One of the surprising and wonderful things about working at a school is that sometimes the students and alumni want to hang out with me and Mer. I liked my teachers in high school, but it never would have occurred to me to hang out with them, so I am always pleasantly taken aback when students suggest a social outing.
On Saturday, Mer and I got together with three alumnae and one girl’s boyfriend. We met up at the Great Lakes Medieval Faire. Mer and I got there a bit early, and so we were able to see the opening ceremony and people-watch. We had been to a Renaissance faire last summer, and expected much the same experience. This faire had a lot more people “in garb” – in costume. I’m guessing that about seventy-five percent of the people at Great Lakes had some form of costume. Because we didn’t, I actually felt slightly out of place, which is a rare occurrence. It was fun to see so many people having a good time.
Mer and I met up with Sarah, Hayley, Katie, and her boyfriend Obie. We wandered into the grounds, which were pretty extensive. All the girls had been to this faire before, so we let them take the lead. We spent a good couple of hours doing a circuit of the grounds, visiting shops and soaking in the sights. Katie, Obie, and Sarah all took turns in the ax-throwing competition, and Sarah nailed hers – it was impressive. Sarah let on she’d had some minimal training earlier in her life at a day camp. We stopped and ate early in the afternoon. In the shops section, Sarah was singled out by a man selling fake horns as someone who was clearly going to buy a set; by the end of the day, he was right – Sarah picked up a set that glowed in the dark.
Normally, Mer and I are pretty conscious to see the shows at these things, but we chilled and enjoyed the company of the girls and Obie. We did catch the end of an escape artist show, saw a forge demonstration, and saw a really funny “pirate magician” who was really entertaining in his banter. We also saw a live combat-chess match. The girls all had to leave a bit before closing, so Mer and I went to see the escape artist do his big finale, which was to walk across a flaming balance beam. He built up to it with a comedy show involving an audience member who “predicted” what objects audience members were holding up based on subtle and not-so-subtle clues from the artist. It was fun. Mer and I wrapped up the evening by going to the closing music sing at the “pub” (which was outdoors). I really enjoyed the day, and hope to go back next summer. Mer and I were exhorted in a kind way to come in garb next time – by a Pakistani man in flowing robes. I think we might work on that.