Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular 2011

Posted on October 22, 2011October 22, 2011 by Dusty Roads

Last year I discovered The Jack-o-lantern Spectacular at the Roger Williams Park and Zoo. It’s a carved pumpkin trail lit only by the glow of thousands of pumpkins.

And last year I went alone to see what it was all about. This year I suggested to my friend Nancy that we take her two young children, Dawn (5) and Alex (7).. The only problem is that since I work weekends we would have to go on a weeknight aka school night.

Nancy decided it was worth it to keep them up so at 4:30 I was pulling into their driveway and we were bundling the kids into the car.

This year there was a new theme: All-new theme for 2011! The theme of this year’s show will be “A Journey Around the World.” It will include scenes from the Seven Wonders of the World (Taj Mahal, the pyramids and Sphinx, Mayan ruins, the Great Wall of China, and others) as well as representations of nations around the world, including a “European Vacation” and a trip through the Great White North complete with falling “snow”! And of course the famed centerpiece of the display, the “Laughing Tree,” will be back in all its spooky splendor. Visitors will be dazzled by hundreds of glowing jack-o-lanterns on the ground and in the branches, from tiny sugar pumpkins to gigantic gourds reaching up to 1600 pounds! (From RW web site)

We stopped at MacDonald’s and the kids were really wired. This was exciting for them then it was back on the road. We made one wrong turn… a slight detour that made me think of my sister’s philosophy…we’re not lost, just sight seeing…and then back on track it wasn’t long before we spotted the swan boats.

A bit farther along and we were being directed into a parking lot. Boy was it full! Even so we didn’t have to wait in line that long and were soon on our way to the start of the trail.

At first Alex was a little whiney..I’m not really sure why and Dawn kept saying she was scared but before too long we got to a section with music and from that point on the kids were in their element They danced the rest of the way.

According to the web site Photography is allowed on the trail when it will not impede movement on the pathway.
EXCEPTION: flash photography, tripods and monopods may not be used out of consideration for other people enjoying the magic of the trail.

I struggled along trying to get pictures with a long shutter without support..a near impossible task, while many people around me used their cameras, flash and all. Last year the No Flash Rule was strictly enforced but this year it seemed everyone was using flash.

I don’t know how long we took to walk the trail. The web site says it’s 45 minutes. It seemed to go fast to me but it was late when we got back to the car.

The kids were out cold before we were out of the parking lot. I had a great time and can only hope the kids did too. They were so tired when I dropped them off that I think they would have said yes to just about anything. 🙂

Sights, Scenes from King Richard’s Faire

Posted on October 21, 2011October 21, 2011 by Dusty Roads

To wrap up my series on King Richard’s 30th anniversary faire, I leave you with a few more images.

One of my favorite costumes…Puss – In – Boots

My Favorite Jousting Picture. I think it captures the speed and movement.

Pensive knight

Stilt People

Now where did we put those beer steins?Spock’s little Sister?

Kitty Kisses?

Snowy Tiger

And that’s a wrap for another year.

Joust to the Death, the Final Chapter

Posted on October 20, 2011October 20, 2011 by Dusty Roads

Well I can’t just end the tales from the Court without telling you about the last joust of the day.

This was the Joust to the Death. I have no idea why all four knights had to joust when the challenge had been issued just between the two main characters but when I arrived at the field for Part 3, all four knights were present and accounted for.

No wooden rings or jousting dummys this time. The knights and their steeds squared off, lowered their lances and charged.

There were several glancing blows before the first knight was unseated.

That’s when the fighting moved to the ground.

That’s also when it got really confusing.Something happened that I missed because the “Bad Knight” was winning when all three of the other knights came after him.

There was much yelling and I couldn’t make out what they were saying but as the scene wound down it became clear that the “Good Night” was cleared of the accusations and that the real thief (surprise, surprise) was really the “Bad Knight”. He was dragged off to be put in chains.

The Good Knight took his bows and no one died. The crowd began to disperse and make its way to the exits. It was a really good day.

Well that about wraps up my posts of my day at King Richard’s Faire. I have a few more images to share and then it’s on to the next adventure.

