Sunday, April 30, 2006

Medieval Times

Yesterday, Missy, Nikki, Steph (another sister), Lynda, her husband Shawn and some people Missy and Nikki work with took a little road trip to just north of Chicago. We were going to Medieval Times, where we would experience "the magnificent age of chivalry, pageantry, knights, jousting and tournaments" and "partake in a sumptuous feast as a spirited tournament unfolds before" us. (I took that straight out of my souvenier program, since they described it way better than I could have.)

Anyway, it was really cool. I'll be posting some pictures shortly. Unfortunately, the actual "arena" part was pretty dark during the actual show, so it was hard to get any good shots of that. Plus, once the actual jousting and competitions started, I was too busy yelling for "our" knight (shown int these pictures) to really worry about taking many pictures. Each section was given a knight to cheer for. We women really got into it, hollering and cheering and shouting--I haven't yelled like that since my last concert--but most of the guys seemed to be too cool to stand up and wave their flags in support of their hero. ;)

We had to get there at 4:30 for the 6:00 show. We thought it was to help facilitate seating and maybe that was part of it; the bigger reason, though, seemed to be so we could mill around their lobby, buying souveniers and EXTREMELY expensive drinks (although they DID come with collectible glasses).

The show really was exciting. I had a great time. I wouldn't recommend driving three hours out there, watching the show and then driving three hours back all in one day like we did, but if you live close to one of the locations (or if you make a weekend out of it), I HIGHLY recommend it. Renee and Kish, I think this is something your boys would love, even if they're not into "medieval" stuff at all.

I drove with Dan, Mike and one of the other girls, since Steph's van was full and, silly me, I didn't want to sit on the floor during the whole trip. (I'm high-maintenance like that.) It was a little weird at first, since I didn't know the other two at all and I've met Dan like once, but three hours in a car will bond you with someone. Plus, Dan had a laptop with a GPS system on it that was really fun to play with and various computer games. (Our drive home was spiced up when we got pulled over; apparently Dan was going 42 in a 30, but we were lost, didn't know where we were and the cop took pity on us. Plus, as he said, "If you're just coming from Medieval Times, you probably don't have any money left anyway, so I'm just going to give you a warning.")

All in all, good times. Thanks to Nikki for putting that whole thing together! (Kish and Renee, I have a DVD and that program, if you wanted to look at them to see if it's something you'd be interested in--especially you, Renee, since you live so close.)

6 comments:

Jen said...

It was about 2 hours. They had this whole medieval feast; it wasn't something you "ordered", it was just the same dinner for everyone. It was vegetable soup, chicken (like a whole quarter for each person), potatoes, ribs and a little pastry thing for dessert. There wasn't any silverware so you had to eat it all with your hands (you know, to set the mood).

Jen said...

PS I'm working on posting pics but it's taking FOREVER. I'll probably have to break them up into several different posts.

Jen said...

What, in Chicago? Or Medieval Times? I meant to tell you, he was coming to Detroit or GR or soemthing

Jen said...

Oh. LOL

Nik said...

Excellent account of the goings-on. It was fun, except the occasional awkwardness amongst the group.

I can't believe you didn't get the Cable Guy reference, what with all my heckling of the Red Knight and all. lmao

Jen said...

Wait, was there really awkwardness? I thought things were cool enough. What did I miss?