Anyone who knows me - well knows we love the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair, Wine, Music and parties! This past weekend we put them all together and had a blast. The entire family traveled the 4 hour hike to sample the wine and hear Albannach play. Yup, 4 hours.... We were less than a mile away from the entrance and traffic stopped for 45 minutes. We though there may have been an accident and traffic was being diverted. No such luck. This was the largest crowd I have ever witnessed at the Renaissance Faire. It too us 45 minutes to basically get into the parking area. Crazy.

When we entered the Faire we could hear the music of Albannach -

"Albannach - (Jamesie Johnston, Jacquie Holland, Donnie MacNeill, Kyle Gray, Aya Thorne, Davey “Ramone” Morrison) Born and bred in Scotland, Albannach is far, far from just another Scottish Pipes & Drum band. Their style of music is exciting, energetic and driving and promises to leave you begging for more!"

It is nearly impossible to sit still while this band plays live. You may say but its bagpipes and drums... All I can say is that if you enjoy music and have any primal blood in you - you will be moved. This band is high energy on stage - jumping around with a huge base drum strapped to you is very impressive. They are all extremely talented and worth a listen but if you can I would highly recommend seeing them preform live.

Wine was a plenty but long lines and crowds of people kept us sober most of the day. We did enjoy a glass while walking the grounds. Many grape/wine oriented events this year but we found ourselves just enjoying the atmosphere for the most part. It was a beautiful day to be outside and with friends and family.

We stopped several time to see our good friend Albert Alfaro - Master Puppet Maker from www.imaginariumgalleries.com but each time the shop was full to the hilt. We will catch up with him next time I am sure. This was our first time coming home without a new puppet.... we have over 30 so I guess we have reached a limit of sorts. My wife was looking at a few but we left empty handed. We will be back Albert no worries:)

While there I approached the resident walking stick authority and he seemed genuinely impressed with my attempt at a walking stick. He asked me how much I would sell it for and of course I said I would not sell it. The he asked how much I thought it was worth, how many hours I had tied up in the carving, etc. He then suggested that the true value of my time and effort was in the neighborhood of $400. I never stopped to think of the value while I was carving my wine harvest walking stick. I just enjoyed the time with my daughter and solitude. Being able to focus on one thing without any outside expectations. I will probably be doing another sometime soon.

We stayed for the Finale in Song for the first time and might I say.... WOW! We will stay for this from now on. All the characters from the day come together for a show stopping extravaganza. Worth the price of admission by itself.

The final 3 weekends will be "Halloween Daze & Spooky Knights". May I recommend packing up the family and heading to the Shire?

Labels: day trip, family, renaissance fair, vacation, Wine

Here we go again! Hershey, PA has got to be our favorite family vacation location. We go every years sometimes twice a year. we usually make a long weekend out of the trip and this year was no exception. Hershey is only 3 hours away (no matter what Anita says we can't make it in 2 hour) and there are lots of shoppes and antiques along the way. We take to scenic route to Hershey - seems to be a theme of ours to take the less beaten path. We try really hard to not have a schedule while on vacation. Sometimes this means we turn off just to stop and walk around. Its really great to not be in a hurry.

This year Hershey opened up the Boardwalk at Hershey. Kind of a throw back to what Hershey Park started out to be. When we entered the Boardwalk area I was surprised to se a Nathan's Hot Dog stand and Billboards for Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Lots of water rides for the kids and some really cool slides for the adults as well. Of course the new rides and slides had some long lines but hey its and amusement park, right? Anita and the kids stood in line for an hour to ride a 45 second slide... eh.

I am more of a coaster fan. Wild Cat, Lightning Racer, Great Bear, Comet, Super D Looper, Sidewinder, Trailblazer and of course Storm Runner. We always enjoy Canyon River Rapids, Tidal Force and Roller Soaker when it gets hot in the afternoon. We usually split the day - In the morning we do all the water rides then change our clothes and do as many coasters as we can.

This year we skipped the Zoo of America so we could squeeze in a couple more rides. We rode the monorail over the zoo just to make sure all the animals knew we were there.

There is so many things to see and do in and out of the park at Hershey you will never be board.

