I have returned safely from the TN Renaissance Festival. I can not thank Bob enough for all his efforts in arranging the trip, and for doing all the driving. You rock Bob! I also must thank Jen N. a million times over for putting up with the split guy / girl rooms. Also thank you to Bouncy Jen for having such an upbeat fun attitude all weekend, and not to mention a mind like a steel trap. An extra special thank you to Neisha, for making the trip out, and bringing Dina and Bethany with! It was so great to have you all back at faire.
Pictures are posted at: http://www.wohlershome.net/gallery/v/Renfaire/TNRF/TNRF_2008/

I had an absolutely wonderful time this year at TNRF, of course really… I do every year. The cast was friendly as always, although it seemed as if their number shrank some this year. I didn’t have as many interactions with them as I have had in previous years, but there were what seems to me to be a LOT more patrons this year than I remember them having previously, so I would expect cast to be spread a little thin. As always the Queen at TNRF is the most personable Q.E. I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with. Once again she recognized members of our little group, and made it a point to interact with us. most of the interactions were simple but welcoming, however at the end of the day Sunday there was a very special interaction. Boatswain Hawser received a high honor for certain, as her Majesty, upon receipt of a gift of a miniature message in a bottle, presented him with a kiss on the cheek.

Some of the food still continues to confuse me. I have yet to understand why one would put green beans, watercress, and broccoli on subs, brats, and polish sausages but those are the added bonus vegetables you receive when you ask for onions. The Scotch eggs were delicious as always, as was the brownie from the bakery. The baked potatoe came highly recommended by numerous cast member, although I passed on it, as I did pretty much everything else. I really tend to not eat a lot at a faire. Other typical faire choices were available, such as turkey legs, corn on the cob, butterfly potatoes, and the always popular renaissance personal pizza. One thing new thing much more prominent this year was the availability of vitamin water. While not a full substitute for gatoraide, it certainly is nice to see a faire offer something to help keep people more properly hydrated.

The music acts were wonderful, as always. I was able to catch, Craig of Farrington (one of the main reasons we went), Empty Hats, Porter and Stout, the Roses, Celticopia, and Hither Dither and Yon. This weekend seemed to have a lot of problems with amplification for performers using it. Personally, I dislike amplification at faire, but with the size of the 2 main stages at TNRF, it’s a necessary evil, and was sorely missed when it was not working.
I was also able to catch a couple of Axel the Sots shows, and picked up his latest CD, bringing my CD purchase total for the weekend up to five. We had dinner Saturday night with Porter and Stout, and I think a good time was had by all. I have to remember next year that the LARGE beer at Camino Real is about 1/2 a pitcher… It was really nice to get a chance to catch up and to get to know them better. We had talked some the previous year, and so we continued getting to know each other this year. I really wish they would get an opportunity to perform at some events in this area, as they are a talented, fun act.
Sunday we had dinner with Craig, which was also enjoyable. There were some transportation technical difficulties that had him a little preoccupied, and cut his dinner time short, but these things happen. Thanks to the wonderful network of rennies, things were resolved before it got to late though, and we still had a good time. While at dinner we ran into Louie, who used to work GrinKins at Bristol. It was nice to catch up with him a little as well. I had tried to stop by his cart during the day but he had a steady mob of customers each time I tried stopping by so this was a welcome surprise to the night.

The weather turned out to be pretty good over all. Saturday was hot, with high humidity, but there was a good strong breeze that kept things bearable. Sunday was hotter, with less humidity, and almost no breeze. That made Sunday worse, but compared to the hell days at Bristol, this was a walk in the park.

As the TN site is a soft site, there were really no notable changes to the site, with the one exception being the Castle. There has been a lot of progress made on it, and although I did not make it up to see it, I could see that they have gotten the 2nd roof installed.