparrow Tracking Agency! He was marked as the 321st 'Jack Sparrow' sighted at Renfest this year since it opened! Funny stuff that! I'm pretty sure he still has the clothespin they attached to him! LOL! Fortunately, my pirate costume wasn't of the Jack Sparrow variety!
We, of course, had to stop by numerous shoppes for the ladies. My sister, Tasha, had to by a pair of new shoes to walk around in as her boots became really uncomfortable for her to wear. And just like that, $60 gone! Ouch! That had to hurt the pocketbook! We also stopped by another shoppe so that Danna (as mentioned somewhere else in this embarrassing long account of my Renfest trip) could get herself a corset so that she could commit to wenching along with my sister! Whereas her rather generous amount of cleavage was a site to behold, having to be around my sister while she was sporting her rather hefty amount was kind of disturbing...
We spent most of the day roaming around and taking in the sights and sounds. Everything there was so expensive! I mean, ouch...really! We did more looking than shopping! LOL! But it wasn't a total washout as there were some really cool people dressed in some awesome costumes! I wish I had pictures of my favorites: Two young adult girls and a younger one; with the first two wearing matching dresses (one gold, one silver) with full face masks walking hand in hand while being guided by the younger one! It was really a cool sight to see! But then, it wasn't like me, Tasha and Danna didn't get any attention from those who weren't in costume! There plenty of people who wanted to snap pictures of us! I was surprised because I really didn't think my costume was that good! On a side note, Danna's husband was asked by an adorable little girl whether he was really a knight! She was so cute when she asked that! Unfortunately, he told her he wasn't and she seemed a little down after that. Awww...he could at least humored her! The big meanie!
Other highlights included: Tasha and Danna chasing the Golden Conquistador all over Renfest to snap a picture of him and them together! Me, Rudy (my brother-in-law) and Danna's husband journeying to the Pirate's Cove to barter in the auction! We all walked away with katanas and later, Rudy bought him a REALLY big bastard sword called the 'Punisher'! LOL! Really fitting for him!!! Tasha and Danna returned and bought themselves some leather binds and whips from the Pirate Cove. All I can say about that was that Danna's husband seemed pretty excited about that! LMAO!!!
As the day began to recede, I found myself beginning to feel the full effect of my boots! OUCH! A pirate can only take so much walking around in those things!!! Even my sword wasn't THAT much of a problem!!! LOL! Anyways, decided to rest and had a bite to eat. Unfortunately, we missed the Jousting Tournament (again!) and most of the other events, which kind of sucked. But, we were able to see the one thing we never really hung around for! The closing fireworks display! Scottish Bagpipers and Faeries came onto the Jousting Field in a small parade. The Bagpipers marched to the stage while the Faeries danced around with sparklers and the like. After a few moments of this, moved off the field and the fireworks show started. It was awesome! I never expected that it would be so elaborate! All of the fireworks going off while the Bagpipers continued to play! It was great!!! I have to admit, as we were getting ready to leave, I found myself not really wanting to go. The Scottish Bagpipers were playing at entry point just in front of the gates, giving everyone an awesome musical send-off! It was a fantastic way of ending our day there! I really had a lot of fun! Come next year, I definitely plan on going again!
And now for the pictures:
Danna, Tasha & Rudy
Danna's Husband, Jonathon
The Guys!
My Sister!
Danna and John Kelley
My Brother-in-Law and Tracked Sparrow Number 321, Rudy!
My Sister and the Golden Conquistador!
The Dreaded Pirate...The Teddy Bear Lord!!!
The Crusader and his Wench!!!
The Pirate and his Wench!!!
Danna and Tasha...The Wenching Hour!!!
He's got be the happiest man on Earth right about now!
AAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
Me and Rudy, the Pirates have arrived!
My Sissy...Doesn't she make a good Wench?
Terryll the Pirate!!!
Rudy the Pirate!!! And Subject of the Sparrow Tracking Agency!!!
The Day of the Pirates has come to an End...but not without a fight!!!
And there you go! That's as many pics as I could get from my sister! Next year, I'm taking my own camera...LOL!!! Hope I didn't bore you guys too much with this entry! I'll try to make the next one shorter!!!
Laters everyone!!!
The Texas Renaissance Festival 2007!
I went with my sister, her husband, our two friends and a friend of theirs...six in total. We left at five in the morning because of how long the drive was. We wanted to get there as early as possible so we could enjoy all of the events...especially the Joust, which my sister wanted to get pictures of on her brand new digital camera that she spent WAY too much money on! LOL! Of course, my main reason on wanting to get there was to go to the Pirate Cove and the weapons auction they were going to have! Dressing up as a pirate is a plus, of course! And I wanted to walk away with some REALLY inexpensive swords!
Well, that's not quite how it went...of course. When we arrived at our friend's house that when everything started to go bad. She had spent all night working on her costume because a part of it had been sized wrong. Bad news? It would have taken her two hours to finish it! TWO HOURS! And we still had a nearly three hour drive ahead of us! She eventually gave up and went without her corset. She was pretty depressed about it...until we got to Renfest and she bought one there. After that, she was one happy Pirate Wench! LOL!
