Last Friday Fritz and I went to Aethelmearc War Practice, where I was introduced to the Pennsic site, Pennsic crack, strange Eastern fencing rules, and camping in the rain. The Pennsic site is beautiful, and I can't wait to go back in August for the real thing. Pennsic crack (chocolate milk from a local dairy) is, IMHO, a tad overrated. It's quite good, don't get me wrong, but for something labelled "crack" for it's supposedly addictive qualities, I found it strangely...not. Fritz said it was better before they started pasteurizing it. I thought it was better with Bailey's. (Then again, what isn't?) Still, given my penchant for supporting local farmers, I'm sure I'll be buying it again. And mixing it w/ Bailey's. Or Kahlua.
Camping in the rain Friday night wasn't too bad. It wasn't raining when we set up the tent, though it started immediately after we finished. (Thank the powers-that-be for good timing!) We discovered that the tent did leak a tiny bit, but not enough to make things too miserable. Though it likely would have been, had we had sustained downpours. As it was, we had the occasional drop of water splash on our faces, and that was the worst of it.
Eastern fencing was a whole other ballgame. Apparently out there they have "light" fencing and "heavy" fencing. Heavy fencing is done with the standard schlager and rapier blades that we use in the Middle Kingdom, and is an advanced authorization for them. Light fencing is fought with light epee blades and foils, and is their standard auth because it is supposedly safer. Though, according to Deforest, one of the Cynnabar fencing marshalls, every study he's seen shows that epees and foils break off in a *point*, while schlagers and rapiers break *flat*. Hmmmm...methinks someone in the East didn't do their homework!
Fritz and I arrived too late to compete in the heavy fencing tournament, and weren't authorized or very well equipped to compete in the light tournament. We could have used our daggers, but it was a melee tournament to boot, and daggers are at a severe disadvantage as a primary weapon in melee situations. So, no fencing for us.
Originally, we were supposed to stay Saturday night as well, but since we didn't get any fencing in, and because all the people there that we knew were day-tripping and wouldn't be around that night, we came back early. We wanted to make it back for fencing practice on Sunday, and it was either leave Saturday night, or get up insanely early Sunday morning. We chose the former. So, we camped the night it rained, and left the night that the weather was nice. Oh well, at least we got to fence the next day!
Fencing at Island Park on Sunday was great! The site is gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and I got some good fencing in. It really is a perfect outdoor site; there are three bridges for practicing bridge battles, there are covered areas to stash gear and perhaps even fence under if it rains, and there's plenty of space for fencers and heavy fighters (not to be confused w/ heavy *fencers*, ugh) to practice. And picnic tables and grills, in case we want to have a picnic after practice. I'm so looking forward to practicing there all summer!
Overall, it was a pretty good weekend. It was nice to get away w/ Fritz for a night, the campground was beautiful, and it was good to get a tiny taste of what Pennsic will be like later this summer.
Camping in the rain Friday night wasn't too bad. It wasn't raining when we set up the tent, though it started immediately after we finished. (Thank the powers-that-be for good timing!) We discovered that the tent did leak a tiny bit, but not enough to make things too miserable. Though it likely would have been, had we had sustained downpours. As it was, we had the occasional drop of water splash on our faces, and that was the worst of it.
Eastern fencing was a whole other ballgame. Apparently out there they have "light" fencing and "heavy" fencing. Heavy fencing is done with the standard schlager and rapier blades that we use in the Middle Kingdom, and is an advanced authorization for them. Light fencing is fought with light epee blades and foils, and is their standard auth because it is supposedly safer. Though, according to Deforest, one of the Cynnabar fencing marshalls, every study he's seen shows that epees and foils break off in a *point*, while schlagers and rapiers break *flat*. Hmmmm...methinks someone in the East didn't do their homework!
Fritz and I arrived too late to compete in the heavy fencing tournament, and weren't authorized or very well equipped to compete in the light tournament. We could have used our daggers, but it was a melee tournament to boot, and daggers are at a severe disadvantage as a primary weapon in melee situations. So, no fencing for us.
Originally, we were supposed to stay Saturday night as well, but since we didn't get any fencing in, and because all the people there that we knew were day-tripping and wouldn't be around that night, we came back early. We wanted to make it back for fencing practice on Sunday, and it was either leave Saturday night, or get up insanely early Sunday morning. We chose the former. So, we camped the night it rained, and left the night that the weather was nice. Oh well, at least we got to fence the next day!
Fencing at Island Park on Sunday was great! The site is gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and I got some good fencing in. It really is a perfect outdoor site; there are three bridges for practicing bridge battles, there are covered areas to stash gear and perhaps even fence under if it rains, and there's plenty of space for fencers and heavy fighters (not to be confused w/ heavy *fencers*, ugh) to practice. And picnic tables and grills, in case we want to have a picnic after practice. I'm so looking forward to practicing there all summer!
Overall, it was a pretty good weekend. It was nice to get away w/ Fritz for a night, the campground was beautiful, and it was good to get a tiny taste of what Pennsic will be like later this summer.