Labels: amusement park, family, Hershey, Hershey Park, rides, vacation, water

Another great day trip with the family. We like to go hiking in the local parks but every once in a while you just need to see some pretty flowers. This is a relatively inexpensive trip that we do quite often. Partially to get ideas but mostly just to be with one another in a beautiful setting.

This time we walked the nature trails that go around the back side of the gardens. You can take in all the beauty of the gardens and learn the history of the park in a single day but each time you turn around there is something you didn't see or know before. With Shayna entering into the Environmental Sciences in school we like to show our support by venturing to the orchid section.

 
The artist in me finds the textures and colors overwhelming. I could spend the entire day shooting photos of the gardens and finding the little know paths and textures that present themselves throughout Longwood Gardens.

Labels: day trip, family, flowers, Longwood Gardens, outdoors, vacation

It was a long ride but we made it. We wanted to check out the local night life and see what we had been missing by living in good old Delaware. You know Myrtle Beach is a lot like Rehoboth a night. We walked the strip and quickly found ourselves engulfed by spring breakers - must say that was interesting. We walked the beach and stores on the avenue. Again a lot like our beaches in Delaware. We called it a night and went to our condo to get some rest and eat some dinner. It was nice to go back to our condo and have a working kitchen and supplies to actually make real food. Any one who knows us knows how we love to cook and we had been on the road now for 3 days - fast food, take out and snacks were just getting old.

 
 

The place was really nice with 2 bedrooms and a large living area, kitchen and balcony looking out on pond with a lit fountain in the center that changed colors as the water sprayed high in the air. Finally we could relax and feel at home on the road. This place was really nice.



The next day the girls got to meet up with their biological father Wayne. He had not seen them for several years. We decided to make an event out of it and go to the Ripley's Aquarium. This place is really awesome but really expensive. There were people inside freaking out about the horseshoe crabs just inside the entrance. Coming from Delaware on a 600 mile road trip the last thing we wanted to see is more horseshoe crabs! Just kidding. The outer part of the aquarium was full of wildlife from all parts of the world. We walked around and watched documentaries on several species. The we entered the underwater aquarium... this was really cool. Huge sharks and rays coming right up to us. Trey was looking for his fishing pole by the end of the journey.



 
That night we ventured back out to the strip and took a chance on the Ripley's Haunted House. That we may do again. This was well planned out and scary as hell. You go through 4 floors of darkness with chain-saw wielding maniacs chasing you and dark figures just making their presence known. There are points were you can see absolutely nothing and other time you wish you couldn't. This was fun for all... made me scream like a little girl... well made me jump a few times.

Labels: beach, family, haunted house, Myrtle Beach, Ripleys, South Carolina, vacation

Made our way back to PA for the closing weekend of the PA Renaissance Faire. We had a blast. The women in the family dressed for the occasion but I knew it was going to be too cold to go as my character... Mr Universe... ha just kidding. This is a great day trip event but plan on being exhausted at the end of the night! There are so many great shows to watch and be a part of. From the human chess match to the "Barely Balanced" juggling and danger show. Some of the shows are a little risque so make sure the little ones are too little to understand or old enough to think it gross.

Well any one who knows us knows we have a collection of the Imaginarium Puppets - Well the collection just got a bit larger. My wife was the big winner in the evening raffle. This was after we purchased 2 custom made fairy puppets and 2 $35 eggs. Bringing our total puppet pet count to 22. These creations are awesome. If you get a chance to go to the Faire make sure you visit Imaginarium and watch the master (Albert Alfaro) at work. While there we got a sneak peak at next years creations and talked about creating a web site for Imaginarium Galleries.

The Final Joust was a blood bath with fire and explosions and magic. I have a great deal of respect for those actors and actresses who stayed in character all night even though it was bitterly cold and windy. The lucky ones were wearing thick layers of fur but the wenches had to remain wenches and let me tell you... you could tell it was very cold out.

We usually stay over night and take our time in the area but it was just too cold, wet and windy. And because Anita won the Grand Prize we didn't get to leave until 8:30pm or so. That made for a long ride home but definately worth the trip. See some photos here

Labels: Albert Alfaro, day trip, Imaginarium Galleries, Pennsylvania, puppets, renaissance fair, vacation