Sea Dog Nights

Well, this was a highlight of the summer!

I finally got on the road about 1pm, and arrived just before 3pm on Saturday. Alyssa had a dental appt at 10 and that kinda screwed things up, but we made it. Found James and got the car all unloaded, didn't bring much since it was just me & Alyssa. Got the tent set up then had to just sit in the shade for a while with my water, it was about 105 while I was setting up the tent. Just watched people for most of the afternoon, it was really neat to see 99.9% of everyone there in costume. I only saw maybe 4-5 people dressed in modern clothes. Even the kids were dressed as pirates. There were all kinds of vendors, I did get to see a couple people I knew, like Kate from Rampant Lion. James introduced me to several people, including Jezebel, who I had been looking forward to meeting after talking to her on tribe. Alyssa took off for the pool, a 10 ft stock tank filled with water for the kids. After cooling down a bit, I changed into my bellydance garb and headed down to check on the kid. Someone had put some dishsoap in the tank, and it was full of bubbles like a giant bathtub. At least the kids got clean, LOL!

There was a *dock* set up, with lots of boards, like a boardwalk. On one side, there were several ships set up, and on the other side there was a row of vendors. The Castillian Fleet I was really impressed with, they had a mast and rigging all set up and they let the kids climb on it. A few of the ships had something similar, actually having their camp look like a real ship from the deck up.

As it got later, I went to get ready for the evening. There was a show at dark, a group of fireperformers that I recognized from the SpinJams. Alyssa really wanted to go, so I took her down there. It was getting late so we went back to the tent but she wasn't ready to sleep yet. James let her play with a spinning light up toy, and all the kids wanted one so James ended up selling a bunch of them. I pulled out my wands and played with the fire just in front of his booth. I went down to the bellydance stage and watched the dancers for a while, then asked if there was anyone *in charge*. It's an open dance, so I get my wands and head back down, working up the courage to get onstage and bellydance. I got up and did a little dancing and got a bunch of applause, which was cool, but made me shy. Alyssa went to bed and James closed up the booth and we went wandering. Went past the dance stage and found a group having an auction, they were auctioning off a headhunter for a slave or something.. it was entertaining for a bit. We ended up visiting a few of the ships and then headed back to the dock.

There were torches all lit up along the dock, and it was like being completely transported back in time. There was drumming and crowds and it was amazing. I ended up at dancing at the Castillian Fleet ship, there were about seven of us dancing and a whole bunch of drummers. It was so surreal, like being in a dream. I was so caught up in it all, that I forgot to drag my camera out and take pics :(

There was just so much going on the whole time, there was Norse Stickball, Boffer wars, tablero games, classes and it was just a blast! $15 for me and $8 for Alyssa for the whole weekend... 5 days, can't beat the price! and there were showers too! all the camping was on grass, so even with just a thin foam pad, I wasn't sore at all when I woke up, totally surprising me. I am SO going back next year!!!! I was invited to perform next year on the gypsy stage, so I have to anyway :) I will also remember to bring LOTS of water