Win 4 Tickets to King Richard's Faire!

Disclosure: In exchange for this honest promotion of a favorite local escape, our family received complimentary tickets and a family 4-pack to giveaway. We cannot wait to return to King Richard's Faire for this 41st anniversary season!

King Richard's Faire-THE New England Renaissance Faire - is opening its 41st season on September 3rd and running weekends and Monday holidays through October 23rd in the enchanted woods of Carver, Mass.

Escape YOUR reality at King Richard’s Faire, New England’s largest and longest-running Renaissance festival! 

This year, King Richard XI and his lovely bride, Queen Anne are back to rule the realm of Carvershire along with their beautiful princesses and the royal court. 

Carvershire is a magical place, filled with handcrafted artisan wares to include beautiful handspun pottery, fabulous jewelry, and incredible face painting. You can also delight in period clothing, leather, armor, and moccasins,  be amazed by the blacksmith and forged weaponry, and revel in scented oils, perfumes, instruments, and handmade crafts as you make memories to last a lifetime.

In Carvershire, you can also please thy palate with fabulous food and drynk to include giant spit-roasted turkey legs, ringlets of fryes, and boules of chowder or or quench thy thirst with specialty cocktails, champagne, mead, brew, and drinks for the kiddoes, too. Vegan or gluten-free? No problem. There are options for you, too.

At the Faire, eight stages of exciting entertainment for all ages and a host of you will also find exciting rides and skilled games in the Gaming Glen.

At the Faire, you’ll be dazzled by acrobats, aerialists, and jugglers... captivated by minstrels, dancers and puppeteers... enthralled by fire-eaters, magicians and captivating canines.

Indeed, hundreds of talented performers perform non-stop for you throughout the day with the King’s handsome knights battling on horseback as bawdy beggars compete in mud, happy villagers engage you in the lanes, and frolicking faeries dance through the forest.

On the stages, you will find an original Broadway-style musical comedy for all ages; Sir Danny Drake, juggling fire and blade; the iconic El Zappo, real-life father to long-time performer and recent America’s Got Talent performer Jacques Ze Whipper; Pict Pipers (pipe & drums); and a succession of fabulous dog acts Magical Poodles (9/3-25) and Muttsville Comix (10/1-23), and Braveheart Beasts, an amazing horse show (9/24-25, 10/25-26).

Win Free Tickets!

You can enter to win a family-four pack of tickets good for opening weekend - Septemeber 3-5 now through midnight on the evening of the 25ht going into the 26th using the Rafflecopter below.

Please note: Giveaway ends August 25th at 12 AM EST and is open to Legal Residents (18 years of age or older) of the US only who are able to attend the Faire on the dates mentioned. Winner will be randomly selected and notified by email. Winner will have 24 hours to respond or other winners will be selected.  Final winner may request tickets be mailed to them or may choose to come pick up the tickets directly in person one town over from Carver.

The winning tickets are offered free of charge, no purchase necessary. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Learn More

The realm of King Richard's Faire can be found at 235 Main Street (Rt. 58) in Carver, MA.

Visit kingrichardsfaire.NET for schedules, ticket sales, special celebration group sales, and much more.

Get social on Instagram/Twitter: @KRFaire #KRFaire and the Book of Faces: Facebook

Get Away to King Richard's Faire!

Disclosure: In exchange for this honest review, our family received complimetary tickets to the Faire.

If you're in New England and are looking for fun history-inspired family fun, consider King Richard’s Faire, which has recenly opened for its 40th anniversary season and will continue 10:30-6 weekends through October 24th, 2021, including the Monday, October 11th holiday.

***

 

Last weekend, my family and I spent a daycation meeting friends at the Faire.

Our friends had never been there before and we had so much fun showing them around and taking in shows together.

Rapt attention.

Laughter.

Cheering.

Amazement.

We shared it all as we took in the live entertainment, walked through the Gaming Glen, and went to all three jousts of the day - a true favorite of our family and, now, of our friends, too.

Using the program you can pick up just inside the gate, we mapped out our day and managed to get around to almost all of the eight vibrant stages.

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing our favorite longtime entertainer - Jacques Ze Whippeur and his dashing danger and whip stunts-  not once, but twice!

Our friends and my youngest quite enjoyed the new performers “The Captain’s Canines”, a specialty dog act, too.

We were also amazed and humored by another new performer The Unicycling Unicorn, a talented juggler who can juggle while sitting 14 feet in up in the air on one wheel!

El Zappo amused us with his family-friendly circus comedy and cool optical illusions. (Truly - have you ever seen a head shrink or grow before your eyes?)

The “Unspun Tails” aerial show impressed us...

...and, even more impressive, was how the performers went from there right onto performing as the Accidental Acrobats.

Wow! Such stamina.

Of course, we also enjoyed a strolling the 8-acres of the wooded Carvershire realm, seeing minstrels...

... browsing the shops of  talented artisans, and just enjoying the fun atmosphere of the Faire.

Oh, and we each chose some epicurean pleasures to keep us going throughout the day, too.

It was truly a fun-filled day and we are so glad we wew able to enjoy this family tradition again after the 2020 hiatus last year.

Speaking of that, the performers did a wonderful job incorporating precautions into their acts without overdoing it.

The Faire truly felt normal - or as normal as the wacky, wonderful, history-inspired...

...but totally fictitious fun ever is. 

A day at the Faire is an escape from day-to-day realities that inspires laughter, awe, fun, and, always, ourkdis imaginations!

This year, it did the same for our friends.

What a great time! 

If you are in the area, I recommend going. Get there at opening and stay until it closes.

