Renaissance Festival

[benenglish]

I haven't been in many years.

Are the chain mail girls still walking around? Do they still hire local kids to play faeries and startle the shit out of people? Are the friars still walking around, still willing to talk doctrine? Do the games still include using a sledge to ring a bell or throw a bag of sand to dunk a lovely lass? Is everything still ridiculously priced? (I think I know the answer to that last one.)

What's it like these days?

I need a break in my routine and I'm trying to decide if the TRF would be worth carving out 8-12 hours.

 

[striker55]

Last time we went traffic was a mess both getting in and leaving. Vowed to never go again unless the traffic situation was fixed. About 6 years ago.

 

[baboon]

As you know I worked it it for 22 years. My last season was 2018 IIRC. I did meet my buddy & old boss about a year ago at the festival off season. There was a lot of new thing added & expansion of the grounds. Before I left my buddy started offering a concierge service. As with many things he had brought about others have followed. So expect things to be either more money or less fun.

As far as the Chain Mail Girls back when I left so should many of them 10 year earlier. If you really want to go that badly Halloween or barbarian weekends are generally the best weekends to get entertained. Park your ass at the Sea Devil & sit back. Who knows you might get lucky. The swingers generally occupy the front corner next to the privy . My guess Pam is still serving at the Bilge Rat corner bar.

 

[baboon]

Last time we went traffic was a mess both getting in and leaving. Vowed to never go again unless the traffic situation was fixed. About 6 years ago.

One drunk crashing & life flight calls to the scene will really give you a bad taste. I fought the construction for the 22 years I worked it. A lot of options now exist that did not 6 years ago. When I left lots of the companies employees had bets I'd be back. I promised never to return during the fair. 5 years now and I have not broke that promise.

 

[Wudidiz]

I find it difficult to choose which is the most amusing entertainment. It's either the Renaissance Festival or the Lake Conroe boat launch on Saturday.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

I'm gonna hit the Festival this year I've never been.

 

[Axxe55]

I haven't been in many years.

Are the chain mail girls still walking around? Do they still hire local kids to play faeries and startle the shit out of people? Are the friars still walking around, still willing to talk doctrine? Do the games still include using a sledge to ring a bell or throw a bag of sand to dunk a lovely lass? Is everything still ridiculously priced? (I think I know the answer to that last one.)

What's it like these days?

I need a break in my routine and I'm trying to decide if the TRF would be worth carving out 8-12 hours.

the wife and i are hoping we can make it this year

 

[jmohme]

A friend invited us to go to one with them a few years back.
Some of it was fun, but the freak show aspect kind of lost me.

WTF do Star Wars Storm Troopers have to do with Renaissance?

 

[HKSig]

The last time I went to the Renaissance Fare was 1982 or so...

 

[leVieux]

I find it difficult to choose which is the most amusing entertainment. It's either the Renaissance Festival or the Lake Conroe boat launch on Saturday.

<>

Think I know what you mean.

Way back in the early 1970’s, a Friend & I spent a Sunday afternoon at a Lake in the Hill Country watching the genuses approach with the stiff wind and crash into the dock. . . . .

They ALL did it, despite watching others before them !

<>

 

[baboon]

I'm gonna hit the Festival this year I've never been.

The wife & I went shortly after being married. Back then it was pretty much cash only. What I had in my pocket bought gate tickets a soft pretzel & a coke. With no program we missed most shows. We walked around having allergy problems and in the end I got sun burnt. I said to the wife what a waste while eating traffic on the way home. And I vowed never to return.

A few years down the road a very good friend ends up buying in & asked me to work with him as he trusted me. I was very reluctant as I was raised you don't work with friends or family. He said he would pay me crazy money & he did.

