Wow! Cain’s Crossing! AN EXCELLENT LITTLE FAIRE! For as small as it is and as small faires go, this one is excellent! It is small but was still a great success! What fun!

It’s a “late reign” faire with Sandy Cook playing Elizabeth around 1592. The site was well forested and shade was EVERYWHERE! There was great food and lots of vendors, lots of guilds and good crowds both days! Actors camp was soooooo close and easily accessable and was itself, a wonderful little forested area. At its very back is a waterfall and getting there early on Friday, I set up camp right next to it! It was glorious to listen to that all weekend!

Was good to see Rydell, Amy, Janice, Andrew and others from my Dickens peeps. And from the Dead, to hang out and party with Duane, Barbara, Megan and her friend, Sara and Sarah, Tracy, and Rabbit, was great. Donnie and Susan and a bunch of others were all there looking great! Hanging with Tom at Crystal Clan was fun. Saw Giddy there for a brief moment! More time next time! Partied with Laura who I don’t know and she introduced me to others from her new home with Capt’n Crowjoe, Reddy and the Scavanger Hunt gang! They’re a fun crew! The HMS Dauntless! Man, those guys party! Also saw many of my gate-pay’n friends, newlyweds, Michael and Lyselle, Nate & Mara, John & Colleen, Kari and others.

Course of events: I got there Friday to a huge spaghetti feed at St. Ambrose, then partied into the night with the crew of the Dauntless and their huge bar and never ending big fire! Woke up the next day, and went and played with Rydell’s Raleigh. I took on becoming his minion, recruiting for his venture to Virginia! With my new ploughman’s look, I became the local farmer, Master Wagstaff, Harry Wagstaff at’jer service! We had some fun gigging all day with my various reports back to Raleigh about my recruitment efforts, how the Mayor was becoming upset as I bereft the village of its population for Raleigh’s venture. The fields were to go fallow! Oh my! Raleigh declared that I was to be his “Adam” and that I would, he said, populate the New World with good English blood. Somehow it was suggested that instead of it being called Virginia, the English colony at Roanoke should be called “Wagstaffia”!!! We kept telling the crowd how this new English paradise, Roanoke, was bound to be there for years and years!

Then, went off to do the Danse for the first time since October, last. Damn what a good time that gig is! Best gig in town for me! I don’t get to physically express like that anywhere else! We rocked! Had new blood who died this weekend too. Hung with my other dead peeps for a bit and then back to the recruiting! Over all, Saturday was a great faire!
Had dungeonous crab, cheese, bread, ribs, salad and other goodies at an impromptu actors camp feast! That rocked! Then out to carouse for a bit. Hung with Crystal Clan and drummed into the evening. Donnie, DM guildmaster came along and he and I had fun making music with pennywhistle, dumbec drum and voice! Was so much fun! Crystal Man said, gotta close down the noise at 11. I thought the night was over and went for one last walk around and found on the other side of the faire sight, the HMS Dauntless was still rocking and partying so I went there and continued to carouse even more! Sat. night at this little faire ROCKED!

Woke up the next day after playing hard the first day and with two DM sets under my belt, realized I hadn’t moved like that since last October and was sooooooooo sore and tired that I didn’t make it out onto the street at all! I felt bad cause it was my intent to go gig with Raleigh and the court some more, but it was all I could do to rouse myself for the two remaining sets for Sunday’s Danse. In between sets, I was breaking down and packing and just about ¾’s of our dead folk were back there hanging with me, partying and resting up, many of them feeling the same way I did, just too tired to do anything but be casual and wait for the next set. I finally (about 3:30 or so on Sun.) made it out into the street after second set, but by that time, the long, hot weekend had taken its toll on many others and there was no playing in the street to join in on, so with packed car, I headed home.

Was going to pass through Martinez on my way so thought to call up Lee and Shannon to stop by and say hi but found they had been in Davis all weekend at some sort of Earth Festival and were on their way home too but had pulled over about 20 minutes ahead of me in Fairefield, for food. So I stopped and hung out with them, had a beer, and then kept on trucking, finally making it home around 9:30 and was in bed by 10:30.

What a weekend! I soooooo recommend this faire! This was their second year and they rocked! A very good season opener and pre-game show for Valhalla. Also a perfect venue to get your game on and warm up after four months of hibernation! Everyone should come support this kick-ass little faire next year!