The Texas Renaissance Fair

Yesterday, on October 28, 2008, I went to a Renaissance Fair in Texas with Andrea, Shayne, Brian, Jaden, Jared, Uncle Tim, Auntie Debbie, Tara, Nikki, Joey, and my dad.

Renaissance Singers



Andrea, Shayne, and Me

The first thing we did when we got into the fair was go and watch the jousting. It was a show of a joust to the death. In the joust were Sir Henry and another knight whose name I don’t remember. We were supposed to cheer for Sir Henry and boo for the other knight. One of the people helping to set up for the joust came up to us and asked who would like to be the lady whose honor Sir Henry fought for. When Shayne said she would, he gave her a knot of ribbons to put on the knights lance. In the end Sir Henry lost and the other knight won.


Sir Henry entering the arena!

After the joust we started on our way to watch another show when we saw the elephant ride. All my life I had been wanting to ride on an elephant so I asked my dad if I could go and ride one. He said yes and me and Andrea went and got on one of the elephants.
While we were riding I looked back and saw the elephant behind us reach over the fence and grab a coke and eat it, bottle and all! It was really funny.

Me and Andrea on an elephant



After we got off the elephants, I saw a maze close by and decided I'd try it out. When I got into the maze it took me forever for me to find my way out. After a while I heard someone shout, "Follow her!" I looked over and saw a girl who had already finished the maze and had come back to help others find there way out. I followed her and she led me to the exit.

Me on the Bridge at the end of the maze

After I got out of the maze, we went and ate lunch. After Joey, Robin Hood (Brian), and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Jaden) had finished there lunch they played sword fighting. It was so fun to watch Brian and Jaden fighting Joey.



I Fought the Sheriff!

After lunch, we all went to watch the cannon show which was very boring and loud. After a while my dad came and got me to go and see the bird show, and Shayne decided she would like to go to.

The Red tailed Hawk

At the bird show, there were vultures, hawks, and an owl. One really big vulture started to chase the lady that was helping with show because she had shown it a piece of chicken. When she gave it the chicken the vulture ate it in ten seconds!


10 Second Meal!

Later, when the show was over, me, Shayne, and my dad went over to the pony ride and I got on the biggest one there was, which could easily be mistaken for a horse, and Shayne got on one of the smaller ones.


Me riding a pony

After the pony ride, me and Shayne got on a type of swing that looks like a boat were two people can get in. There were two ropes that were used to make the swing rock.

Me and Shayne on the boat swing

Later on, I bought a funnel cake for me and Shayne to share. I had the funnel cake on my lap and when I took it off, my dress was covered in white powder from the cake.
After we finished our cake, we were walking along when came by a whole bunch of people playing with some sort of stick that are weighted on the ends. You can toss the stick around by using one or two other sticks that aren't weighted. We stayed there and played around for a while until the others came and we started to leave.
Playing with weighted sticks

On our way out, we passed by a shop that was selling "baby dragons" and I really wanted to get one so my dad got a blue one for me and I named him Puffle.


Me with Puffle

All in all it was a good day, and I had a lot of fun.

The Renaissance
(1300's-1500's)

Wealth was pouring into Italian cities from different businesses and commerce. This gave people time and money to support art and to learn new things. By the 1300's, many smart people were sickened by how learning had fallen since old times. Everyone missed the wonders of Rome and Greece's ancient glory. They wanted a rebirth. This is what caused the Renaissance, which means rebirth. People were finally starting to come out of the darkness of the Middle Ages and into the light of learning.