Georgia Renaissance Festival 2008

Wow, it took a long time to get this up! Sorry about that. Just pictures and busy-ness. Plus, I wanted to make some use of the lovely gift I received a few weeks ago. Photos by me, decorations by Michaela Ferkul of Microferk Designs. I apologize in advance for all the pictures.



Welcome to the Georgia Renaissance Festival! This was Luke's (and DH's) first ever trip there, and only my second. I really hoped he would enjoy it. I figured he would. After all, we let him take his (foam) sword and shield out of the house! I even made him a cape in a single night...



... which he refused to wear, natch. I ended up carrying it around all day. (Notice there are no on-site pictures of him in the cape. He wore it long enough for me to take pictures at home (about 30 seconds), and never put it on again.) But I promise you, if I hadn't made one, he'd have *insisted* on having one once he got there. Ah well.

Anyway, it was raining when we left the house, but I took Valerie at her word and called to check on the weather. She said the storms were passing through, but it should clear up after, and the grounds were in good shape, so we came on. The day turned out to be warm but not hot, and incredibly windy! We arrived, intentionally, before they opened to give us plenty of time to get tickets and to enjoy some of the opening events. I also thought it would give him a chance to interact with some of the characters in a slightly calmer environment. I think that was a good move. The first person who approached him rather freaked him out. It wasn't her fault! She was just being in character, and they're all quite over the top, and he just flipped into shy mode. He didn't want to talk to her or even look at her. She took the hint and backed off, but I felt bad for both of them.

Enter Pirate Captain Helga the Horrible, who was actually quite wonderful! I am quite certain she witnessed the interaction with the first girl, so she approached him very calmly and didn't get too close at first. She was just so gentle with him and really got him to interact with her. He was still a little wary, but he smiled and talked with her, and even wore her special hat. I have since learned her name is Michelle, so I wanted to be sure and thank her by name. Thank you so much, Michelle!



Once inside, we immediately stumbled on Valerie. Excuse me, Lady Bliss Kissingham ("not just a name but a way of thinking;" hope I quoted her correctly there), plying her trade. You'll see her mark on both DH and Luke in the coming pictures. I had one, too, I'm just not in any of the pictures.



The primary thing I wanted to do with Luke was see a joust. I had absolutely no doubts that he would positively adore it, and I was not disappointed. Horses and hitting each other with sticks; what's not to love? Tell me this isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen:



Oh yeah, and there was jousting:



We ate lunch, though Luke wasn't hungry, so he got down to play in the open space near our table, having a grand time re-enacting some of the jousting he'd just seen.



We interacted with a few more characters, including a true high five:



And there was a boo-boo in there. I sat down in the shade to watch part of another act, but Luke wasn't interested, so he and DH were playing amongst the trees nearby. About 5 minutes later, I heard a familiar wail, spun around in my seat, and saw DH lifting Luke into his arms, blood running down his leg. Great. If it had been a clean cut, I would have just rinsed it with water and gone on, but no. He'd fallen on the ground, and it was full of dirt. Off to first aid, which thankfully wasn't too far away. I'm sure the entire grounds could hear him screaming as they cleaned it. I don't think it hurt that bad (they were using peroxide, not alcohol), he is just suddenly terrified of band-aids. He also clots about as well as I do (which is not at all), so a band-aid was definitely required to stop the bleeding.

We wiped up the tears, got him a bottle of water, and sat down to watch one of my favorite acts. Todd Keys (who I previously saw as part of the Zucchini Brothers) was amazing as always, and he kept Luke's attention the entire time (distraction; always a good thing where boo-boos are concerned). His juggling was amazing, particularly considering the 20-30 mph wind gusts (seriously).



And Barely Balanced was a new act for me (there is one other performer in the group, but this was the best photo). Luke was fascinated, and thankfully, he didn't get any bright ideas.



By this time, it was getting late, and we had all spent way too many hours outside in the sun without sunscreen. I don't know what came over me. Me, the person who preaches about always wearing sunscreen when you're outside. It just never even crossed my mind to put it on any of us before we left, and no one was selling it inside. DH was a little pink, but turned brown in a day. He had also used himself as a shield for Luke for most of the day, so Luke was only a bit pink on the back of his neck. Me? I could put a lobster to shame. Wanna see? And no, it doesn't get any pretty decorations. It's not worthy.



It actually continued to get even redder into the next day, and I ended up with a few blisters. It hurt for a good 3 days, and it took me three weeks to stop peeling. Did I mention I was also wearing a low-cut (for me) shirt? Yeah, fried my chest as well.

But, despite the sunburn, we all had a great time, Luke in particular. How do I know? The exit for the Festival is about 8 miles from I-285, the road we take to go home. He was unconscious well before we got there! We are definitely looking forward to attending again next year.

Currently feeling: knightly