Renaissance Pleasure Faire – Irwindale, CA

TRAVEL BY NIC…….The Perpetual Tourist!

 

Renaissance Pleasure Faire – Irwindale, CA

 

I love to dress up…..I love the Renaissance time period……so why not step into the past by going to the Renaissance Faire!?  It is a chance for adults, kids, everyone to dress up and immerse themselves in another time.  You will see it all!  Trolls, ladies, knights, crusaders, pilgrims, wenches, gypsies, fairies, queens, Vikings, wizards everything.

I have visited Renaissance Fairs in Kansas City, Phoenix, and LA.  I find it so interesting that some peoples careers / lifestyles are just to entertain and move from Ren faire to Ren faire.  These people live, eat & breathe the Renaissance.  Pair that with local actors & actress that dress up and walk the grounds.  All of the characters seriously talk in old English.  I find their comments very tongue in cheek and very funny.  So you’ve got the lifestyle folks in costume, the local actors in costume now throw in the public walking around in costume!!  Woa’ La!  You have got a place full of character! 

Renaissance Fairs will be in different areas of the USA at different times.  In Kansas City it was always in the Fall.  In Irwindale it ran April 6 – May 19, 2013.  The cost at the gate was $25 per adult / Parking $10; However, you can always find discounted tickets on line, at supermarkets or drug stores.  For example, I just went on to the Ren Fairs website before it came to town and was able to get 2 tickets for $20!!  You can totally make a whole day of your visit,   It opens at 10am – 7pm.

I counted up about 10 stages that host a wide selection of skits and music.  We saw MooNie…..sooooo funny!  We also sat and watched some Sheiks and belly dancers.  You will also be entertained by parades that seem to go by all of the time.  We experienced the “Death” parade, a dancing parade and finally the Queens parade.  As you work your way to the very end of the grounds you will find the jousting arena.  There you will be encouraged to cheer for your knight depending on where you are sitting in the arena.  Again, I can’t begin to tell you how many things will catch your eye!  I would love to just go and sit and hear all of the conversations and watch all of the characters that pass by.  You can’t be shy at this place!  Jump in and have fun!  Start dialogs with these folks, or just stand beside them, they WILL entertain you in that moment!

As you’re walking through the grounds you hardly notice the vendors, they just blend into the scene!  You’ll find so many unique things!   Some items are totally from that time period, and others things that you find would fit right into today’s world.  Like any Fair or Faire, you find delicious and or unique food!  My husband had the King Henry VIII turkey leg!  I go for the asparagus on a stick, wrapped in bacon sprinkled with parmesan…..YUM!  Also enjoyed troll ears, (pretzels with caramel & chocolate).  You will find fresh fruit bowls, artichokes, Toad in a Hole, crepes, ice cream, pulled pork, HUGE pickles, anything & everything you can think of. 

So there you go!  A full day of entertainment, great food and a chance to dress up and time travel to another time & place……the Renaissance Pleasure Faire!!

Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch & Legoland Hotel

TRAVEL BY NIC…….The Perpetual Tourist!

The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch

Want to experience Spring?!  Then you gotta see the flower fields of Carlsbad!  Over 50 acres devoted to raising beautiful bright ranunculus!  From the freeway you can see the bright gold, orange, red, purple & merlot colors climb the hill.  However, when you’re at the top of the hill you see the same bright colors and it looks like they are about to roll right into the ocean! 

 

The best time to view the fields runs from March 1 thru May 12^th.  9am-6p.  $11 per person, but if you have a triple AAA card you can save a buck!  Parking is free…..uh…..but good luck!  Luckily there is an outlet mall right next door so of course you can use their parking too!

Be sure to check out their website (theflowerfields.com) because they have events just about every weekend.  They did have some vendors there, a children’s play area (Santa’s playground).  We enjoyed a band playing as we walked the grounds.  Other activities included a sweet pea maze, rose & theme gardens, American flag of flowers, antique tractor wagon rides.  Everywhere you turn you will find picture perfect settings!  The antique tractors are used to give guided tours, we didn’t do that but it looked like it would be worth the $20 per person.

Once you’re off the colorful hill, you’ll find plenty of other flowers to photograph!  I’m telling you, it’s a photographer’s paradise!! 

So here is your history lesson in a nutshell!  Louis Gage started growing the Giant Tecolote Ranunculus bulbs just south of Oceanside.  (Tecolote came from the owls that nested on his property).  The garden passed from Louis to Frank and finely to the grandson Edwin Gage.  Edwin managed to take the Ranunculus bulb from a single petal flower that was only availabe in yellow & red, to a full flower with several layers of petals.  Now you can find the ranunculus in a range of 13 different colors!  Needless to say he eluded his competitors and that left him the only commercial ranunculus grower in the US.  In 1993 Edwin was ready to retire;  Paul Ecke Jr formed a joint venture with grower Mellano & Company to continue growing the beautiful flowers.  In 1999 Armstrong Garden Centers entered a retail arrangement with Paul & Mellano & Company thus The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch was born!

