I’ve been a big fan of Ren Faires/Fests/Whatevers since high school, and last week we decided to check out the new kid on the block: the Virginia Renaissance Faire. It’s a much, much smaller operation than the big one in Annapolis, but it was much cheaper ($5/adult) and less crowded. In fact, I was quite surprised at just how much smaller it was–it had no permanent structures (the ticket booth was a trailer, and the front gate was a half-finished plywood eyesore), and consisted of two parts: a fenced-in area at the end of a field in front, and a pleasant grove in the back. The kids loved it, of course, but I think that we’ll give it a few years to mature before we make the trip again.