Good times at RPFS
I made it back from Southern Faire, my 8th annual pilgrimage. Perry and I had a great time visiting with our southern cousins, and prowling about the new shire there. I have a lot of people to thank for our good times, which if time permits, I'll do. But to sum up, the new site impressed me. It's size is comperable to San Bernardino, and for the most part the facilities matched the old. There were only a few things we could find to criticize, and I consider it a wash really.
There seemed to be a lack of public running drinking water fountains. I saw only one. Perhaps there were more, the one I saw was just outside of a priv. I only used one or two priv sites, so there could easily have been more.
Traffic flow onto the faire parking lots is reportedly rather backed up. Get there early. We did, and had no real problems. There's not much that could be done about all of this.
The faire is arranged in one long serpentine. There's a short split/crossover but the majority of faire site is one long road. I've always hated this. I think an extra cut through or two, providing faster access to the far end of site, would be most welcome. There were several times when an objective was noted to be way too long of a walk to bother heading for. You really have to commit to being out there for a long walk to get to the far end, and after you're back, you don't want to bother again. There ARE actor's pass-throughs, but even these mostly dump you right out on stages in awkward ways.
There was a lack of man-made shade, however the nature of a temporary site prevents this, and the ample natural shade provided by trees also makes it tolerable. I do pity the celts, and friends of faire, both of which seemed to be in wide open spaces. This sort of thing has long been a problem at faire.
Oh, and it's even more of a "dry site" than ever before. On the bright side, a rather experimental "stay on site and have a party" thing happened on Saturday. I missed it, so I can't really report on it, other than it happened and folks got to blow off some steam. Much deservedly!
On the very positive side, we were able to secure lodgings that were 3 miles away. We could easily have taken a cab if we wanted to split up for some reason, or were inebriated. The appearance of a rather large inflated dragon at the front gates provides a new and interesting amusement for the kids. Bonus points for style go to the multiple flushies and park buildings which were encorporated into the site. Most notably, the Boars Head seems to be using a roofed building for their feasts. The look is close enough to get away with it, since it's a simple stone and wood construction. I foresee an ale-stand with attached park building and entertainment.
As for our hosts, my eternal gratitude goes out to the San Lorenzo's who rolled out the red carpet (and the scrumptious food) for Tomasso and Don Luigi.
Okay, I'm going to toss out some other quick thank you's. My apologies if I haven't mentioned your name up here, there are too many for my tired brain to keep straight.
juice_weazel & Suzanne (wicked cool looking dental work, wish I'd taken a picture)
Victor (actually seen NOT drinking)
The Highwaymen (Fire! FIRE! Reload! thanks for playing along)...[ed. note: oops, I originally wrote The Gentleman Adventurers.]
Kevin O'Hare (Thanks for the directions, they were handy)
Hellsjester & Kristal (Thanks for the scotch, possibly the only alcohol I had all weekend)
Rhonda & her beau (Always good company, even in the heat)
Erin Rochelle McElroy (You really know how to swing)
Phil Johnson (Love your Sunday morning warmup)
Brian Howard & Troll (Sorry to interrupt your conversation)
Lee Milum & Sheri Monahan (Thanks for getting me wet, Lee)
Cristina & John (Thanks for the water)
Toadstool Art (Hey, thanks for the ice..err, now it's water)
Security, including Ron (nice Germans!)
Heather & Scott (Come earlier next time!)
The Hill People: Fubar & Wolf (Sorry we couldn't make it to enjoy some Mike)
Diane & The Dye Spot crew (Thanks for selling me the shirt off of someone else's back)
Robert Andruzco (Appreciate you taking time out for us on a busy weekend)
Everybody at Slamander Armoury, especially Mrs. Hrisoulas.
Oh, and Papa_Raja for the big hugs!
Outback Steakhouse (Thanks you friendly server. Wish I could send you more Flair)
Adolino Italian Restaurant (Great Antipasto Salad)
Galaday Family Restaurant (Yummy Chicken Enchiladas!)
