Denver - Day 3
Have you caught up yet? Are you ready for another long-winded, poorly written account of our vacation? If not ... TOO BAD!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Day 3 of our trip to Denver brought more wedding festivities. This time, we went to the Colorado Renaissance Fair. This was located about 40 miles south of our hotel, so we had a bit of a drive. I think we arrived somewhere around 11:00 am MDT. I had been to renaissance fairs before so I knew what to expect. There are 4 types of people that go to these things: those dragged there by one of the other 3 types, those who enjoy the ambiance and medieval theme, those who like to go dressed up and share in the fun, and then there are those people who are upset that they were not hired as actors and therefore feel the need to not only dress the part, but act the part. The last type were the worst because you weren't quite sure if these people actually worked there or not, but their crappy medieval, English peasant with no teeth accent usually was a giveaway (it was usually the reason they weren't hired in the first place).
Before I go any further, I need to rant about a pet peeve of mine at renaissance fairs. I can't stand people dressed as pirates. PIRATES!!! This is the medieval age, there aren't any pirates for crying out loud. These people could barely walk in a puddle without drowning. The worst is those guys wearing the big white, ruffly shirt. I mean, it's not like Renaissance garb for men isn't gay (and I don't mean happy) enough what with the tights and the poofy shoulders, but the white, ruffly shirt just irks me. I half expected to see some guy walking around in that shirt with a hot pink bandana and matching hot pants *shudder*
One more aside, I am also not particularly fond of those dressing up as Barbarians. Some do it right, but mostly, they are either extras from a Mad Max movie or they made their costume from things lying in the road on the way there. I did see one guy who I was positive just moved his toupee from his head to his kneecap.
Okay, back to the Renaissance Fair itself. It was a lovely place with a lot of acts. We began by eating (it was after all lunch time) that medievel of all foods, teriyaki chicken and rice for me, lasagna for Debbie. Who says we don't get into the renaissance spirit? After that, we walked around and came across an "Adopt-a-Greyhound" stand. Obviously, we couldn't resist and had to stay there a little while petting the doggies. I'll tell ya, these guys did a great job of picking dogs that would show the greyhound's best characteristics. Children were climbing all over these guys and they didn't care. They just laid there looking very comfortable.
The first show we saw was a juggling act from Texas (Coloradans don't seem to like Texans very much). These guys were really funny and had a great show. I would explain more, but I think the pictures (when I decide I have time to do them), will be more than sufficient. Then we went to see the jousting competition. Here is where I think marketing people should be drug out into the street and shot (or skewered to keep the medieval theme going). It's my opinion that some marketing person wanted the joust to have a sense of "drama" to it, so they hammed this one up big time. There were the two "good" knights (Sir William and Sir Michael) and the two "bad" knights (Sir Roderick and Sir Markus). Roderick and Michael were both suitably cast as younger knights. Markus had that look of an experienced evil knight. William, in whose section we sat, looked like someone thought Chris Farley could have been a knight. To call him out of shape is a disservice to the poor horse who had to carry that load. I was hoping the ASPCA would step in, but no luck. The joust went as expected: a good knight won, then a bad knight won and did things that upset the "good" knights, thereby causing a "challenge to the death" to be announced which naturally would not occur until the last show, a good 3 hours from then. I was not going to stick around for that ham fest.
We walked around some more and noticed that a storm was moving in. Now, keep in mind this place is in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain. Not the best place to be when a thunderstorm rolls in. We were trying to get everyone together (there are 15 in all), when God told us it was time to go. Gauging how close a lightening strike hits is never easy, but then again, they don't have to be too close to be scary. At the flash of light and simultaneous crackle that seems to indicate you are now a pot roast, we made a beline for the exit. Mom ... well, let's just say if the 100 meter dash began with a lightening strike instead of a gun shot, she could be an olympian. Remember when I said there were 15 people? This made getting into the cars interesting. One of those people was my now sister-in-law's father who was in a wheelchair. He stayed at the entrance while my brother went to bring a car to the front gate. Debbie and I figured it would be safe to walk to the car at that point, since mom and dad had run to the car, but would be staying there. I noticed something was awry as I stood on the spot where our car was supposed to be. No, it wasn't stolen ... dad had decided to be nice and drive to the front gate ... without telling us ... leaving us standing in an open field with a thunderstorm surrounding us and the rain starting. Debbie was a wee bit unhappy at this development. Fortunately, everything worked out and we didn't get too soaked. However, everyone was split between 3 cars and no one knew what we were going to do next.
This is where the marvel that is the cellphone become apparent. We'll call the 3 cars A, B, and C. Car A called Car B, Car C called Car A and thus we were all connected (though Car A did have to play a little cellphone version of musical chairs). We figured out were to stop for dinner and sort all the cars out. Also, this would be the last time this group got together as most of the out-of-downers were flying back the next day. We had a good meal, said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel.
Thus concluded Day 3 of our Denver excursion .... whew! My fingers hurt. Tune in next time for "Denver - Day 4" when I will actually have something to say ;)
Day 3 of our trip to Denver brought more wedding festivities. This time, we went to the Colorado Renaissance Fair. This was located about 40 miles south of our hotel, so we had a bit of a drive. I think we arrived somewhere around 11:00 am MDT. I had been to renaissance fairs before so I knew what to expect. There are 4 types of people that go to these things: those dragged there by one of the other 3 types, those who enjoy the ambiance and medieval theme, those who like to go dressed up and share in the fun, and then there are those people who are upset that they were not hired as actors and therefore feel the need to not only dress the part, but act the part. The last type were the worst because you weren't quite sure if these people actually worked there or not, but their crappy medieval, English peasant with no teeth accent usually was a giveaway (it was usually the reason they weren't hired in the first place).
