March 15: Its been a mild winter in Saint Joseph of which I am glad. This is my backyard but that is not my barn.

September 4:  The Bristol Ren Fair located in Kenosha, WI  is always an interesting trip.       I usually go at least once a year and enjoy looking at and taking photographs of the people. When my daughters go its always in some period attire but part of the fun for me is seeing  what the others, none staff & actors, wear or not wear.
Parking is about $5 and is usually plentiful but if you come late in the day you will have a nice walk to the gate.  Admission is $25 for an adult but you can pre-order tickets, or get coupons online and save a bunch.
The grounds are enormous and in many places hilly and uneven so good walking shoes are suggested. I always take a cooler and take a break once or twice during the day to eat and have a different drink.  Its a very good idea to carry a water bottle and refill it up as necessary during the day at the restroom coolers. Some days its is stifling hot so take your time and try not to hurry. Food and drink are available at the fair but on the expensive side and sometime the lines are very long. There are plenty of options available so it shouldn’t be that hard to find something that interests you.  There are also plenty of other stands with things like face painting, jewelry, souvenirs.  They have a lot of carnival style games with medieval themes to them.  There are also rides and other entertainment options some of which are adult  themed.  Now there are a ton of performers there.  The have some roaming performers and also set stages.  Performers really get into their craft which is the best selling point of the faire.  The jousting show gets crowded so make sure you get a seat early. I would not be taking kids under 10 or so. I might mention they do have a pub crawl tour for adults which is interesting.   renfair.com/bristol

August 24, 2016:  Today developed into a great day for baseball as the heavy rain showers by passed Four Winds Field in South Bend today and we got just a few sprinkles before the game. The South Bend Cubs are a class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and today they  are being called the Comeback Cubs as they beat the West Michigan Whitecaps 11-10 in extra innings.  Wow, what a game.

The fair was held from August 14 thru the 20th and I attended  on Tuesday the 16th. The fair was hammered by torrential rains during the week which reduced attendance significantly  and created exceedingly muddy parking areas. In spite of the  rains, the sun did get out and on those day the attendance was very good as evident by pictures of some of the kids attending.

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