Four States in Four Days... sorta
Thanks to one of my superiors deciding he would work this weekend, after a lot of complaining on my part, I got a long weekend off to relax and unwind. And I couldn't have gotten a better weekend. Friday was pretty uneventful, I sat around the house, got some cleaning done, and watched a TV marathon on USA (couldn't even tell you what show I was watching.)
By Saturday, I really needed to get out. Lately, I've noticed that when I'm bored, I start to really dwell on how lonely it is sometimes. I really need to get a dog. :P But Saturday was worse then normal. It would have been my fifth anniversary of marriage, and being alone on a day those only serves to remind me how lonely I am, really started to get to me. So, after asking a bunch of people to go out and getting denied each time (it was short notice, I totally understand), I did something I haven't done in a long time. I went out and hit the town by myself.
Luckily, the bar I went to was completely then the last time I went there though. The last time, it was fairly empty and full of 30-and-40-something, a real cougar hunting ground. This time though, there was no cover at the door, the drinks were very reasonably priced, and the place was packed by the end of the night and everyone was around my age. After a few beers, I went over and played some pool until I scared everyone away with my awesome ballards skills... or they just really sucked, and even got up the nerve to dance. I'm not a big fan of dancing by myself, you look pretty pathetic when you do it. But, there was a group of people dancing, and it was obvious that they weren't couples, so I joined in with them. After a couple hours of dancing, I called it a night and drove home. But not before getting sandwiched between a couple of older, black women on the dancefloor. Apparently, they really liked my... err... hips.
I woke up Sunday and turned on my computer, expecting another day of lounging around the house when I found out that Tony Ringtail's BBQ was going on. In fact, by the time I found out about it, it had already started. I figured, screw it, I'm going. So after quickly getting dressed and grabbing the address, I was on the road to Jersey. Can't say it's been the first time I've drove two hours for fun on short notice.
Once I finally found Tony's place via some awesome Google-fu (and spotting a guy spinning around in circles with a tail on), I ran into Scooter and Whitepaw, who handed me an Arrogant Bastard Ale. Still not a fan of the stuff, but it set the mood right there. The rest of the day was spent socializing, drinking, playing on the playground, and eventually manning the grill. The most memorible thing for me was during grilling when someone (can't remember who right now) pointed out that I should turn the grill down a bit and I told them that it was at a perfect 350 degress. They then pointed out that I must have spent too much time in Europe because I was reading in Celsius. Oops. :P Either way, it was a great, impromptu way to spend a sunny Sunday, and a big thanks to Tony for having the birthday, err, I mean BBQ, and thanks to Whitepaw, Scooter, Lupine, Clementine, and Skippyfox for the great company.
Well, I had to leave out around 11 that night because I had already made plans for Monday morning. So as soon as I got home, I got to bed. On Monday, after slapping my alarm numerous times, I got up and got ready to head out to Pennsylvania for the Renaissance Faire that goes on up there every year. After getting dressed and getting everything I needed into the car, I was underway. Now, the faire is 66 miles (106 km) from my house. I figured it would take around an hour in a half to get there. Nope, it's over a two-hour drive, and worse because my GPS kept trying to make me drive through a toll road that I can easily circumnavigate. So I sent a text to the people I was going to meet up with there, and sure enough, they hadn't even left the house yet. Typical furries. :P
Well, I get to the Faire around 11:30, and Lupine, Luna, and Clementine (which was a slight surprise) made it there about 40 minutes later. We met up with Dan and Shannon at the gate and went in and immediately one of the Faire players started to fool around with Clem. That pretty much set the mood for the day. We didn't catch a whole lot of shows, but mostly spend the day wandering around. The wine tasting was AWESOME! There were a lot of unique tasting wines they had for sale, and I totally need to pick some up the next time I'm up there. we spent a lot of time mostly looking because, frankly, ren faires are bloody expensive. But, I found a drinking horn finally! It has a brass-coated rim and ring, and I got it for a slight discount due to a hick-up. After some more wandering, we found a leather store and as I was thinking aloud (as I normally do), the shopkeeper told me he could make me what I was looking for... on the spot. After only waiting a few minutes, I got the hook I needed to keep my horn to my belt. It was so cool.
But, that pretty much sums up the day. A lot of wandering, looking, and occasionally purchasing of stuff that you just don't normally see on a day-to-day basis, and that's what I like about ren faires. This day was so awesome though because of the company. A day spent with friends is always good one, and Monday was the most fun I've had in a while. All the sexual inneudo didn't hurt either. And, I think we might have converted Clem into a bit of a ren junkie. :P
All-in-all, it was an amazing weekend. And remember, "just the tip".