Sunday, May 11, 2014

A Day at Scarborough

I finally managed to make it out to Scarborough Faire this year! After missing it last year, and already having missed half the season already, I was determined to make it out on my first available weekend off.

I made plans to meet my Prince Henri (I'm his Diane de Poitier) at 8AM to snag a good parking spot and to hang out with the Scottish court before the gate opened. I was a little late, about 15 minutes or so, but once I parked I found a text saying he would be another hour! Pfft. Frenchmen. So I poked around the Scottish camp in Aisle 12, where I found a couple of familiar faces to stay with until Henri arrived. We helped each other dress in our gowns, drank mimosas and loki, and they let me borrow one of their fabulous tiaras since it matched my dress.

Henri finally arrived, with 45 minutes to spare before the gates opened, and he joined us in getting ready. After munching a few croissants and situating ourselves, we headed to the gates to watch the opening ceremonies. After opening, Henri and I spent some time with the Scottish court before heading to the morning court dances. It has been waaaaaaay too long since I did any court dancing, I had forgotten so many of the steps! I think I'm going to have to make regular dates with Henri to keep myself up to snuff with my dances. ^^;

Henri and I skipped walking in the parade and instead found ourselves a shady spot from which to watch the procession, where we ended up running into some old friends, so it worked out very well! We spent a little bit of time floating around the faire village after that, tasting food stuffs and looking at some of the shoppes, before rejoining with the Scottish court for luncheon.

Unfortunately, I had to make my exit early, and left the faire around 3. I could tell that the heat was getting to me, and having suffered heat exhaustion before, I knew that I was experiencing it again. I managed to control the urge to strip down to my skivvies right there in the middle of the village, and waited until Henri had escorted me to my car before I began shedding my layers. And, in the great tradition of Scarborough Faire, I, once again, drove home in my Elizabethan undies, just my shift, stays, and stockings. (I must have looked quite the sight!)

Despite the heat and dust, I was really glad that I made it out. It was nice to be at Scarby again, and while I felt a little awkward trying to play Diane (I'm definitely not an actor, I'm just too shy for it) and feeling a little overwhelmed being surrounded by so many cast and playtrons (being a natural introvert, I do best talking to people one-on-one, large groups are somewhat intimidating to me), I had a really wonderful time. It felt like forever since I'd been to Faire. I'm going to try to make it out again at least one more time before the end of season, and I'm really looking forward to Middlefaire in the fall. Middlefaire is a lot more intimate, being such a small faire, and I really get the chance to talk to the other players without having to be "on" all the time. Though, I did get the warm fuzzies when a little girl pointed right at me and yelled, "Look, Daddy, it's a real princess!", her eyes sparkling and her face glowing. She was so excited that it made me excited. XD

Huzzah for faire!

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