It was really no wonder I couldn't find Regina and Kiko at the Dripping Dog Inn. While I was away enjoying the "Birds of Prey" show, they had slipped back together to the Food Court dining area! Since it is such a great location for taking pictures of passing patrons and players alike, I decided to hang out with them there for the rest of the afternoon. Not that I actually STAYED there, mind you! When the Royal Parade passed on its' way to the Tournament Field, for example, I was out in the lane capturing portraits of the LRF Gentry (Photo, Above: Lance (Far left) escorting a lovely Lady of the Court; and Lady Ilise AKA Virginia N. Weinberg (Right of Center, in blue and burgundy) among them. We would soon get to know them -- and many others! -- much better before this day ended!). There was also a foray to the Tower of the Crazy King (AKA James Creel) to enjoy his one-man performance. He definitely has a Royal sense of humor! For the most part, though, I did my usual wanderings, taking portraits as the opportunities presented themselves (Photo, Above Left: such as catching Kiko and Wise Anne together in the lane as the shadows lengthened toward sunset). I wasn't alone. The Stalkwells' friends -- Matt, Diane and their young daughter -- also showed up at the dining area and stayed awhile, chatting with the LRF players. Talk about a real case of "lens envy"! While Matt paused briefly from taking photographs with his REALLY IMPRESSIVE camera system, I snapped his portrait (Photo, Right). Considering the sheer size of his telephoto lens, he had the right to smile. What a MONSTER!!! So the rest of the faire day passed: meeting and greeting, taking pictures and just hanging out, talking, until the final cannon roared. Now all this may not seem particularly exciting, but both Regina and I were having a great time with all these faire folks. Truth be told, neither she nor I really wanted to part company with our newfound friends and acquaintances. So -- since we'd had so much fun going out to dinner with The Stalkwells et al the night before -- we decided to do it all again this evening, but with a new crowd at a different eatery! I voted for seafood (after all, LOUISIANA = SEAFOOD, right?) and -- thanks again to The Stalkwells -- I could immediately suggest a place for dinner: Brady's. My motion was seconded, the ballots were cast and Brady's it was!!! At this point, there were just four of us: Regina, Kiko, Lance (who turned out to be a friend of Kiko's) and myself. Lance, however, turned around and introduced us to a couple of his friends, Chris and Mary -- the very same playtrons whose portrait as an Elven couple I'd taken earlier that day. Talk about your "small world!" They were willing to join us, so with Lance's wife Cara and his mother, Johanna, we had a small dinner party of eight ready to go.
Or so we thought...!!!

Five of us -- Chris and Mary, Regina, Kiko and myself -- all caravaned together to Brady's, only to find that Lance and his family were already well ahead of us as they knew a shortcut to downtown Hammond. There, Lance quickly laid claim to a side room and we all began shoving tables together for the rest of our party. Not a moment too soon! Rennies -- cast, crew, merchants, entertainers and various friends of LRF -- began arriving shortly thereafter. It seems Lance had been quite busy indeed inviting everyone he knew to dinner! For our part, the five of us -- along with Lance and his crew -- staked out the far end of the table, sitting together so we could get better acquainted while enjoying a good meal. Regina, of course, made sure that Kiko sat next to her! We eventually wound up with some 25 to 30 LRFers that evening, laughing and talking and sharing a great time together after faire hours. What with all the comings and goings -- folks kept arriving, staying awhile and then leaving -- it was right difficult to say exactly how many showed up there at Brady's, but with all the great company, good food and lots of fun conversations, it just kept getting better and better! So it shouldn't've been a surprise that, in the midst of this impromptu celebration, to have both the King and Queen of LRF show up (Photo, Above Left: King John AKA Chuck Davis; Photo, Below Right: Queen Anne AKA Dionne Charlet)!! Furthermore, it also turned out that it was King John's birthday, so our little "dinner party" -- which'd quickly grown into a major "Feast" -- suddenly turned into a ROYAL BIRTHDAY BANQUET in his honor!!! Fortunately, I'd brought several jugs of Thor's Hammer, my homemade hard cider, to LRF with the express purpose of sharing it with the folks there. Since Chuck turned out to be a drinking man, we retired to my truck for a quick sip during a brief lull in the festivities. He pronounced it good after a considered taste, so I was more than happy to gift him a couple of jugs by way of a birthday present! Quite frankly, I was most impressed with both of the LRF Royals. During this feast, Chuck circulated continuously up and down the length of the table, meeting and greeting everyone, with a good word here and there for all present. He even took time out at our end of the table to play "Star Trek Trivia" with Chris. What a phenomenal memory! And then there is the lovely Queen Anne... She has this absolutely amazing talent for catching me off guard! During the feast, I was playing musical chairs -- moving slowly from one chair to another up the table, trying to meet all the LRFers and joining their talk -- when I happened to sit down next to her. She introduced herself and asked for my name, which I gave as Ryleh (under the circumstances, "George" seemed just a tad too mundane). Her eyes lit up and she cried out so all the room could hear: "RYLEH??? RYLEH THE WANDERER???!? I LOVE YOUR WEBSITE!!!" O ye Godz, but I like to've fallen out of my chair in sheer surprise, for truly, I was NOT expecting THAT enthusiastic a response! Fortunately, she allowed me a moment to recover my wits before we continued our conversation. A most gracious and thoughtful Royal, indeed -- even if, by the twinkle in her eye, she did find my brief discomfiture a tad amusing! Alas, but there just wasn't enough time to speak with each and every one of the company present. That was my loss entirely. Frankly, I was very impressed by all the truly talented folk which Rick and Alvon had brought together at LRF, for among the LRFers I did meet that evening was an ER doctor, a computer technician, a network administrator and a certified herbal therapist. Without a doubt, this was one awesome and talented crowd! What truly amazed me, however, was how freely and easily they welcomed both Regina and myself into their company and their conversations. We were meeting most of these folks for the very first time, after all, yet they accepted us with such open friendliness, we both felt like "members of the family," instantly! As for myself, I was especially pleased at all the attention they showered on my young friend. Aye, Regina does have a friendly and outgoing personality -- and she certainly can carry her own end of a conversation very well. Even better, tho, her experience as a TRF playtron with connections to the TRF Faerie Court gave her plenty of stories to share with our newfound friends. Still, I was most gratified to see how Kiko, Lance and all the other LRFers we met that evening went out of their way to make her feel extra special! This kind of generosity, apparently, is simply second-nature to the good folks of LRF. For example, we had but a single young waitress serving at least 30 hungry Rennies during this feast. That had to be a mighty tall order for such a young girl, since we kept her running constantly the entire time we were there -- three hours, on the inside -- bringing in lots of food and drink all evening long! It was quite obvious to all that we had really worked her hard when she collapsed into a vacant chair, exhausted, just as we were ready to depart. So we passed the hat for her, in recognition of a tough job well done. Let me tell you, she came out well ahead of the usual 15% gratuity they normally would've added to our total bill. True, she'd earned every penny of it, but also true: the good folk of LRF are not only open and friendly, but generous to a fault, too!

