"Hot and spicy meat for a hot and spicy redhead!"

[shadesong]

The above was spoken by ye olde beef jerky salesman. Yes, this is the RenFaire post.

yendi , elaynajade , kellinator and I piled into the car around 10:15 and arrived at the Faire at, what, around 11? Long drive. Parking was good, though.... Florida's Faire parking area is *long*, so if you don't get there, like, an hour before the Faire opens, you're going to have to hike. Georgia's is *wide*. Makes more sense. Line was not long, and we got in!

I'm actually really impressed with the layout. This looks more like a village, whereas FL's looks more like a row of carts and pavillions. Really good look. Really good staff, too - we were happily guided to the kids' area (Elayna napped in the car, so we figured we'd do her stuff until she got less cranky). She ran through the maze first (and got two "gold" coins for her trouble) ... and then we hit the petting zoo.

Best. Petting Zoo. Ever.

Now, y'know, it's a RenFaire, so I was expecting a petting zoo like Zoo Atlanta's - a few goats and an overgrown pig. No. The first thing we saw was the ostrich. Then the llama. I think we were as excited as Elayna was! kellinator volunteered to take her in, and they both bought cups of feed that made them very popular with the sheep - Elayna got *mobbed* by sheep and goats! She also got to feed the llama, a horse, bunnies, piglets, ducks, geese, chicks.... seriously. This petting zoo rocked. And they were smart - they put the feed in little ice cream cones, so the cups themselves were edible. Also in the realm of smart - there was a soap booth across from the petting zoo. They had a bowl of water and assorted fruit-scented soaps set out for kids to wash up after exiting the petting zoo. kellinator and I promised we'd go back there to shop, bt forgot. :( I'll have to go back next week.

From there, we went to the Endangered Cats show. Well, first kellinator and I got derailed and bought brass-and-crystal circlets here: http://www.geocities.com/brazin_lady/index.html. And then we joined yendi and Elayna at the cat show, where we saw a caracal, a black panther, a tiger, and an amore leopard. Gorgeous, and all natural - none of them were declawed or defanged. Elayna bought a stuffed jaguar to commemorate the experience.

From there, we were off to obtain beverages. Way too hot out. And then we shopped a little....

Got lunch (I got a chai milkshake! I don't care if it's inauthentic, it was chai and it was cold) and watched a magic show and Tuey, the firewalker, who wasn't really that impressive - kept dropping things. Perhaps he was hung over. At this point, I was starting to get a little frustrated with the layout... because the FL Faire has pathways, so you can tell where you've been, whereas this was more of a sprawl. And Elayna was starting to get even crankier than me, which I found frustrating, as pretty much everything we'd done in the last 3 hours had been for her. I had her try on garb - she pitched a fit about it being itchy. I went to a low boil, stalked around the shop as she got changed, calmed down... and bought garb for myself. Yes, I have garb again! Oatmeal-colored cotton off-the-shoulder top, 8-point 2-layer handkerchief skirt, and a reversible bodice - shimmery light green on one side, and shimmery beige on the other... colors that look good with this hair color *and* with my natural hair color, which I'll be going back to in June (red's too high-maintenance). So. Buying garb cheered me up, as did the conversation I had with Elayna about how we both need to be patient with each other...

Elayna then decided she wanted to go on The World's Biggest Rocking Horse. It is what it sounds like - a really massive rocking horse... that happened to be rocked by the hottest guy kellinator and I have *ever* seen. Long, curly, sun-streaked hair, mischievous eyes, slashed black shirt open to his waist to reveal his nipple piercings, navel piercing, and the black leather X-shaped harness he wore beneath... and a kilt in Royal Stewart. We melted, and it was not just the heat. Adam got to take her on the ride so we could ogle. :)

After that, we headed over to the Village Coffeehouse...iced coffee for yendi , coffee smoothie for me. kellinator got Elayna a frozen lemonade and herself a pineapple sorbet (served in a pineapple!). I chose my seat for the view. Yes, of the rocking horse guy. Y'all have no clue how hot this guy was - I'm bringing a digital camera next week so I can share the beauty.

Brief shopping excursion after this, as we were all just wiped out from the blazing heat... kellinator got a bronze medallion, and I got sandals to match my new garb. Depending on how pretty I feel, I may actually let yendi photograph me in it next weekend.

And then... home. Blessed, air-conditioned home....

More next week! :)

Comments

[deus-x.livejournal.com]

Blazing heat, oh how I wish it were so here.

This makes me really want to think about making a lil tour to out-of-state RenFaires. I love ours in Michigan (http://www.michrenfest.com/), have been to it at least 2-3 times a year for the past 10. But, alas, it is not until late August.

Maybe I should make some more out-of-state LJ friends and come visit them and their RenFaires :)

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Oh, you should! Ours runs til June 2nd.... come visit!

[crimmycat.livejournal.com]

ooooh.

you have any idea how hard it is to contemplate "too hot" when we've a fresh two inches of snow on the ground?
*pokes fun at self*

ok, do I have to beg for you to bring a camera? I'd love to see a pic of you peoples, especially in garb... and you're making the horse-rocker sound quite nummy. :-)

sounds fun - luck for a less cranky elayna next time!

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely bringing a camera next time. :) Dunno if you'll get a picture of *me*, though... :)

And yes, way too hot. I have major sunburn - and my clothing was absolutely soaked with sweat. Not just the pits. Everything.

And the weather has perversely gone cool now (from 90 this weekend to 50 this morning).