I would recommend both the Pennsylvania and Maryland Renaissance Faires, if ever you happen to be in the area. Both are great: lots of shows and interesting merchants, jousting (of course!), and even the food is good. I prefer the Maryland Festival if only because it's on a wooded ground and so 1) slightly more authentic and 2) much cooler. ;) Also, the jousting is real.
Usually, the drive to Hershey isn't bad! But 5 o'clock on a Friday through Harrisburg ... eesh. Next time, getting a room isn't a bad idea. Or just leaving earlier in the day and spending a few hours doing other things before the concert (since in-season room rates in Hershey can be mildly prohibitive).
As for cookout food, it's not really the meat aspect that turns me off; both sides of the Felagund family are well-used to cooking for vegetarians by now, since we had (at one point) four of them in the family! But most people make cookout food that is bland and nasty, and for a few years now, it seemed like every other weekend, one side of the family wanted a cookout, and they always make the same things. I can only eat elbow macaroni slopped in mayonnaise for so many weeks before the thought alone of it gags me. My family, I fear, is just utterly lacking in imagination where cookouts are concerned. For example, although we were going to a traditional cookout over my aunt's on Friday, my dad still bugged me for weeks about letting him bring the same tasteless mayo-salad crap to our party the very next day. I suppose some people can't get enough of it. Once a year is too much for me.
Yay for Mom Pony for making something special out of the ordinary! Does she give classes? ;)
(Meanwhile, I found this redeeming, the week before the mayo-slathered festivities began.)
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Usually, the drive to Hershey isn't bad! But 5 o'clock on a Friday through Harrisburg ... eesh. Next time, getting a room isn't a bad idea. Or just leaving earlier in the day and spending a few hours doing other things before the concert (since in-season room rates in Hershey can be mildly prohibitive).
As for cookout food, it's not really the meat aspect that turns me off; both sides of the Felagund family are well-used to cooking for vegetarians by now, since we had (at one point) four of them in the family! But most people make cookout food that is bland and nasty, and for a few years now, it seemed like every other weekend, one side of the family wanted a cookout, and they always make the same things. I can only eat elbow macaroni slopped in mayonnaise for so many weeks before the thought alone of it gags me. My family, I fear, is just utterly lacking in imagination where cookouts are concerned. For example, although we were going to a traditional cookout over my aunt's on Friday, my dad still bugged me for weeks about letting him bring the same tasteless mayo-salad crap to our party the very next day. I suppose some people can't get enough of it. Once a year is too much for me.
Yay for Mom Pony for making something special out of the ordinary! Does she give classes? ;)
(Meanwhile, I found this redeeming, the week before the mayo-slathered festivities began.)