Annette and Will and I spent the day at the Michigan Renaissance Fair in Holly. Actually, it was a lot like it was last year. Some highlights
* I bought some very comfy and warm sheepskin slippers, which I am wearing as I type this. Not usually my kind of thing, and I’m sure I got ripped off in some fashion, but hey, when you gotta have slippers, you gotta have slippers.
* Will is now set for Halloween with a pretty cool knight costume, including a wooden shield and sword. It was more expensive overall than your “regular” Halloween costume fare, but it might last a little longer than that plastic crap you get at Wal-Mart. Here he is looking knightly:
* The jousting was cool, sort of like a professional wrestling match with horses and sword-play. Here’s a picture to set the stage:
* I don’t know why, but I think one of my favorite things at the whole thing was this puppet show that involved the main puppet trying to gather a crew of pirates. It looked a little like this:
* Mostly what you do at the Renaissance Fair is sort of wander around and look at stuff. Here’s a picture of Annette and Will standing near one of the sorta “alley-like” streets:
* Annette and I kind of figured out something on the way home today. It isn’t that this thing is set in “the Renaissance” or that it is full of inaccuracies per se; rather, it is more or less set in a fantasy role-playing game like D&D. Funny. I just heard a story on NPR the other day about how that game just celebrated its 30th anniversary….
I see you are interested in Renaissance Faires, me too. I have a Renaissance website. It has a lot of info on faires, costumes, etc. Check it out when you have time..
Will Never Return to the Site of Our Wedding — I am sad to say that despite our hosting a wedding at the Riverbend Inn in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario (ON), my wife and I will probably never return to the property. Don’t get me wrong, we have many warm memories from our wedding celebration…nobody can take that from us. And as many have pointed out, the Riverbend is a visually stunning location.
A Fundamental and Tragic Weakness — Unfortunately, however, the problem the Riverbend suffers from is much more fundamental: the owner lacks commitment to customer satisfaction and staff professionalism, which leaves the quality inconsistent and the response to concerns on this matter disappointing.