Tampa Bay Renaissance Festival

The village idiot

  Sunday March18, the crew and I stepped back in time once again. This time we went to the middle ages. Tampa's Renaissance Festival is held in the woods behind MOSI, the science museum.

The king and queen

Friendly barmaid with her interesting tip holders

A star of the Mud Show.

The myriad of different characters was amazing. We saw royalty, soldiers, peasants and even a few  monsters. My favorites were the village idiot and Hob the Troll. Both very funny.

After a tasty hamburger we enjoyed a beer from the pirate pub. Everything was a bit pricey, as expected. But how often do you have a dark ages beer from a medieval barmaid in a renaissance mug.

The number of vendors selling their wares was tremendous. As well as the number of shows. One of my more memorable was the Mud Show. The two stars took turns with some witty humor. Then finished with a superman launch off a platform and face plant into a mud pit.

We had an excellent time today. I got tons of great pics. And we will be back next year.

Nature Coast Civil War Reenactment

The sheriff's desk

 This Sunday , March 11, the crew and I went to Crystal River. The battle pitted the union army against the confederates. It included large numbers of infantry, cavalry and several canons.

pyrotechnic  canon blast

Rebel casualties

The morning was total overcast. Not exactly the best lighting for pics. About an hour before battle the sky opened up. Rain was there to stay the remainder of the afternoon.









The show must go on. All of us spectators took shelter until the first shot was fired. We took our wet seats and watched the show.

union cavalry

After a few minutes of heavy action, we hardly noticed we were getting soaked. I stowed the camera in the bag in between shots. The rain didn't dampen the show at all. For an hour we got treated to close quarters combat.









The moral of the story is I need rain gear. For us and the camera. But once again, one hell of a show.  If anyone knows of upcoming events like this one ,let me know. Have camera will travel