Before I go any further, I need to rant about a pet peeve of mine at renaissance fairs. I can't stand people dressed as pirates. PIRATES!!! This is the medieval age, there aren't any pirates for crying out loud. These people could barely walk in a puddle without drowning. The worst is those guys wearing the big white, ruffly shirt. I mean, it's not like Renaissance garb for men isn't gay (and I don't mean happy) enough what with the tights and the poofy shoulders, but the white, ruffly shirt just irks me. I half expected to see some guy walking around in that shirt with a hot pink bandana and matching hot pants *shudder*
One more aside, I am also not particularly fond of those dressing up as Barbarians. Some do it right, but mostly, they are either extras from a Mad Max movie or they made their costume from things lying in the road on the way there. I did see one guy who I was positive just moved his toupee from his head to his kneecap.
Okay, back to the Renaissance Fair itself. It was a lovely place with a lot of acts. We began by eating (it was after all lunch time) that medievel of all foods, teriyaki chicken and rice for me, lasagna for Debbie. Who says we don't get into the renaissance spirit? After that, we walked around and came across an "Adopt-a-Greyhound" stand. Obviously, we couldn't resist and had to stay there a little while petting the doggies. I'll tell ya, these guys did a great job of picking dogs that would show the greyhound's best characteristics. Children were climbing all over these guys and they didn't care. They just laid there looking very comfortable.
The first show we saw was a juggling act from Texas (Coloradans don't seem to like Texans very much). These guys were really funny and had a great show. I would explain more, but I think the pictures (when I decide I have time to do them), will be more than sufficient. Then we went to see the jousting competition. Here is where I think marketing people should be drug out into the street and shot (or skewered to keep the medieval theme going). It's my opinion that some marketing person wanted the joust to have a sense of "drama" to it, so they hammed this one up big time. There were the two "good" knights (Sir William and Sir Michael) and the two "bad" knights (Sir Roderick and Sir Markus). Roderick and Michael were both suitably cast as younger knights. Markus had that look of an experienced evil knight. William, in whose section we sat, looked like someone thought Chris Farley could have been a knight. To call him out of shape is a disservice to the poor horse who had to carry that load. I was hoping the ASPCA would step in, but no luck. The joust went as expected: a good knight won, then a bad knight won and did things that upset the "good" knights, thereby causing a "challenge to the death" to be announced which naturally would not occur until the last show, a good 3 hours from then. I was not going to stick around for that ham fest.
We walked around some more and noticed that a storm was moving in. Now, keep in mind this place is in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain. Not the best place to be when a thunderstorm rolls in. We were trying to get everyone together (there are 15 in all), when God told us it was time to go. Gauging how close a lightening strike hits is never easy, but then again, they don't have to be too close to be scary. At the flash of light and simultaneous crackle that seems to indicate you are now a pot roast, we made a beline for the exit. Mom ... well, let's just say if the 100 meter dash began with a lightening strike instead of a gun shot, she could be an olympian. Remember when I said there were 15 people? This made getting into the cars interesting. One of those people was my now sister-in-law's father who was in a wheelchair. He stayed at the entrance while my brother went to bring a car to the front gate. Debbie and I figured it would be safe to walk to the car at that point, since mom and dad had run to the car, but would be staying there. I noticed something was awry as I stood on the spot where our car was supposed to be. No, it wasn't stolen ... dad had decided to be nice and drive to the front gate ... without telling us ... leaving us standing in an open field with a thunderstorm surrounding us and the rain starting. Debbie was a wee bit unhappy at this development. Fortunately, everything worked out and we didn't get too soaked. However, everyone was split between 3 cars and no one knew what we were going to do next.
This is where the marvel that is the cellphone become apparent. We'll call the 3 cars A, B, and C. Car A called Car B, Car C called Car A and thus we were all connected (though Car A did have to play a little cellphone version of musical chairs). We figured out were to stop for dinner and sort all the cars out. Also, this would be the last time this group got together as most of the out-of-downers were flying back the next day. We had a good meal, said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel.
Thus concluded Day 3 of our Denver excursion .... whew! My fingers hurt. Tune in next time for "Denver - Day 4" when I will actually have something to say ;)
posted by Eddie at 14:22
1 Comments:
I THINK YOUR WRONG, THE FOLKS THAT DRESS UP AS BARBARIANS YEAR AFTER YEAR, FOR THE LAST 10YRS, DO IT RIGHT. THEY ARE ONE OF IF NOT THE MOST POPULAR GROUP OUT AT THE COLO REN FAIRE....PEOPLE COME IN DROVES TO SEE THEM!!!
AND I AM ONE WHO TRAVELS A GREAT DISTANCE JUST TO SEE THEM. THEIR GARB IS THE MOST AUTHENTIC PRACTICAL FANTASY ARMOR AND WEARS I'VE EVER SEEN PERIOD
THE COLORADO BARBARIANS ROCK!!!!
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