Through the months of September and October, Maryland has a Renaissance Festival causing Annapolis to take a giant step back in time. What is set up as a small town, sits vacant year round waiting for its time to shine. They have different weekends dedicated to certain things, such as Pirate Weekend, but all weekends are the same admission price of $25. We packed up the car and attended this past Sunday, which ended up being a crazy crowded, sold out, event day. Nonetheless it was a fun filled time of faeries, pirates, corn on a stick, and archery (and free parking, which is a plus). Many of the attendees of the event dress as characters of the past, in different renaissance era garb. I don’t partake in the cosplaying, but I do enjoy watching others do it; walking around with turkey legs and beer steins in hand. There were elephant and camel rides available to people of all ages, and through all the dust being kicked up by children running around you could see a collection of small shops lining both sides of the festival. You could buy anything from swords and ninja stars to pieces of wood crafting and metal work.
I picked up a very interesting metal flower bud from one of the shops. Upon purchasing it, the salesman (and possibly creator of the flower) also poured rose scented oil into the bud so it actually smelled like a real flower. Truly a cool work of art! And of course after purchasing it I had to take pictures with my beautiful new knickknack.
This is really just one small example of all the neat things vendors were selling at the festival that day. After all the excitement and window shopping, we walked our dust covered selves back to the car to make the trek back home. Whether it be this year or next, I highly recommend participating in your local Renaissance Festival.