So I say GO!!  It will make you smile!

Legoland Hotel, Carlsbad/San Diego, CA

We were going to go eat dinner at the Legoland Hotel, (just up the hill from the Flower Fields).  The hotel is sooooo cute!  If you have kids, it’s a must see, stay at or just visit!  The outside of the building looks like it was put together with legos.  Of course the lobby is kid friendly!  Everywhere you look you’ll find the professional lego characters displayed all around.  AND, you’ll find lego pits all for kids & adults to start building.

So we found their 2 restaurants, one is a buffet that had a huge selection of food to choose from.  The buffet was $25 per adult & $10 per child and we just weren’t hungry enough to stay.  The décor was very kid friendly, (duh), bright colors, table cloths they could color on and of course the lego creations throughout the dining area.  Right across the hall was Skyline Café, and it was a little more like a lounge, well like a lounge in a kids building if you catch my drift.

Anyway, we ended up at a chain restaurant.  But again, nothing against the hotel!  I say it’s a must see!  If you have kids……It would be a fabulous place to stay!!  BTW, I neglected to mention that Legoland is right outside the door!!  (Sorry, I feel I’ve failed you all as a travel agent….I didn’t get rates!!!  But you know I’d be happy to book you a room if you decide to stay there!)

 

Saddleback Church

TRAVEL BY NIC…….The Perpetual Tourist!

 

Saddleback Church – 1 Saddleback Pkwy, Lake Forest, CA

So what better place to spend Easter then at Saddleback Church?!  Saddleback Church is world famous as the Purpose Driven Church.  Rick Warren is the Senior Pastor and author of the Purpose Driven Life.  Right away you will be in awe of the beautiful campus.  Everywhere you look, you’ll find regal palms, little streams, green grassy knolls, grottos and beautiful flowers everywhere.  But beyond the visual beauty you get a sense of love and caring from the people.

Saddleback Church in listed as one of the top 5 largest churches in the USA, but I didn’t really feel that.  The Worship Center seats around 3000, but you will find several comfortable outdoor patio areas to watch the service.  They also have several venues going on while the live service was going on.  By “venues”, it just means different types of music.  They have one venue that plays rock & roll Christian music, another that sings hymns, and finally a praise venue that has a choir and offer gospel choruses.  So the music is live and the message that is going on in the Worship Center is cued up to play in the different venues.

 

Saddleback also has 12 local campuses!  Some of those are even way bigger then my home church in Kansas!  Three of their local campus’s had over 3000 people on Easter.  It is also exciting to see that Saddleback will be launching international church locations!

This is an active church.  I would challenge anyone to not find something going on every night of the week.  As of today they offer 2 Saturday night services, 2 Sunday morning services and 1 Sunday night service that caters to the 20 something.  Besides having a plethora of different bible studies to choose from, they have Zumba classes, fitness classes, art studio, creative dance, and the list goes on & on.  The church has thousands of volunteers that keep the church moving & shaking.  They have volunteers that operate their video cameras during the service, production teams, greeters, tram drivers, traffic volunteers, ushers, teachers, medical people, again I am in awe at how the people of this church have a servants heart.

Your children will LOVE attending classes here.  They have a nursery building and a Children’s building for kids in grades 1^st – 6^th.  Each floor has a bright fun common area where the kids gather together and do FUN kid worshiping, and then they divide out into class rooms.  The security is handled very well.  You are issued a “swipe ”card that is to be used every time you check your child in and out.  The Refinery is THE place for the pre-teen & teens.  To keep the teens busy……skate park, basket ball, pool tables, games, café, burger place…..you name it….whatever a teen enjoys can be found at the Refinery.  AGAIN, for you nay-sayers, that’s all attractive to the teens, but I’ve seen a lot of lives changed in that building.  They are building future leaders of faith every day.  The Refinery is also a community building of sorts.  It has cafes, burgers and eventually a pizza parlor.  Adults share the building for all kinds of events, the football viewing comes to mind!  Sports fans gather together to watch football in the auditorium which has state of the art screens!

Have you ever heard of Celebrate Recovery?  That recovery program was started by John Baker from Saddleback Church.  It is a HUGE programs that helps people with their hurts, hang up, and additions.  Besides supporting a local Celebrate Recovery that occurs every Friday, this program also offers 1 day conferences all over the USA and a Summit that lasts for 3 days on the Lake Forest campus.  People from all over the world emerge on this church for the CR Summit.  The testimony of changed lives will touch your heart strings guaranteed! 

They have a building on the campus the represents their “local” Peace plan.    That building houses a food pantry, and medical a medical clinic.  I love that they also provide counseling to people in need.

So if you’re looking for a church to visit that preaches the word of God from the bible I encourage you to visit this beautiful church.  I think you’ll run into several beautiful souls there!