It Was A Perfect Autumn Day for Renaissance Festival

Yesterday was the perfect early fall day - crisp morning merging into a warm afternoon, blue skies with a minimum of small, fluffy clouds, a slight breeze, and football. Well ... except for the football, which was horrid for DH's team and not so good for mine either ... it was a truly fabulous day to be out at the Renaissance Festival. Next week is the final weekend for this year's Fest. Whether we attend next week or not is dependent on weather and my desire to deal with traffic - it's always a zoo trying to get out of the Festival grounds on final day. 

With more than 10,000 lakes, we'll have plenty of shoreline
for the trees to stand against in their fall glory. 

It was Pet day in the Kingdom - if pets had their appropriate vaccination documentation, etc, they were welcome to join their owners at Fest. We're actually unique as a Festival - we always welcome pets - but Pet Day is specifically directed towards our furry friends with vendors selling pet-oriented products and more water bowls than usual scattered throughout the grounds and the shops. Although there are the occasional bark and growl "I'm better than you are" dominance plays, generally it's rather peaceful and really fun to see the outfits owners put onto their dogs. 

It's the colors of autumn that make it such an outstanding
time of the year - my favorite time. There's something
wonderful about the harvest time - fruits and veggies galore. 

Because it was one of the final two weeks of this year's Fest, the ticketing office was pre-selling their season ticket contracts for next year, so DH and I made sure to drop by and get our contracts filled out and our tickets purchased before we left. It's always a substantial savings over the individual ticket price so well worth the pre-purchase, and as long-time season ticket holders, we do get some perks too. I think we've been buying season tickets for more than a decade, now. I'd have to look through our commemorative medals to make sure, since we are given one each year. 

The light of autumn always makes the colors really
spring to life. Here's a lovely autumnal vision. 

Yesterday was also "Appreciation Day". This is the one day each year when the Crown acknowledges the long-time service and support by the vendors and performers who make Fest a unique and fun experience. Our friend Ben got acknowledged for 15 years of merriment, but there were awards given to people stretching back every five years as far back as "1574" (which equates to 1974 in real time). Although DH was involved in Fest from its' founding days of 1971-1972, he wasn't an "official" member and would never qualify for an award. It's fun to see how many people we know and see every week do qualify, though. 

I love this shot of the tree branch in the water and the contrasting
colors of water and leaves. So pretty! 

As for the football game? Both my team and DH's team lost, so not a good day. At least my team put on a fight. DH's team was pathetic, making error after error and almost getting shut out by a team they were supposed to have beaten by more than 17 points. I suspect the Coach will have a lot to say to the team today, and it might be a bit blistering. 

Is this sunrise or is it sunset? I'm ascribing it to sunrise since that's
my favorite time of the day, but it could be either. In either case,
it's beautiful. 

So, I've got to wrap this up quickly. I think I'll put autumn shots for photos today - Fall is most certainly beginning her stride into our area here in the Frozen Northlands. Have an excellent Monday, and thanks again for the green tomato recipes. I'm going to have a bumper crop of the green globes within a short time.