There's a lot to see and do there.

More Information

Visit King Richard's Faire online for a site map, FAQ's, event schedules, ticket sales, and Visitor Information.

The Faire is at 235 Main Street, Carver MA 02330. 

Parking is free!

Tickets: $37 adult (12+); $35 for seniors ages 65+, $18 for children ages 4-11; and free for children 3 years of age and younger.

Please email info@kingrichardsfaire.net for group discount tickets.

Instagram/Twitter: @KRFaire #KRFaire; Facebook

2 Recommended Sunday Strolls in Southeastern MA (and 1 to Skip)

This summer, we've been renewing our commitment to spending the Lord's day with our focus in the right place.

Sometimes, that means having family date days on Sundays. At other times, it means that after Mass, we do service. And, on some Sundays - like this one - it means that we recognize that each of us has different needs and decide upon our Sunday activities accordingly.

This Sunday that meant my daughter and I had a fantastic date exploring some new-to-us trails among those managed by the Sippican Land Trust.

Of them, two were wonderful walks I would recommend and one was humorous, but not highly recommended.

The first recommended trail is Brainard Marsh. The trail from the small gravel parking lot here is a mere .2 miles, but is quite lovely to stroll.

The beginning of the path is vibrant green - and has ample mosquitos, so do don your bug spray.

Gems of jewelweed color dot the landscape.

The invasive plants cover trees which can get your imagination going thinking up what creatures the tree forms resemble (much like finding pictures in cloud forms.)

Boardwalks bring you through a brief wooded area.

A sign points to a super short side trail.

The "pond" is laughable (but we were still delighted to have gone there since a cute little squirrel and a little black bird greeted us by timing their visit to the little pond exactly with ours.)

Larger birds - osprey - can be spied as soon as you go back to the maint trail and step on the beach.

Osprey are so fun to watch.

Not far from their nesting place are sea pickles.

Such wild edibles are worth a nibble.

Then, if you turn around to the treeline, you can spy some pretty random blooms.

Wading in the water is refreshing.

A picnic on the bench or beach would be pleasant.

It's not a big beach at all, but is cozy and delightful to hang at for a bit.

Then, on your way out, look for birds and butterflies...

...wish you had longer arms so you could taste some of nature's candy growing amongst the other plants - but do not dare, because there is poison ivy along the edges, too...

Then, hop back in your vehicle and head on over to the parking lot for Osprey Marsh, passing by Howland Marsh on the way.

If you love marsh views, walk the short distance back from the Osprey Marsh parking lot to the trailhead for Howland Marsh, but be prepared for a super short walk without a ton of payoff besides laughs at the condition of the trail.

Start on a wide woodland path between neighboring properties and smile at the lovely greens about you.

Spy plenty of sassafras growing.

 

Enjoy dappled light on the trail.

 

Beware the boardwalk when you get to it, though. It is in disrepair. (My daughter's foot went right through it!)

Your steps on the boardwalk might find you walking a teeter-totter.

Still the landscape is lovely.

You'll have to keep looking down at your footing through.

And when you get to the end of the baordwalk, you may wonder, "why?" It's a "boardwalk to nowhere".

Have a good laugh.

Spy the view you can see through the tall grasses.

Then return the way you came, enjoying the large ferns alongside the trail.

Spot mushrooms.

Spy Indian pipe. Then, walk back to the beginning of a much more recommended trail.

Osprey Marsh is a truly lovely walk.

Tiny sprays of wildflowers dot the sides of the path.

Some color draws the eyes upward.

Quite quickly, it is time to make a decision about which path to take.

Tucker's Trail is to the left and has a memorial sign with a simple, yet beautiful suggestion on it. 

To the right is an accessible trail with more color along the way.

Huge patches of verdant, but invasive overgrowth also mark the beginning of the path to the right.

Then, the boardwalks begin - long, accessible, and oh so delightful through the vibrant landscape.

White blooms fragrance the air.

Benches dot the way should you want to pause to take in the beauty about you.

It's such a pleasant place - so much of God's glorious handiwork all about the manmade simple, clean, beauty of the boardwalk. It's easy to be overcome with delight and to share fun and laughter along the way.

The sides of the boardwalk are higher and can tempt you to do so some balance beam walking.

Little blooms can be spied.

Parts of the boardwalk are "fenced". 

Beech (or was it birch?)  grow close to the trail.

It's truly peaceful and beautiful.

At the end of the boardwalk is a viewing platform.

What a pleasant place!

A bench invites you to sit and contemplate.

A narrow trail below the boardwalk might entice you to go get a closer look at the shoreline.

It gets squishy though.

You can return the way you came, or opt to go down a little ramp onto Tucker's Trail.

Tucker's Trail has typical trail boardwalks in parts.

Vibrant colored mushrooms sprout up alongside the trail.

Cute spotted fungi can be spied.

Wild berries grow.

Ferns grow tall (and poison ivy grows near them, so don't step off path.)

Parts of the landscape seem almost jungle-like with thick overgrowth.

Invasives choke native plants (we think) but also make everything look so wild.

Pretty blooms peak out alongside the path.

Berries tease from just beyond arm's reach.

And the trail ends, beckoning you to come again.

We truly loved our Sunday strolls today and encourage anyone within reasonable driving distance to come check out these short, but lovely walks. 

If you live further afield, we encourage you to see what strolls might be close to you.

Spending time walking in nature is such a beautiful way to spend a Sunday. You cannot help but give thanks to the Lord when marveling at the astounding beauty He created all about us.

What are some of your favorite palces to stroll on Sundays?