Anyways, the trip wasn't without problems as Danna forgot the tickets for herself and her husband! Which meant she had to make about a twenty to thirty minute drive back to her house to get them while the rest of us (we were going in two vehicles) waited for her and my sister at the gas station after picking up Danna's husband's friend. But we finally got everything in order and headed off. BORING TRIP!!! Over two hours spent in a car with an air conditioner that really never made it to the backseat while wearing the majority of my pirate costume was very uncomfortable! I was extremely happy to take a quick restroom break so I could stretch out my legs, but then by that time, we were already pretty much there! Sigh...
Skipping past the rather unadventurous final costume preparations, we made our journey to the front gates, handed off our tickets and entered the medieval world of quasi-16th Century Europe. Two pirates, two pirates wenches, a lone Crusader (minus his conical helm because it was very heavy and very uncomfortable for him to be wearing for the next seven hours) and one mutual friend dressed in khaki shorts and a polo shirt...well, five out of six wasn't bad. Coolest thing of the day? As soon as we entered, my brother-in-law was tagged by the Sparrow Tracking Agency! He was marked as the 321st 'Jack Sparrow' sighted at Renfest this year since it opened! Funny stuff that! I'm pretty sure he still has the clothespin they attached to him! LOL! Fortunately, my pirate costume wasn't of the Jack Sparrow variety!
We, of course, had to stop by numerous shoppes for the ladies. My sister, Tasha, had to by a pair of new shoes to walk around in as her boots became really uncomfortable for her to wear. And just like that, $60 gone! Ouch! That had to hurt the pocketbook! We also stopped by another shoppe so that Danna (as mentioned somewhere else in this embarrassing long account of my Renfest trip) could get herself a corset so that she could commit to wenching along with my sister! Whereas her rather generous amount of cleavage was a site to behold, having to be around my sister while she was sporting her rather hefty amount was kind of disturbing...
We spent most of the day roaming around and taking in the sights and sounds. Everything there was so expensive! I mean, ouch...really! We did more looking than shopping! LOL! But it wasn't a total washout as there were some really cool people dressed in some awesome costumes! I wish I had pictures of my favorites: Two young adult girls and a younger one; with the first two wearing matching dresses (one gold, one silver) with full face masks walking hand in hand while being guided by the younger one! It was really a cool sight to see! But then, it wasn't like me, Tasha and Danna didn't get any attention from those who weren't in costume! There plenty of people who wanted to snap pictures of us! I was surprised because I really didn't think my costume was that good! On a side note, Danna's husband was asked by an adorable little girl whether he was really a knight! She was so cute when she asked that! Unfortunately, he told her he wasn't and she seemed a little down after that. Awww...he could at least humored her! The big meanie!
Other highlights included: Tasha and Danna chasing the Golden Conquistador all over Renfest to snap a picture of him and them together! Me, Rudy (my brother-in-law) and Danna's husband journeying to the Pirate's Cove to barter in the auction! We all walked away with katanas and later, Rudy bought him a REALLY big bastard sword called the 'Punisher'! LOL! Really fitting for him!!! Tasha and Danna returned and bought themselves some leather binds and whips from the Pirate Cove. All I can say about that was that Danna's husband seemed pretty excited about that! LMAO!!!
As the day began to recede, I found myself beginning to feel the full effect of my boots! OUCH! A pirate can only take so much walking around in those things!!! Even my sword wasn't THAT much of a problem!!! LOL! Anyways, decided to rest and had a bite to eat. Unfortunately, we missed the Jousting Tournament (again!) and most of the other events, which kind of sucked. But, we were able to see the one thing we never really hung around for! The closing fireworks display! Scottish Bagpipers and Faeries came onto the Jousting Field in a small parade. The Bagpipers marched to the stage while the Faeries danced around with sparklers and the like. After a few moments of this, moved off the field and the fireworks show started. It was awesome! I never expected that it would be so elaborate! All of the fireworks going off while the Bagpipers continued to play! It was great!!! I have to admit, as we were getting ready to leave, I found myself not really wanting to go. The Scottish Bagpipers were playing at entry point just in front of the gates, giving everyone an awesome musical send-off! It was a fantastic way of ending our day there! I really had a lot of fun! Come next year, I definitely plan on going again!
And now for the pictures:
Danna, Tasha & Rudy
Danna's Husband, Jonathon
The Guys!
My Sister!
Danna and John Kelley
My Brother-in-Law and Tracked Sparrow Number 321, Rudy!
My Sister and the Golden Conquistador!
The Dreaded Pirate...The Teddy Bear Lord!!!
The Crusader and his Wench!!!
The Pirate and his Wench!!!
Danna and Tasha...The Wenching Hour!!!
He's got be the happiest man on Earth right about now!
AAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
Me and Rudy, the Pirates have arrived!
My Sissy...Doesn't she make a good Wench?
Terryll the Pirate!!!
Rudy the Pirate!!! And Subject of the Sparrow Tracking Agency!!!
The Day of the Pirates has come to an End...but not without a fight!!!
And there you go! That's as many pics as I could get from my sister! Next year, I'm taking my own camera...LOL!!! Hope I didn't bore you guys too much with this entry! I'll try to make the next one shorter!!!
Laters everyone!!!
The Texas Renaissance Festival 2007!