Yesterday was my 31st birthday. I really had a hard time with 30 last year, but just tacking a “1” onto that dreaded “3” wasn’t as bad. We had a really busy, but fun, day. In the morning, Ed and I drove over to Milledgeville for the annual Hammock family BBQ. Our friend Chris’s brother is a pro when it comes to BBQ. He and his business partner make their own grills, their own sauce, and they enter competitions all over the Southeast. The food at this year’s shindig was, as expected, absolutely wonderful. The pulled pork was amazing, and the bacon-wrapped venison bites were every bit as yummy as I remembered.
We got home to Atlanta with enough time for me to shower and change before we headed up to Discover Mills to go to Medieval Times. I had suggested going there for my birthday months ago, but never got around to doing anything about it. Our friend Steve reminded Ed about that fact, and Ed decided to get a group of us together to go celebrate my birthday Medieval-style.
Yes, I know Medieval Times is a little cheesy. But it’s also a fun time, and we had a blast cheering for our blue knight. Who, I want to add, WON the tournament. I’m sure it was from all of our rowdy cheers and heartfelt boos for the other knights. Ed and I, along with Sean, Ev, Steve, Huey and Rikki, had a fun night and it was a great way to spend my big day. In the pic, that’s me in the black and white coat.
The events of last night got me thinking about my days as part of the Adrian Empire, a re-enactment group I belonged to during college. Our South Florida group, the Kingdom of York, participated in the Florida Renaissance Festival each year. I loved getting dressed up in my chemise, bodice, boots and cloak to go roam the fair. Even now, I still enjoy visiting the Georgia Ren Fest – I’m just a spectator now, but dressing up is still half the fun for me.
This is my favorite picture of me at the Florida Ren Fest. It was taken during my senior year of college, which means I was only 21 years old. I realized that it’s been 10 years since that picture, and since I was a part of the Adrian Empire. Ten years! The upside is that I only have six months to wait for the Georgia Ren Fest to start up again, and then I can be any age I want.
