My family has spent many a fall day stepping back in time through visits to the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I started to go with a close friend in middle school (or if any later, early high school) and have been attending ever since. Highlights include:

  • Multiple trips with people more interested in the current college football game than wandering Hollygrove.
  • The first year I drove and a row boat fell out of a truck in front of me after my mother, in the lead car of our caravan, lost me. And a pair of my cousins assigned to my car accidently handcuffed themselves together—don’t  ask, I still have no idea why.
  • The first year I danced as a guest of Aida Al Adawi’s Middle Eastern Dance Ensemble.

But a few years ago we introduced both my nephews to this strange, fun experience and this year we took my niece for the first time. It’s so much fun to see this all through their eyes. And I’ll always think of this day, when my then 5 year-old nephew strapped on his toy sword and swaggered after his father.

Happy Hunting,

Jess