The Autry and Other Eras

Wow, it's been a while. Since I last posted, Blogger has undergone a complete redesign. Let's see if I can drive this thing....

Here's a bit of what we've been up to in Cali.

We visited The Autry National Center, which houses the Museum of the American West and collections from the Southwest Museum of the American Indian. A tribute to the Singing Cowboy himself stands out front to greet visitors.

We really had no idea what to expect. We'd received a 2-for-1 ticket at the Eek at the Greek Halloween concert, so we decided to check out the museum before our ticket expired. First, we checked out the art, including a special exhibit called the Art of Native American Basketry (there are baskets you can touch. Yay!). Then we moved on, discovering the large part of the museum that is dedicated to Hollywood's depiction of the West, including lots of movie memorabilia. This stuff was only mildly interesting to me, but we struck gold on another floor. Downstairs, we found stories of real Western settlers, exhibits about traditions and experiences of native tribes, and loads of cool artifacts, including this giant collection of old sheriff's badges from all different states. I also saw my first actual stagecoach.

The museum really strives to capture diverse stories, and I thought they did a wonderful job. There were interesting models of homes of different groups of natives and settlers that reminded me a bit of the setup of the museum on Ellis Island. Before we left the museum, we took in their peaceful courtyard (empty but for the two of us), which has a cute (prop) "General Store" and a place where kids can pretend to pan for gold. My favorite element was the waterfall.

More recently, we visited the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. It's no secret that I love goofy stuff, Renaissance faires included. (I've never dressed up in costume, but it's really easy to get in the spirit of things without one.) We didn't do knife throwing this time, but got to shoot some arrows. I think this shot looks very Katniss. My results were decidedly un-Katniss.

The costumed helpers had to get Chris a lefty bow. He did incredibly well and almost won a free cup of ale in a competition against all the other archers.

We also attended a joust (the best part of a Ren faire), and saw the "Queen" several times.

Chris was hilarious when he first saw a knight ride out. I'm not exaggerating when I say he gasped incredulously and said, "They're so badass!" (We had been to King Richard's Faire a few years ago, but it was very rainy—too muddy and dangerous for jousting.)

I also fulfilled my dream of seeing a dragon.

For me, the day alternated between being really cheesy and fun and being miserably hot and dusty. It was unseasonably hot that day (pushing 90), and I felt so glad that I wasn't dressed up in a heavy gown or wearing a suit of armor like the poor knights. (Couldn't have been fun for the horses either. But props to the faire staff for being very clearly attentive to the animals and providing lots and lots of cool water.) Thank goodness for mango fruit ice. However, despite the heat and my waves of crankiness, this was the backdrop for the whole event:

California is just cool like that.