What luck!  An extra day on business travel gave me the opportunity to visit Opening Day at TNRF in lovely Arrington, TN.  The faire site is adorable, good-sized, and set on the hillside of private grounds in the woods.  I'm sorry that I didn't take the chance to go visit the castle near by.

I was pleased to see Lady Ettie and Craig of Farrington again, who each used to play at the old VARF (REC).  It was also nice to see a good turnout of the M'Crack family, some of whom I knew from just a few weeks ago in NCRF and last year at VARF.  Boy, they sure get around!  Guess I do too, for that matter.

The Birds of Prey show was definitely worth mentioning, as I have not seen a show of that nature with so many fine birds!  Axel the Sot was hilarious and Porter & Stout are a great pirate band.  Just when I thought most folks had gone home because of the rain, they all seemed to come out of nowhere to join in at Pub Sing.

It was nice too that once Pub sing is over, and everyone is leaving the gate, all of the cast are already lined up along the way to say goodbye in their own special way, with the queen at the exit for her royal farewell.

The weather was not particularly kind, as it continued to rain intermittently throughout the day, creating an absolute disaster in the field where many inches of slick mud developed under everyone's vehicle.  Needless to say, getting out was another adventure entirely.  Most of us have experienced that at one faire or another and probably more often than we'd really like.  At the moment, it might not be much fun, but I like to look at it in such a way that we're creating a memory.  You know..."remember that time we got stuck in the mud at faire...?"  Fortunately, as faire folk are known to do, everyone helped push each other out safely.   

In short, TNRF was awesome!  As usual, pics are posted under TNRF 09 on the PHOTOS tab above.