Virginia Renaissance Faire

My husband and I recently visited the Virginia Renaissance Faire during Pirate Invasion Weekend. Set on grounds of gorgeous Lake Anna Winery in Spotsylvania, the Faire separated itself from the busy, modern life. With this opportunity, I escaped from my daily routine and stepped back in time to an ancient English country village. It was unexpected fun and a wonderful experience.

We were lucky to meet Baron Stafford

The Faire is based on the late 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I: “Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth has chosen to grace the town of Stafford with her presence. Baron Stafford, the lord of these lands, must find a way to host the Queen, and her court, and their servants, and their servant’s servants, and their animals, and their families. The food costs alone would turn him into a pauper. Yet, a visit from the Queen and her court would be good for the growing businesses of Stafford. A solution is delivered: levy a tax upon the people of Stafford to pay for the Queen’s visit. After all, a visit from the Queen is in their best interests, the people should be happy to pay for her. The task of establishing and collecting the tax has fallen to the Sheriff. He has been authorized to use any means necessary to collect the taxes, pay for the Queen’s visit, and ensure that Baron Stafford’s coffers are not completely emptied. Sometimes, the Sheriff becomes a bit overzealous in his pursuit of the dollar, but, after all, it is for everyone’s greater good. A lone member of the town has reasoned that the Sheriff is levying an illegal tax. When words fail to persuade the Sheriff to alter his course, the town hero must take up the sword to fight for what is right. Nothing is certain except for death and taxes.” ("Staffordshire").

All beautiful dresses show the classes of the ladies

Greeting us at the entrance was a less-handsome version of Captain Jack Sparrow. He welcomed us to the Faire with a friendly smile and handed us what appeared to be a treasure map. It included all the events, activities, and concession stands that would keep us busy all day long. At first sight, I was impressed with all the corset-type dresses and costumes around me. They were so colorful and beautiful, but also extremely tight and hot in the warm weather. We could see a lot of tents selling all the unique, handmade products. There was a great variety of goods: jewelry, pottery, swords, armor, leather goods, incense, candles, oils, wood-works, and so much more. I popped into a few cute tents to shop for a souvenir. I was so delighted to buy a beautiful inexpensive necklace. Conversations with the artisans as they create unique merchandise is a must. I learned that throughout the day, the artisans and the craftsmen would demonstrate how to make glass beads and how to make thread on the spinning-wheel. We only caught a view of a blacksmith making tools, but it was enough to fulfill my curiosity. The heat was unbearable, but the bustle of a busy market day in the village kept our energy high.

Captain Jack Sparrow and me

The theme story was about the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Staffordshire, where the poor town was rebuilding after a terrible fire("Staffordshire"). Here and there, we could see minstrels and actors wandering around the street seeking the Queen's favor. They also tried to win the townspeople’s approval and permission to rebuild a theater. We saw a puppeteer control his puppet to please the royal family. We listened to a minstrel playing guitar and singing an old song as well. We watched a gipsy dance troupe in the middle of the bazaar. There were multiple stages to entertain people. Musicians, fire jugglers, and aerial gymnastics, hired by the faire, performed with skill and enthusiasm. Even though I knew they were acting, I still felt like I was back in time. Everything seemed so real.

A puppeteer was showing his talent

It was such a thrill to witness the jousting tournament. Two knights on horseback thundered toward each other, lances drawn courageously. The knights even taught us some of the art of jousting, from putting on armor to training exercises, to actual combat. We also learned how to swing a sword and differences stances for attacking. The Royal Archers explained to us the history of the bow and arrow. I now understand how archery played an important part in Renaissance life. I saw the master archer perform his fantastic skill with an accurate shot. The best part is that we could actually participate in those activities. I, for the first time in my life, was able to pet a horse and shoot a long bow. We had the opportunity to throw an ax, but I only wanted to test my ability in archery. There was a conscientious and well-educated archer who taught me a lesson about the range and the best position for the best shot. There was so much information that not only blew my mind and dazzled my senses, but also exercised my body.

I got to learn about archery

After all those amazing outdoor activities, we moved on to the indoor activities. We enjoyed a belly dancing show in a pub called Barleycorn Tavern while being served by wenches. There were so many types of food from Renaissance-age to modern time. There were savory Scotch eggs, pretzels, pickles, cinnamon roasted nuts and many other foods. I even saw the biggest roasted turkey in my life. A tankard of cold mead was such a perfect choice on this sweltering day. As we were watching the show, the Queen entered the tavern and I could see how all the other villagers greeted her respectfully. They all stood up, even the dancers stopped dancing. All men bowed and all women did a small curtsy as they all shouted “ God save the Queen”. She said “God save you all” in reply. Then she was led to the chair with the best view of the room and the show continued. I've seen all this on television, however, to do that with all those people in their costumes felt both bizarre and exciting. The environment of the decoration, the music, the food and the beer added to the realism. With the accents and the acting, these actors and actress truly amazed me.

