Are You Going To Scarborough Fair?

It's that time of year again when North Texas goes back to the 16th century with the return of Scarborough Fair. Hubster and I made the hour south drive to Waxahatchie, Texas yesterday morning. (Quick tip: go early or be patient with the drive. It's bumper to bumper once you leave I-35.) The Renaissance Fair will be in town until end of May and usually we go towards the end. But last year was so freaking hot, we went now. Not sure that was the brightest move, many of the Artisans were focused on selling and not the demonstrations of their craft.

That said, we had fun with masks. 

 And had some foodies.

Which, were not entirely great; but unless you're camping out in the parking lot and grilling up your own meals, you have to take what you can get. And it's not cheap. 

At one o'clock they have the King's Parade. I felt bad for the drummer whose strap broke and he had to bail out early.  There were some interesting new additions this year. 

The parade was running a little behind and poor King Henry was literally jogging to keep up.

After the parade, we kept wandering around discovering the village. 

 I ended up buying a set of amazing wind chimes, a new leather satchel and a wooden hair clip. 

Right before we left, we visited the "Coin Men" who create customized bronze and silver coins that you wear as medallions. You have a range of images to select from for the front and back of the coin.

They employ a machine invented by Da Vinci that utilizes weight and gravity to stamp into metal. It revolutionized coin making. 

Two years ago I got Pan on one side and Bacchus on the other. As you can imagine, it was a wild year. This time around I asked for two coins: one with the sun and moon, the other with a Fleur de lis and Family Heart.

But the best part of Ren Fair is the cosplay. 

This year had an unusually high number of mythical folk. 

Elves.

And quite a large number of Pirates.

You always get a good show with the men who like to wear skirts kilts.

And the ladies who just want to show skin.

The baby was a nice touch though. 

And the handful of people who pick out their costume from Party City, or make their on attempt to participate. 

 

And then the ones who REALLY get into it. 

Even though it was a mild 85 degrees, I don't know how they do it. Probably why you end up seeing more and more skin as we get closer to summer. 

Fox tails were quite popular this year. 

And at the end of the day, when it's time to part ways and get back to reality in the 21st century, you're reminded why you came here in the first place.

To unplug.