Find discount tickets.
Buy a program.
Watch the weather report.
Outdoor allergies load up on drugs.
Wear the most comfortable clothes & shoes you own.
Halloween & Barbarian weekend are the best freak shows.
Don't take you kids if possible, if you do keep them very close to you.
While credit cards are more common, cash is king as the phone lines have problems calling out.
There might be lots of cops & there my be very little it depends on the True King.
October can be a very hot & humid month, so stay hydrated.
November can be cold & wet & miserable.
Have the next day off if you can.
Staying until the fireworks are over tends to have less traffic, it was planned that way.
The fireworks do get cancelled depending on many things.
Watch your self when drinking as people drink bees all the time. You are out in the woods & bees live there. When the temperature changes the bees are out looking to load the nest.
If you drink Mead wine do not walk around chugging off the bottle. TABC & LEO might bust you if they deem your drunk. Back in the days you only went to jail by being a total idiot. Fighting especially the cops is a sure thing. Just because you leave there without getting PI or DWI does not mean the "Task Force" won't nab you.
Lots of very shady people keep your wallet in your front pocket. As pick pockets along with many other nefarious type are in the crowd.

 

[zackmars]

A friend invited us to go to one with them a few years back.
Some of it was fun, but the freak show aspect kind of lost me.

WTF do Star Wars Storm Troopers have to do with Renaissance?

Yeah. At least the star trek guys made some sense, but not star wars

 

[baboon]

Oh I almost forgot the most important thing, DO NOT BUY A TURKEY LEG AS IT IS THE NUMBER 1 FOOD TO GIVE YOU FOOD POISONING.

I could tell you many of the food vendors up there are not places I would eat from still to this day. I would eat at the Sea Devil any weekend.

 

[General Zod]

Been a good 20 years since I've been to either TRF or Scarborough (or...both, that year, if I remember). It was a lot of fun back then, but both sites had horrible traffic getting out.

 

[John Sam Rayburn]

What's it like these days?

It's far more commercial, far less "authentic", and way too crowded.

On Saturday afternoons the paths are clogged with Houston Sportsfans who don't have a clue what the Renaissance was, or care. Navigating through them is unpleasant.

Would it surprise you to learn that in 1981 the King himself banned me from entering the grounds ever again ?

I was a teenager working for a guy named Cy Stapleton who ran the Gutenburg Press. One Saturday night I drank a fifth of Beefeater Gin and passed out in somebody's stall, getting mud all over the countertop I chose to sleep on because I couldn't find my way back to camp. I really deserved a beating by that Shop Owner.

 

[jmohme]

Oh I almost forgot the most important thing, DO NOT BUY A TURKEY LEG AS IT IS THE NUMBER 1 FOOD TO GIVE YOU FOOD POISONING.

I could tell you many of the food vendors up there are not places I would eat from still to this day. I would eat at the Sea Devil any weekend.

But great photo ops.
I wish I could find the picture I took of the large woman in wench garb sitting on a curb eating a turkey leg. It was a classic shot.

 

[baboon]

But great photo ops.
I wish I could find the picture I took of the large woman in wench garb sitting on a curb eating a turkey leg. It was a classic shot.

Most of the women up there are large, All the drunks sees are big guns pushed up with a bodice.

 

[baboon]

the wife and i are hoping we can make it this year

Axxe you might want to see what they charge for Valet parking & rental on a mobility cart if y'all go.

 

[benenglish]

It's far more commercial, far less "authentic", and way too crowded.

I'm getting that. I've decided against going. I'm trying to relieve stress, not pile it on by dealing with heavy crowds and heavier traffic.

If I were a couple of decades older I could just reject the whole affair with something on the order of "It's never been the same since they killed off the Wolf Run."

But I'm not that old.

I'm just old enough to realize that the juice won't be worth the squeeze. I guess I'll have to find another venue to demonstrate to the youngsters that swinging the mallet and ringing the bell on the high striker is a test of skill, not strength.

 

[Lonesome Dove]

I'm getting that. I've decided against going. I'm trying to relieve stress, not pile it on by dealing with heavy crowds and heavier traffic.

If I were a couple of decades older I could just reject the whole affair with something on the order of "It's never been the same since they killed off the Wolf Run."

But I'm not that old.

I'm just old enough to realize that the juice won't be worth the squeeze. I guess I'll have to find another venue to demonstrate to the youngsters that swinging the mallet and ringing the bell on the high striker is a test of skill, not strength.

I've been told it's worth the boobies alone.