So we are finally back to having Pennsic again after the Covid Plague has withdrawn enough for us to feel 80% safe with camping in large groups. The trip to and from the event was it’s usual long drive but there were no travel problems that were of concern. The hotels we stayed in were both fine and we enjoyed the return trip hotel quite a bit. There was a bar near the pools and we had dinner in the Shogun Restaurant there. The wife and I may go back for a weekend there it was so nice.
I won’t be adding any pics or anecdotal stories to this post. You’ve probably seen a hundred or more already at this point. The event itself had wonderful weather. We only had one bad storm and thankfully it was the first day when everything was already set up. We were away on a supply run when it hit so the tent held up on it’s own quite nicely and we stayed dry until it was over.
My expectations were high and I anticipated this would be a busy Pennsic. It later occurred to me that being an off year (Pennsic 49) and the fact that it was the first official Pennsic since Covid, the numbers were lower than I anticipated. The Pennsic Independent had around 8,000 attendance. This was fine as I didn’t have to jostle around people anywhere in the Food Court or Classrooms or in the Market areas. The downside was that some of my favorite people and groups were not present this year. I missed the Octobar, Duchess Isabella (my Grand Laurel), House Thanet, a bunch of Master Brewers, and a few other folks who normally attended. But I was still thrilled to see a bunch of folks I haven’t seen in almost 5 years. There’s a lot of changes going on in my circle of friends. We’ve lost a lot of Brewers recently and although I saw a lot of my Household members at Pennsic, they were all busy doing their thing. Which is good because we see them a lot the rest of the year; this is a big event and a lot happens here.
My schedule was less frantic than in years before. I entered a beverage in both the Interkingdom brewing Guild competition and the East Kingdom GrandMasters paneling. I received an 85.3 and 85.5 score respectively. It wasn’t high enough for the Interkingdom to qualify for Master but the EK Brewers Guilde this was Grandmaster score so I’m happy the one I was relying on most met criteria. I went to several classes during the week. Most of them were for brewing and I had a few meetings with the Grandmasters of the East Kingdom Brewer’s Guild.
The “Pageantry” of the camps never ceases to impress. Although many groups were gone, half of them were still there and still showing a grand gate or impressive
The parties were good. Went to a few new ones I hadn’t been to before. The wife wasn’t impressed but there was a lot of fun stuff happening. This was also the first year my youngest was able to go to the parties since he turned 21. Needless to say it was a bit of a culture shock for him.
The Bardici Parties were severely lacking. I won’t go into details (mostly 4 year old news) but the Master of the Household had burnt some bridges, and members of his house burnt some for him. Both the attendance of staff and the lack of a good selection of booze on top of the fact that half the fun was the difficulty of getting in. This was not the case this year. The doors were flung open wide for both the Lowdy Toady and the Highty Tighty. We departed after the German Dance Party showed up at the Hoity Toity.
The Barony of Stonemarche had their “Stonemarche Get-together” on Saturday. Due to Covid, there was no Potluck or beverages. We visited with the Barony for about half an hour, catching up on what everyone was doing. Stonemarche was half full of the usual attendees. The Tuchux had yet to come down the hill.
I was a bit disapointed in East Kingdom Court. From people around me, there apparently was a lack of communication. I heard a lot of folks tried to visit the Battle Field Tent (myself included) and thankfully the Tent was visible from a distance where you could see nothing was happening. It soon became clear that East Kingdom Royal was where Court was happening. We hurried back the direction we came and took a right instead of left. Thankfully my Apprentice and I brought chairs and libations with us. We were 10 min early and the EK Royal area was already half full. It was a flat area so visibility depended on how high you were sitting, which determined how good your view was. That was provided no one decided to stand in front of you. Also because we were so far back, people were hanging out in the street behind court and being loud, thinking their voices wouldn’t carry, so it was very had to hear what was going on. Several times folks were asking “What?!?!” or repeating the summons of the Herald for “Lord xxx/Lady xx”. Court started about 7:30 so for the first hour it was nice to see the recipients getting their awards and I was able to at least see when the Order of the Maunche was called. After 8:30 night fell and not even the Royals had enough light to see by. Several awards were held up, attempting to be lit by a glowing ball that wasn’t bright enough to even read a large print book by.
Eventually it got to the point where I could neither hear nor see anything happening at Court. I felt it was better to quietly exit out the back. We met my Laurel who was leaving at the same time. She had a seat 4 rows back from the front and was experiencing the same results. In our travels, we happened back that way about 2 hrs later and court was still going on. The folks in the street had obviously departed and it looked like about 1/2 the attendees were still there but the last of the awards were being dealt out. An hour later we traveled back past and Court had finally finished. Staff were closing up the last few chairs and putting supplies under cover.
At the end of the week, we were tired and starting to think about our bed and shower at home. It’s amazing how you take modern tasks for granted. I received a few panel results and hopefully we’ll see some advancent in the Guild.
Again, my batteries have been recharged for the coming year/2 years in regards to my SCA goals. I think the pandemic has made a lot of us forget about our SCAdian life and projects. The goals and achievements we can reach and the rewards of having such a rich life. When I finally got home, one of the first things I did was collect all 4 of our tokens from Pennsic, remove the strings, and toss them into the Treasure Chest. We’ve been playing this game for almost 30 years and although I didn’t start collecting tokens when we first started, the box is getting plenty full. I occasionally open it and thumb through the different tokens over the years. Some I remember with vivid details and good times. Some I hardly remember but still muse over what possibly happened there. When my SCA days are over I’ll have a large treasure of rich memories, held in every token I’ve ever received for an event.
The Blog of a Laurel continues…….
Inn of Bards Rest 