Rainout
Wow. I finally managed to get online today, and backdated a couple entries. The hotel here charges for internet, and today has been the first day we've had enough time to make it worthwhile to pay the fee and sit down to catch up on email. We have said time because Tropical Storm Barry is blowing through, and the second day of the festival has been cancelled.
Yesterday was phenomenal. We easily topped all our previous records for best sales (sails?) ever. Any question as to whether the drive out here was worth it have been laid to rest. I think we're already planning to return next year. We were right next to one of the large stages, so along with a high noise level came amazingly high foot traffic. The only downside was that every show cranked the volume a little higher, and by nightfall we couldn't hear our customers, nor they us. Not quite the same atmosphere as renfaires or reinactment events we've done in the past. The hours were very loose, such as they were, and we ended up working a solid twelve hours. We had to eat while waiting on folks. We usually only keep hours that long at wars, when we are living on site, and things are laid back. This was solid non-stop all day! A couple pictures from early in the day; Here is my "attention getter" outfit, and Tomas looks cute in his new garb too. Out of respect to Sue, I won't post a photo of her, as she hates getting her picture taken. But she looked really nice in her new garb as well.
The weather started to turn late last evening, however. They cancelled the fireworks due to high winds. By this morning it was pouring rain. We are used to being open in all weather, and along with the serious reinactors, our gear is holding out just fine. The weather is inconvenient to us, but hardly a showstopper. But since all the entertainment is cancelled, there really is no point in opening. The public won't be coming out. It is slightly amusing watching the 'amateurs' trying desperately to hold their tents together against the wind, and pack up in the downpour. "Easy Up" tents are also "Easy Blown Down and Away" when confronted with any real wind. Those of us in heavier period canvas with storm guys are doing just fine. We'll pack up this afternoon at our leisure, and hopefully by late morning tomorrow the canvas will have had a chance to dry a bit. Packing wet canvas is a pain in the rear, but we've done it before, and will again.
Yesterday was phenomenal. We easily topped all our previous records for best sales (sails?) ever. Any question as to whether the drive out here was worth it have been laid to rest. I think we're already planning to return next year. We were right next to one of the large stages, so along with a high noise level came amazingly high foot traffic. The only downside was that every show cranked the volume a little higher, and by nightfall we couldn't hear our customers, nor they us. Not quite the same atmosphere as renfaires or reinactment events we've done in the past. The hours were very loose, such as they were, and we ended up working a solid twelve hours. We had to eat while waiting on folks. We usually only keep hours that long at wars, when we are living on site, and things are laid back. This was solid non-stop all day! A couple pictures from early in the day; Here is my "attention getter" outfit, and Tomas looks cute in his new garb too. Out of respect to Sue, I won't post a photo of her, as she hates getting her picture taken. But she looked really nice in her new garb as well.
The weather started to turn late last evening, however. They cancelled the fireworks due to high winds. By this morning it was pouring rain. We are used to being open in all weather, and along with the serious reinactors, our gear is holding out just fine. The weather is inconvenient to us, but hardly a showstopper. But since all the entertainment is cancelled, there really is no point in opening. The public won't be coming out. It is slightly amusing watching the 'amateurs' trying desperately to hold their tents together against the wind, and pack up in the downpour. "Easy Up" tents are also "Easy Blown Down and Away" when confronted with any real wind. Those of us in heavier period canvas with storm guys are doing just fine. We'll pack up this afternoon at our leisure, and hopefully by late morning tomorrow the canvas will have had a chance to dry a bit. Packing wet canvas is a pain in the rear, but we've done it before, and will again.