Into the Woods of the Past

This hike took me back in time 400 years to the time of Robin Hood, King Arthur, and Sir Lancelot.  And I crossed one more item off my "to do" list! I finally experienced the King Richard's Faire held every Autumn in Carver, Massachusetts.  My husband and I both dressed up for the occasion to join in the fun.  Very thankful for a friend loaning out costumes for us to use! I chose to be a "lady in waiting" while Sir Michael dressed as my knight in shining armor.  The experience is definitely better when you don costumes.  Here Mike and I are posing with a friend from the faire:

The character's running joke: "please make sure you don't cut my head off in the photo!"
          Another great part of the day was meeting friends from church at the faire.  They had encouraged me to dress up and I am so glad I did!  They have spent a lot of time and creativity on their costumes, making them authentic and part of the ambiance.  Here is a quick pose of myself with them:

The faire was just the right size so you could experience everything in a single visit.  We spent 6 hours there and enjoyed it all.  There is a lot to do for kids as well and anything not appropriate for kids was marked so there were not surprises! Shows were plentiful and repeated throughout the day so you could catch them all!  We saw magicians, agile elderly men, jugglers, fire eaters, crazy women, big cats, and jousting matches.

The shows were very interactive as well inviting folks from the audience to join in and become part of the act! The cat show had several different species of tigers, and a monkey. The liger unfortunately has retired due to his age but hopefully some of his descendants will make an appearance in shows to come!


    This elderly man was quite humorous but so impressive doing tricks while standing on an unsupported ladder and then balancing on just his head while spinning on a doll.  And lots of food to be consumed!  Not cheap but part of the experience.  You buy food tickets in lots of 5, and buy food with your tickets.  Mike had a nice Cesar chicken wrap, and I tried the big turkey leg.  We then had 3 tickets left, just enough for a coffee on a chilly fall day! The turkey was salty and very filling, I couldn't eat even half of it!

Another experience was the visit to the privies-aka toilets!  Your typical trailer portable toilets, glad they were there, but not the fanciest of facilities!

I found a great souvenir-a new journal made with old fashioned tanned leather and recycled paper. Can't wait to finish my current journal so I can start writing in this :)

There were lots of shops, with artisans selling goods they hand make: pewter, wooden bowls/cups/puzzles, glass ornaments, costumes, leather shops, blacksmiths, and many others.  There are a lot of costumes and accessories for sale to create your own ensemble.

There was a final jousting match and our very own Sir Vincent won!

And my husband took a sweet shot of me (trying to look serious) in my favorite setting: the woods:

 

So much fun was had stepping back in time and enjoying the King's woods!