Alas for us, all too soon it was over! Neither Regina nor I really wanted this day to end, but for many of the LRF folks, Monday was another day of work in Mundania. Fie! For us diehards, tho, we all moved out to the sidewalk in front of Brady's to continue our conversations for at least another hour. Regina had nothing but praise for LRF. For one thing, she was pleasantly surprised and delighted to find out just how much LRF had to offer by way of shopping, entertainment, crafts and games. She loved The Serpentine, with all its little shops and booths; as well as the Royal Lake, which lends a wonderful feeling of openness to the site. She also loved the general "feel" of LRF, which she said was both "pleasant and laid-back" -- but what impressed her most about LRF was how incredibly friendly everyone at the faire was. Apparently the LRFers really appreciated Regina's compliments and recognition of all their hard work and dedication, for it seems she won several more fans that evening! By that time it was pushing 10pm, so we finally said our farewells and returned to our motel: Lance with his family; Kiko; Regina and myself. We all piled into Lance's room for awhile longer, talking faire and music, but it soon became apparent that the weekend was rapidly catching up with Lance et al. Regina, Kiko and I tarried a bit longer, then bid them good night and retired to Kiko's room. Quite frankly, Lance wasn't the only tired one by then: all the fun and excitement of the day was catching up with me, too! Now from what I'd seen of Kiko that weekend -- as well as what Regina had told me of him -- he had impressed me as an honorable gentleman who would not try to take advantage of my young friend. Besides, I was most confident that Regina would be quite capable of taking care of herself, too. Like most Rennish women, she carries live steel -- NINE INCHES OF LIVE STEEL in her case -- and she knows right well just how to use it most effectively! Which's just one of the reasons I treat all Faire Ladies with the utmost respect, courtesy and honor: It's downright UNHEALTHY not to!!! So, since we were all adults there, I turned Regina over to Kiko, telling her that -- if she decided to return to our room that night -- just to knock on our door and I'd get up to let her in. At the same time, however, I also asked Kiko to escort her back to our room if she chose to return. Simply for Regina's safety, I felt the presence of a male escort at her side would be a good deterrent that night...

Along about 3am, I was wakened by someone rapping, gently tapping on my chamber door. As expected, it was Regina, escorted by Kiko. That certainly scored a point for the young gentleman in my book! Even tho I was not fully awake, I remembered enough to thank him for his thoughtfulness: floodlights and security cameras notwithstanding, the sight of a young woman walking alone across a motel parking lot just might prove too tempting to some of the predatory types out there, even in Hammond, Lousiana!!! Fortunately, I was able to fall back to sleep almost as soon as my head touched the pillow, sleeping in 'til nearly 8am the next morning. Regina and I packed out our gear, then swung by Kiko's room on our way out. Regretfully, he was still asleep, so I didn't have a chance to say my farewell before we hit the road for home. For us, the trip back to Houston just flew by: we simply couldn't stop talking about LRF nor the "Royal Banquet" which was the highlight topping it all off. Regina and I were just amazed by all the wonderful people we'd met that weekend, how friendly everyone was and how great it was to be accepted by the LRFers as part of their Rennish family! For my part, I was completely blown away: without a doubt, this had been one of THE best weekends I had EVER spent at faire, for everyone at LRF had gone well above and beyond even my wildest expectations!! Obviously, there was no doubt in mind that I'd be returning to Hammond -- and right soon!!!

Standard Disclaimer: This webpage is strictly an *Unofficial* look at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival held near Hammond, LA in the Parish of Tangipahoa. The author of these pages is in no way, shape, manner or form connected with the Louisiana Renaissance Festival (OFFICE ADDRESS: PO Box 220, Robert, LA 70455-0220) and/or any of the sponsors associated with this event. All opinions expressed are strictly this author's own. LRF logo courtesy of the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs are copyright ©2000-2003 by George Laking.