Pomp and Circumstance ~The King’s Tournament

Posted on October 19, 2011October 19, 2011 by Dusty Roads

The Knights and Jousting at King Richard’s Faire certainly follows the most ritualistic formula.

The “ring master” announced the King who mounts the viewing stand,

then announces the Knights who gallop in and take a run around the field before lining up in front of the King to pledge their loyalty. Then the King commands the games to begin and each Knight heads to his place in the field.

On command they race full tilt at a jousting dummy or spear rings that are thrown in the air by their squires. These are the games and sort of set the stage for the last meet in the afternoon when the “real” joust takes place.

Every year there is a back story to the jousts. It is played out in 3 parts. The morning games lay the groundwork and determine the “champion.” Usually it is also when you find out what the thing is that went wrong. Maybe it’s two Knights vying for the same Maiden or this year the Gold Prize for the games was missing.

Since I was lingering at the Tiger Stage so I could get the picture with the hawk, I missed this show which was called “The Challenge of the Champions”.

It was now 2:30 and I was ready at the field. The title of this installment was “The King’s Tournament”. This was when I was brought up to speed with the story.

When the Knights were introduced the “villain” Knight was argumentative and accusatory. It was pretty clear he was the “bad guy” but he was also the most popular. He got loads of cheers.

Two other Knights seemed to be there just to fill out the cast. They rode and performed the stunts but with little banter.

The last Knight to be brought in was announced as the Champion. I assume he must have won the morning Challenge to earn the title. It was clear the Bad Knight had it in for the new Knight even accusing him of stealing the prize.

As the Tournament progressed the war of words intensified and “Bad Knight” was disqualified for cheating. Finally “bad Knight” accused “Champion” of the theft and challenged him to a fight to the death.

The King allowed the challenge and everyone was to return to the Tournament field for the last installment of the story the “Joust to the Death.”

The dismissed Knights galloped out of the arena but not before Bad Knight attempted to engage Good Knight (yes, I know, bad pun) in some hand- to -hand.

As the crowd began to disperse the squires returned with the horses, now unsaddled. Immediately each of the horses picked out a favorite place and dropped and rolled. You could just tell how good that felt to them. 🙂 Nothing like a good dust bath to get ride of that sweat.

I’d seen as much as I wanted but I was curious about the afternoon joust so I wandered back to the picnic area where I spent the afternoon watching the crowds until it was time for the last installment.

Are we Jousting yet?

Posted on October 18, 2011October 18, 2011 by Dusty Roads

After lunch I made my way back toward the Tournament Field.

It was still early but I wasn’t that interested in the Mud Wrestlers or the Cirque de Sewer. As I walked by the Tiger Stage a lone performer was calling to the crowd to come and watch “Jacques” zee Whipper. We would not be sorry..or so he said. So with time to spare I slipped into a seat to see what this was all about.

Turns out that “Jack the Whipper” was a show using whips. My first thought was a medieval Indiana Jones but no. No adventure here. It was a very basic but silly show. “Jack” had a handlebar mustache drawn on his face and spoke with a very heavy fake french accent…when he remembered to use the accent . His lapses were deliberate, I’m sure. 🙂

He explained the difference in whips and cracked the various ones so we could hear the different sounds. He wrapped himself up in them and managed to break uncooked spaghetti that he held in his own mouth. When he was speaking and had to refer to himself, he had an audience member honk a horn…Jack zee Whipper (honk honk).

Of course he had a volunteer come up and hold a piece if spaghetti and he whipped that too. Between you and me I think that audience member volunteer was a “plant”. The liability would be too much if it was a real audience member. It was all entertaining but I was anxious to get to the Tournament Field.

Just as I was about to leave “Jacques” brought out a bucket of gasoline. He had a whip soaking in it. As he babbled on about the danger he lit a lighter and whoa! The whip was on fire! That made us all sit up and take notice. His antics with the flaming whip were impressive to say the least. Everything was moving so fast that it was hard to get a shot without motion blur but here’s what I caught.

Quite the finale and now (drum roll please) it’s really time to head to the tournament field for the jousting. This was the original reason for my visit.

I climbed the hill next to the tournament filed for an unobstructed view…Perfect. The king was just arriving. He hadn’t climbed to his viewing area yet. I’d made it in time…just!