Belly dancing in Barleycorn pub

Everybody stood up for the Queen's arrival

Among nobles and fools, tradesmen and villagers, minstrels and dancers; my day was awash with fun and history. Rarely is there a chance for us to leave behind the daily stress of life to find joy, especially with all the charming characters of the Renaissance-age. I definitely will come back and highly recommend this festival to all of my friends.

Who doesn't like holiday?!?

Americans love Holidays! I don't know where else in the world will have more Holidays than America. Listing basic national Holidays, we got over 10 days already. Beside some traditional Holidays like Christmas Day, New Year Day, Thanksgiving Day, Valentine's Day, Memorial Day or Independent Day,... there are some other Festivals seems just for kids, such as Easter Day, Halloween Day... and some holidays for honor some specific individual that are Father Day, Mother Day or Military Appreciation Day...

Fireworks on Independent day

Sometimes, for few holidays, people don't really care about the meaning of it or do nothing concerned to the meaning of that holiday!! For example, Labor Day (first Monday of September), it is the day to celebrate workers, we don't actually do anything to celebrate it but get a day-off. And I've even read in some magazine that in high society, Labor Day is considered the last day of the year for fashionable women to wear white (because the Fall is coming, and the color for fall season is dark to keep warm). It also marks the beginning of a college football seasons, maybe Americans, because of this reason, care about this day more than it's real meaning! :)

And having a lot of holidays is not enough, American love to celebrate holidays as well. They can celebrate in multiple ways - decorating, party, gathering with family, buying and giving gifts or watching fireworks... Simply, holidays are a chance for people to get day-off from work, so they like them.

Cookout BBQ in one of holidays

Usually on some holidays, it's just the occasion for family members gathering and having some fun together, cooking and hanging around. They often cookout like BBQ or party outdoor, but there are some traditional foods for particular days, such as Roasted Turkey, Apple Pie and Stuffing for Thanksgiving. And not just eating or partying, in some special days, they have to do special things. Like you have to watch or shoot fireworks on Independent Day, you paint the eggs or take your kids to the egg hunt for Easter Day, or on the Halloween Day you have to prepare some candies for "Trick or Treat" or wear costume and join a costume ball.

Babies on the Egg Hunting Field on Easter Day

All the markets and stores always get everything ready for the Holiday about a month ahead. The Fall has just come and I saw orange everywhere in the store already. Pumpkin, ghost,  monsters, vampires, witches, werewolves,....are all around me now ( that is pretty scary )!! And the Halloween day is on October 31, it means about more than one more month! And even Busch Gardens is getting ready for Howl-O-Scream with all the scary rides such as Haunted House and the Scare Zone.

Anne in Giraffe costume in a scary garden on Halloween  

Skeleton (Aiden's insides are out)  

The most fun thing of Holiday is decorating, especially on Halloween and Christmas. My husband says these are the 2 most expensive holidays in America because people keep buying too much things for decoration.

Decoration for Christmas 

A store next to my house with the Halloween color

And I did have some wonderful memories of decorating my own house the first time for Christmas. My Mom-in-law took me to pick up a Christmas tree and gave me some tips to pick the good one. Because Andrew and me have just begun a family, we didn't have anything for decorating, so Mom had to lend us all of her precious stuff. Andrew and I tried to figure out what else we should buy to decorate the house and make the tree look better. That was a remarkable night when we three decorated the tree together. We ended up just hanging all the things of Andrew's family on the tree, but thanks to that I've got a chance to hear more things about Andrew and his family. Mom even showed me which one is the souvenir of 1 year-old-Andrew-baby on his first Christmas.  And I begin to recognize that hanging on the Christmas tree itself was the story of a family. Christmas is actually a chance for people go through the decoration to look back on the path the whole family had passed.

My first Christmas tree

Here is another story about Christmas. The 1st time I went in a Christmas Mouse store, I just ran out from my Mom-in-law like a crazy girl because of too much beautiful things. That store seemed like handing the most beautiful decorating stuff for Christmas. And I saw a bunch of beautiful coats. They just looked like some coats without sleeves I've seen on some movies. When my Mom-in-law found me, I was  trying on one of those coats, and she just burst out laughing because that coat turned out to be a Christmas tree skirt (the thing that you cover on the base of the Christmas tree so that all the needles will not mess up your house's floor!)

Silly me in the "coat"

Sum up, with all the interesting above, who is gonna not like holidays?!! And specially with Americans, they really know how to enjoy their holiday, and know how to make it significant. How about your holidays? How is the most memorable holiday of your family??? :>