By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Aug 08, 2006 at 5:22 PM

Ten years ago, I would have rather been tortured in a stockade than attend a Renaissance Faire. I lumped it in the same category as Gen Con and mentally snubbed the faire-goers, whom I thought were a bunch of dorks wearing armor or puffy shirts in 90-degree weather.

Well, you won't catch me sporting a corset and chatting in an Elizabethan accent, but I have learned -- thanks to the enthusiasm of a friend and the fact my kids really dig it -- to appreciate the Bristol Renaissance Faire. These days, I lump it into the same category as Packers games and jam band concerts: a visual feast and people-watching buffet that allows me to spy on a subculture for a few hours.

And best of all, the Ren Faire allows me to eat like a queen.

Unlike the usual tired festival foods, the faire has a unique cuisine that includes whole artichokes, turkey legs and incredible garlic mushrooms. I also like the sassafras soda and the honey mead.

However, I tried the "butterfly potatoes" this year -- which are their infamous homemade potato chips -- and in my humble opinion, Café Lulu has them beat. Huzzah!

I have also grown to appreciate the shopping -- and that most of the artists and crafters are on-site. Last year, I bought a handmade broom with a long, skinny bunch of bristles from an elderly man who was wrapping them right there in his rocking chair. He told me it was a "spider broom" and made to clear cobwebs from tall corners. Not only is it a cool and unique-looking broom, but I actually use that bad boy on a weekly basis.

A couple of years ago, a faire vendor informed me that one of my favorite stones, green amber, is hard to find, and that much of the green amber that's sold is actually the more-common brown amber with a piece of green glass behind. I went home, checked the back of my green amber necklace, and sure enough, he was right.

Perhaps it's because of the time I spent in the late '80s traipsing after the Grateful Dead, but I am still a sucker for patchouli. Ren Faire is the only place I know of that sells Kamala oil, which I think is by far the best patchouli available. Also, it's quite subtle, which is nice for those folks in other states who don't wanna smell my somewhat-hippie self.

But my favorite part of the faire is watching the die-hards; the fanatics. Like the freaks who paint their fat, exposed bellies green and gold, the people dressed in costume at the faire - and those who work there like the spider lady who spends her entire shift "spinning" a massive web made from string -- are fascinating to watch.

Sure, my kids love the mud show, the person-propelled rides, the jousting, the fairies and the end-of-the-day drumming, but it's less about all that for me. As a writer type, I am always the observer who's analyzing from the outside, and I envy anyone who can really be in the moment and wholeheartedly embrace something that seems so random-- regardless of what anyone else thinks.

 


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.