(My friend Beth and I, getting our mead on)

Every couple seems to have their own traditions.
Some folks have date night, where they leave the kids with a babysitter and hit the town for dinner.

Some folks go to the same place on their anniversary that they met/ he proposed/ her dad got out the shotgun.

Some people have weekly TV shows that they watch together, with popcorn and blankets and the 2.5-kids.

R and I?  We hit the town one weekend each year - medieval style.

That's right, we're talking RENAISSANCE FAIR people.  Turkey-legs-and-mead-and-jousting-and-Hey-Wench-Want-To-See-My-Sword? kind of fun, complete with costumes and performers and dust, where your outward adult is thinking "I don't think plastic fairy wings are historically accurate" while your inner nerd is yelling "OMG IT'S A UNICORN!"   Minnesota has one of the largest ones,  with acres of permanent houses/stores/pavillions, and it's become an annual tradition for Reuben and I to take a weekend and head out for some good old fashioned fun.

Where, you ask, is the romance?

Simple!  We tend to choose the "Wine and Chocolate and Romance"-themed weekend, because...HELLO CHOCOLATE!,.. and there's something pretty darn adorable about a couple letting their inner nerds out to play together.  (It's also a chance for me to break out the tribal bellydance costume, which never exactly hurts the 'ol relationship IfYouKnowWhatIMean.)

*cough*  moving on....

It was a lovely (albeit chilly) day, made all the better by the fact that we got to meet up with our friend Beth (one of the most awesome people you'll ever meet!), see Reuben's brother Mike and his girlfriend Jacqueline, and spend some time with our friend Christian and his lovely new wife Gabriela.   Because if there's one thing that's better than a day at the fair, it's a day at the fair with a posse.  (Horde?  Mob?  Is there a good medieval word for this?)

Reuben was a happy camper, since we walked through the gates and made a pretty instant beeline for ye old Mead tent.  This was fine with me, since even though my stomach can't handle mead right now it makes me happy to see HIM so happy (standing there with a cup of mead in each hand).  Also, I figure that after putting up with me 364 other days of the year, the guy has totally earned a drink or two.  Or five.  Or twelve.   As for me, I wasted no time in getting MY treat of choice... the turkey legs.  

At least, I think it was a turkey leg.  It could have been an ostrich.  Because I grew up in Wisconsin, and have never actually seen a turkey with legs as huge as these, and I've seen my share.  (You know, because they're everywhere there.  And we hunt a lot.   No,,. a LOT.)   Regardless, it is one of the few things that I can actually have right now stomach-wise that I don't have to make myself, which means I was absolutely giddy and spent a rather embarrassing amount of time bouncing around with glee and waving a leg of meat in Reuben's face exclaiming "This is soooo good!" and "look at me, all eating in public and stuff!".   

Hey, when you haven't been able to go out to eat in two years or so, you take your thrills where you can get 'em.  

With mead/turkey legs/each other in our hands we wandered the fair for a few hours and had a rather glorious time of being out and about in a place where our inner nerds could roam free.  We saw jousting, shopped and browsed through stores, chatted with our group of awesome people, and generally enjoyed all the fun of medieval life (no utensils!  Mead aplenty!  Wenches!  Pointy things!) without the pesky hassle of plagues and marauding hordes.   It was a great time, and I strongly recommend that anyone in the area during August through October try it out at least once.

So grab your sweetie, or your friends, or a really confused stranger and join us in Shakopee at the fair.
Just look for the redheaded bellydancer and the really happy guy she's with.   
...We're probably by the mead.

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