June 15, 2001:

I was still deciding whether or not to make the trek down to Missouri for the faire, considering it was the very next weekend after RFotM.  I still wanted to go, but decided out of no where to have a little break--I decided that Kris and I were to go in civvies.  (I don't think I would have enjoyed driving 8 hours there and back in garb, so I believe that I made a good decision!)

Like I've mentioned many times, this was the first time that I've been to a faire in 'danes since the first time I ever attended faire at KC back in 1996.  It was interesting to say the least!

We left Omaha a little later than we had planned, but made good time (I was driving and my baby; the radar detector was revved and ready to go!)  Kris and I started the day off with a full tank of gas and Burger King breakfast then were on our way.

After stopping a million times to fill up water bottles, to fill up the gas tank and to take bathroom breaks, we finally made it, and easily found our way to the fair-grounds where the faire was being held.

I knew this was a small faire (comparable to Newman University down in Wichita, KS) so was 'preparing myself'.

I joked that we were heading down to hicksville...but my joking seemed to be confirmed when our first  impression of the faire was a sign in garage-sale style proclaiming "Renaissance Festivil".  For some reason I had a strong feeling that it was not meant in spirit to be "Ye Olde Renaissance Festivile" or anything, but simply a grave misspelling.  

Kris and I exchanged looks of "well, here goes nuthin'!" as we pulled into a parking spot on the grass.

Tickets were fairly (har-har!) reasonable, and as soon as I stepped on site, I felt 'weird' to be in danes.  Kris and I cruised around the site a bit, checking things out.

We watched a bit of the joust, and while I am not a fan of jousts in general, this one seemed quite bland after seeing the joust at Salisbury in Des Moines.  But, they were putting up a good effort, and the crowd seemed to be jiving with it.

I soon found out that mundane clothes act as a disguise, as people that I know easily walked past me without recognizing me.  It was good to see people that I knew and recognized--after I caught their attention!

Much shopping was had.  Surplus knife booths were abundant and I took advantage of the lower quality goodies (I figure, I'm in it for looks and flash.  I don't want them to be too functional or well balance, I might be tempted to put them through their paces!)  While the surplus goods are grand for shoppers like myself, they are bad for business like Claymore Custom Cutlery, who make all of their blades by hand and are beautifully crafted.

I ended up purchasing a wooden handled boot knife for $3, a silver bodice dagger for $3 and an ornate wooden sheathed piratey knife for $10.  I also purchased a duo of an oaken spoon and fork for $10.

We walked around, browsing, saying the hellos to everyone that I recognized (Melissa and Clayton from Claymore Custom Cutlery, Wendy: "Velvette Duvay" from Kansas City and her new friend the Highlander Chris, Kim and Chuck at Kilt Krossings, JR who was doing some weapons demonstrations and Ray and Beth who were visiting for the weekend.)

We caught a few "stage-act" shows that were decent, but were lacking a little bit of "oopmph", I thought.

Something else that was lacking "oomph" were the turkey legs!  Ack, do not eat the turkey legs at Sedalia.  I can't put my finger on what was wrong with them...but they were very off-taste.  Food was high-priced as usual, and I've found that prices are even higher at smaller faires, which is understandable.  

The lemonade (with "souvenir" glasses) definitely hit the spot though.  The faire did score some points with the "taking cash directly" approach as opposed to the "wait in line for some tickets and then wait in line with the tickets for some food" idea that was employed at Wichita last year.

I caught myself doing my 'garbed wench walk' on accident a couple of times, and realized that I must look quite silly swishing my hips with nothing much on them to swish!

We sat down to watch Wild Mountain Time, which was a pleasure as always.  We heard some of my favorite songs: Flower of Scotland, Queen of Argyle, Farewell to Novia Scotia and they *almost* sung The Moose Song for the Pub-Sing, but there were too many children present. ;)  At one point I put up my arm to jingle my bell bracelet as a precursor to applause, and felt both shocked and foolish to not find it there. :)

It was interesting to be out of garb, and I think more comfortable at smaller faires.  I've found that smaller faire patrons tend to be the "come out, get drunk and look at and hassle all the freaks" type.

I purchased a Wild Mountain Time CD, and we munched on some dinner while listening to The Rogues of Scotland.

The arrangement of the booths was pleasing.  The *look* of the faire was fairly decent, considering it was smack dab in the middle of town and was a temporary site.  There was a small variety of booths, mostly garb and blades.  There were a few craft booths, I did not see any demonstration booths except for the wool spinning at the entrance and I do believe that the theme of the weekend should have been "Blades and Bodices".

This was also only the second year for the faire---so taking all of that into consideration, it really was quite a grand undertaking.

There was a very small crop of street characters, most of them were fairies (it being Magic and Myth weekend, I believe) and they mostly kept to their own.

Some 'celebrities' in the street performer category were there: The Slave Holder (aka "The Tickle Stick Guy") as well as "The Big Toy" from Kansas City.

It was a very relaxed atmosphere that kept us occupied for the day.  I made out with a huge sack of King's Nuts as a souvenir for my family and ended up taking 3 rolls of film.  There was a lot of space for the activities and booths, so things were spread out a great deal.  I still haven't decided if I like this or not (Salisbury was very spread out as well).  Sometimes I believe that it makes things too quiet.  I like hustle and bustle, but that's just my personal opinion.  I suppose if you have the space, you might as well use it!  Maybe in a few years they'll have enough vendors, entertainers and patrons to fill up the whole space and give me the hustle and bustle that I enjoy.

For a seedling faire in a small town, I give it two thumbs up.  I got some good shopping done, I was able to get out of town for a day, I saw some friends, enjoyed Wild Mountain Time, The Bondriginbuh Bards (as I call them) and The Rogues and got to see faire from another perspective.

All in all, a fairly good trip and I'm sure I will head back down there in another couple years!

~Larisa the Loud, Wench # 1154