Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Family Fun at the Maryland Renaissance Festival!

I've been a lover of all things Medieval since I was a little girl. It started with the usual fairy tales set during the times of kings and queens and sorcerors. I was in love with the idea of being a beautiful princess, stranded in the highest room of the tallest tower just waiting for my prince. Over time I found more interest in the people and places and events that are the history of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. When I need my Shakespeare fix, or feel up to a little jousting match I head on over to the Maryland Renaissance Festival, which runs from the last weekend in August to the third weekend in October in Crownsville, MD each year.

This will be my 7th season attending the festival. What am I looking forward to most? Hack and Slash, 'two men with the strength of two men!' But we'll get back to them in a minute.

The festival is a great place for families. It offers spectacular food - turkey legs, steak on a stake, chicken on a lance, macaroni and cheese on a stick. It's true, you can get a whole meal on a stick! And dessert too (the chocolate covered cheesecake slices on a stick are fabulous)! There are vendors selling wonderful smelling treats, some of it incredibly healthy, some just incredibly tasty! There is something there for every palette under the sun!

There are shows and shops and human chess games. There's jousting (one weekend each season is reserved for a huge jousting tournament), there are even elephant rides! The king and queen (we're in the middle of King Henry VIII's many marriages now) walk around the grounds with their court, greeting the guests. Lords and ladies, pirates and wenches ... they're all there, making the atmosphere come alive.

The festival takes place in a village built in the woods of Crownsville. Painted shops wind around several lanes teeming with people in costume. You can find costumes to rent or buy, swords, moccasins, headpieces, knives, jewelry, maps, body casting, even have your picture taken in traditional garb. There is so much to see and do you'll want to come again and again!

Ticket prices vary. This is a festival that makes a great day trip. If you don't want to spend loads of money on a vacation out of town, head to the Festival for a day in the shade with some of history's most fascinating characters.

Oh, and Hack and Slash? Sir Nigel and his squire put on a show like no other. Swordfighting, bull whips, beds of nails and the occasional pint of ale make for a hilarious show of swordsmanship and comraderie. You've gotta check these guys out!