Everybody remembers going to the local fair. It’s warm outside and the day is long. You arrive, buy your handful of tickets for rides and games. I know, it’s wristbands now, but in my day, it was tickets. The music is blaring from the rides and the carnies are yelling out to passersby, “Win a prize!” The smell of corn dogs and polish sausage fill the air. Funnel cakes are obtained and eaten. And at the end of the day, the sun sets and the lights come on.
SP’s Weekly Photo Challenge was the Fair. Our big summer fair is about 2 miles from my house. But I still managed to not make it this year. However, some other folks did! Some of them even made it to other fairs and festivals.
A great image with all the things a fair embodies by Ann Barber
What is it I love about summer? Long summer days and warm nights with a cool breeze blowing. The lightning bugs lighting up the night like fairy lights leading the way. Going to festivals and fairs where the food is bad but perfect. The sounds of people laughing, having a good time. The feel of warm grass on my bare feet. Open windows and the sound of frogs and crickets singing. Fresh vegetables and grilled anything. Yes, I love summer.
Summer brings the fair and late nights and early days. The fair at dusk as the sun is setting and the lights are starting to glow.
In my previous post, I told you about Murfreesboro and all the great food and drink we had there. Now, it’s day 2 and we are finally going to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival.
Breaking our Fast
We spent the early morning with coffee and Abby (old dog) in the sweet garden at the Childress house. I found a book on the historic homes in the area and found our Airbnb in the book. I love little details like that. On the way out of town we stopped at Coffee Fusion. They had so many great treats, it was hard to choose just one. I got a biscuit stuffed with eggs, cheese, and I don’t remember what else. But it was gooood.
Golden Retriever Abby was happy to keep us company while we broke fast in the garden.
Inside Coffee Fusion, it was hard to decide what to order.
Historic homes in Murfreesboro. The airbnb we stayed in was in this book.
Entry
We made our way to the festival, after a slight traffic delay. We got there at exactly the same time everyone else did. But traffic moved fast and we were inside the faire in no time. Pro tip: buy your tickets online. The will call line was completely empty so I was ready to enter the faire in no time. But my friends had to wait in line to buy their tickets. The good thing is the line moved quickly and we were in the gates, ready to faire.
My friend and I as we enter the Faire
Travelers of all kinds
What I love about the Renaissance Festival is that it is full of travelers. It’s a safe bet that most of the people we saw have never been on an airplane or out of state or maybe they’ve never even left their home town. But when you visit the Faire, it’s like walking into a completely different world. People are dressed up as everything. There are knights, princesses, queens, peasants, elves, aliens, everything imaginable. The vendors are artisans. They make what they sell from jewelry to clothes. I bought a staff and the man offered to put my initials on it. I thought I’d leave it and come back. He said, “it won’t take long.” (see pic below). It’s all there and most of it is handmade. We drank some lovely dark ale and ate giant turkey legs as well as pretzels. We watched several comedy shows. And yes there is jousting.
handmade drinking horns
Jousting overseen by the Queen herself.
Swash and Buckle are a family friendly comedic duo.
Staff with my hand carved initials. He did this while I stood there.
Time to go back to the real world
After we had Ren faired ourselves to exhaustion, we headed out. But before leaving Murfreesboro, we had to stop at The Green Dragon for one last ale and a snack. It’s a hobbit’s life for me.
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