Renaissance Run

It was a quiet Friday evening, we were playing cards with Tom and Cindy at our house.  Cindy had been talking about this movie she had recently watched.  It was an older movie but it was about knights and jousting.  I asked her if it was called "A Knight's Tale" with Heath Ledger.  She didn't know so I grabbed the movie from my DVD collection and she got all excited.  It was the movie she had just watched the night before.  She talked about all her favorite parts and that was when I asked her if she had ever been to the Renaissance Festival in Holly.  She had never been and that was when it happened.  We were planning a ride to go there.  My husband explained that our parking situation would be great on the bikes.  We checked the weather for the next day but it was supposed to rain.  Next Saturday however looked good.  Tom sent out a group text to see if anyone else wanted to go.  Mike and Linda were in but wanted to know if we could meet at their house since they were much closer to Holly than us and it was the opposite direction.  Bob and Stacey were in and would meet us at Mike and Linda's place.  Joey had to work that Saturday but Jim was in and would meet us at Scott's Quick Stop where we were meeting Tom and Cindy.  Linda said she could get us discounted tickets from her work.  Jim said he would be bringing a date so he would need an extra ticket.  We decided to meet at Scotts at 8am and that would put us at Mike and Linda's about 9am.  Everyone agreed to the times and we went back to playing cards.

The day arrived and the forecast looked great.  I had packed the bike with extra layers the night before and packed a mini cooler that morning.  We were dressed and out the door only a couple minutes late but my husband made up most of the time on the way there.  We arrived at Scott's at 8:05 am.  We only took a few minutes to gas up and grab something to eat for breakfast.  Jim, Tom and Cindy were ready when I walked out the door.  Jim and Tom took the lead and we followed.  We took the back route to Mike and Linda's place.  Jim's Street Glide accelerated fast and we had to work to keep up with him.  Tom and Cindy's Electra Glide was newer and they were banging through the gears.  We arrived at Mike and Linda's in Davidson just before 9 and Everyone was there.  We had some time before we planned to arrive at 10 so we took the long way around and avoided the freeway.  Stacey was happy for that because it would be less traffic and more relaxed riding.  

We headed out on M-15 towards Ortonville.  Traffic was a little heavy until we got south of I-69.  I was keeping an eye on Stacey who was directly behind us and I could see why she wanted to avoid the traffic.  She really rode differently in areas with heavy traffic.  She seemed almost nervous of an accident.  I made a mental note to ask her about it later.  Bob had taken the shoulder side of the road on his Road King but I could tell Stacey didn't like being on the inside of the road with her Sportster.  

Mike and Linda were, next to Tom and Cindy, directly in front of us on their Road Glide and Jim was next to us.  Our route took us through Goodrich which was a cute little town with some old buildings similar to the towns in the thumb we love to visit.  It didn't take long and we were in Ortonville and it was just as cool as Goodrich from what I saw.  We turned right and headed down a road that I wasn't sure got traveled much.  As we went down the road I decided it was an awesome road to take the bikes down with all the twists and turns.  The trees offered shade and the colors were amazing.  When we finally turned right again I could tell we were close.  I could smell the festival in the air.  The popcorn and food were intoxicating and enticing all in one.  We pulled in and I could see cars everywhere.  As we rode town the driveway/road I could see we had a way to go before we arrived at the gates.  I had never been to the festival on a motorcycle before and had no idea where we would be parking but when I did, I understood why it was so much better to go in the motorcycles.  We were so close to the gates that we passed people in line to get in.  It probably would have been 1/4-1/2 mile walk to get here from where I first saw cars parked.  

Cindy asked why the employees were standing in line to get in.  I couldn't help but laugh a little but to be fair I didn't warn her at all.  All I had told her was to bring comfortable footwear and that she would want to dress for a hot day.  Stacey explained that many people would dress up in medieval times apparel or as fantasy creatures.  Cindy asked if we would look out of place and I explained that not everyone dressed up and we would be fine.  We got in line behind a person dressed as a wizard who was accompanied by a fairy.  While we waited in line I asked Stacey about her nervousness on the ride in.  She explained that the last time they were out they had a close call and she was worried about it happening again.  The line moved quickly and we were inside fast.  I warned everyone to hit the outhouses before we got going.  

There were so many things to see and do.  We caught a few shows right away before looking the map over to see what we wanted to do.  Planning was key because there was no way to see and do it all in one day.  We planned to catch the late day Joust as that was something we all wanted to see.  Us girls all wanted to get a henna tattoo, while we did the guys watched some Scottish games event.  My favorite show is always the Washing Wenches.  After we had watched the Joust, ate the Turkey legs and saw all the shows we just had to see and we checked out the little shops on our way out.  I couldn't believe the day had gone so quickly.  It was already 5 pm and we were ready for dinner in a much less crowded location.  

We took the bikes up Dixe-Highway and just for the record it is not the smoothest road.  We went as far as Baldwin and took that out to Torey Road.  I knew where we were and where we were headed.  I got excited because the food was fabulous and they have a great patio.  We were on the south side of Grand Blanc and heading to Scooters.  Stacey looked like she was loving the trek down Baldwin with all the hills and minimal traffic.  This ride was perfect for her Sportster, allowing for quick acceleration and the road was smooth as glass.  The stop light at Grand Blanc Road and Torey Road was not as nice.  We sat there for what felt like forever before a car coming from the other direction finally stopped at it and triggered it to change.  A short distance later we were pulling into Scooters Bar and Grill.

We didn't even go inside when we arrived.  We went straight to the patio and found seats.  The food and service were great but, like always, I felt bad for our server as she got harassed.  She seemed like she knew just how to handle our guys though and gave it right back to them.  As the sun started to dip those of us that came from the thumb decided it was time to get closer to home.  We bid our local friends farewell and headed home.