Oh and another interesting note. Faire site is located a stones throw away from a brewery. I just found that incredibly amusing. Too bad it's miller, and not REAL beer. I'm a snob.
There seemed to be a lack of public running drinking water fountains. I saw only one. Perhaps there were more, the one I saw was just outside of a priv. I only used one or two priv sites, so there could easily have been more.
Traffic flow onto the faire parking lots is reportedly rather backed up. Get there early. We did, and had no real problems. There's not much that could be done about all of this.
The faire is arranged in one long serpentine. There's a short split/crossover but the majority of faire site is one long road. I've always hated this. I think an extra cut through or two, providing faster access to the far end of site, would be most welcome. There were several times when an objective was noted to be way too long of a walk to bother heading for. You really have to commit to being out there for a long walk to get to the far end, and after you're back, you don't want to bother again. There ARE actor's pass-throughs, but even these mostly dump you right out on stages in awkward ways.
There was a lack of man-made shade, however the nature of a temporary site prevents this, and the ample natural shade provided by trees also makes it tolerable. I do pity the celts, and friends of faire, both of which seemed to be in wide open spaces. This sort of thing has long been a problem at faire.
Oh, and it's even more of a "dry site" than ever before. On the bright side, a rather experimental "stay on site and have a party" thing happened on Saturday. I missed it, so I can't really report on it, other than it happened and folks got to blow off some steam. Much deservedly!
On the very positive side, we were able to secure lodgings that were 3 miles away. We could easily have taken a cab if we wanted to split up for some reason, or were inebriated. The appearance of a rather large inflated dragon at the front gates provides a new and interesting amusement for the kids. Bonus points for style go to the multiple flushies and park buildings which were encorporated into the site. Most notably, the Boars Head seems to be using a roofed building for their feasts. The look is close enough to get away with it, since it's a simple stone and wood construction. I foresee an ale-stand with attached park building and entertainment.
As for our hosts, my eternal gratitude goes out to the San Lorenzo's who rolled out the red carpet (and the scrumptious food) for Tomasso and Don Luigi.
Okay, I'm going to toss out some other quick thank you's. My apologies if I haven't mentioned your name up here, there are too many for my tired brain to keep straight.
juice_weazel & Suzanne (wicked cool looking dental work, wish I'd taken a picture)
Victor (actually seen NOT drinking)
The Highwaymen (Fire! FIRE! Reload! thanks for playing along)...[ed. note: oops, I originally wrote The Gentleman Adventurers.]
Kevin O'Hare (Thanks for the directions, they were handy)
Hellsjester & Kristal (Thanks for the scotch, possibly the only alcohol I had all weekend)
Rhonda & her beau (Always good company, even in the heat)
Erin Rochelle McElroy (You really know how to swing)
Phil Johnson (Love your Sunday morning warmup)
Brian Howard & Troll (Sorry to interrupt your conversation)
Lee Milum & Sheri Monahan (Thanks for getting me wet, Lee)
Cristina & John (Thanks for the water)
Toadstool Art (Hey, thanks for the ice..err, now it's water)
Security, including Ron (nice Germans!)
Heather & Scott (Come earlier next time!)
The Hill People: Fubar & Wolf (Sorry we couldn't make it to enjoy some Mike)
Diane & The Dye Spot crew (Thanks for selling me the shirt off of someone else's back)
Robert Andruzco (Appreciate you taking time out for us on a busy weekend)
Everybody at Slamander Armoury, especially Mrs. Hrisoulas.
Oh, and Papa_Raja for the big hugs!
Outback Steakhouse (Thanks you friendly server. Wish I could send you more Flair)
Adolino Italian Restaurant (Great Antipasto Salad)
Galaday Family Restaurant (Yummy Chicken Enchiladas!)
Oh and another interesting note. Faire site is located a stones throw away from a brewery. I just found that incredibly amusing. Too bad it's miller, and not REAL beer. I'm a snob.