Day Trips

At the Texas Renaissance Festival there must be something in the water, because everyone seems to be having fun in the medieval village.

The theme park was built over an abandoned strip mine on FM1774 between Plantersville and Magnolia. Since 1975, the village north of Houston has grown from 15 to 50 acres on the edge of Piney Woods about three hours from Austin. Thousands of actors will slip into 16th-century characters, each Saturday and Sunday, 9am-dusk, rain or shine, to entertain the thousands through Nov. 12.

The Texas festival has grown to be the largest such event in the U.S. Harry Anderson was a magician in the festival before Night Court, and Penn & Teller stopped here on the circuit of Renaissance festivals around the globe.

This year the festival has added the "Feast of Earthly Delights," a six-course banquet of exquisite food and bottomless goblets. Diners at the two-hour feast are entertained by a comedy and musical revue that makes the time pass quickly.

The King's feast is $52 on top of the $12.95 adult admission. General admission to the grounds for seniors is $10.95, $6.95 for children 5-12 years old, and free for children
4 years old and under. For information, call 800/458-3435.

Fossil Rim Wildlife Center will discontinue year-round operation of their bed and breakfast facility. Christine Jurzykowski, director of the wildlife refuge east of Glen Rose, says plans are to close the operation at the end of November.

The five-bedroom lodge was built as a ranch house with a front balcony overlooking a pasture and creek with Texas turkeys grazing beside African elk. In the backyard were young Cheetahs pacing in their cages. The Cheetah is one of six endangered species being researched at the facility.

The research, education, and preservation projects established in 1990, were supported by 12 businesses, including a boutique in Dallas, a drive-thru animal park, and behind-the-scenes educational tours that resembled an African safari. "The lodge was not carrying its own weight," Jurzykowski says.

She adds that they are looking at alternatives for the lodge; perhaps finding another organization to run it or leasing it to groups for special occasions. Even the Safari Camp, a series of cabins made to look like safari tents, will now be operated seasonally from April to October.

On Oct. 21, Fossil Rim sponsors a Halloween party designed to take the fear out of traditionally spooky animals. For more information, call 817/897-2960.

Coming up this weekend...

Wimberley Gospel Music Festival attracts Gospel music groups from across the country to the Lions Park on FM2325 west of Wimberley, Oct. 13-15 (free). 512/847-2201.

Hillaceous Bicycle Tour will be filling the roads around Wimberley, Oct. 14. Cyclists will choose a level of difficulty on the tour through five counties in the Hill County. 512/847-2201.

Texas Mesquite Association Art Festival features objects made from gnarly native Texas hardwoods in Fredericksburg at Market Square, Oct. 13-15. 210/997-8515.

Freddy Fender HomeFest in the singer's hometown of San Benito raises money for local civic projects, Oct. 12-14. 210/399-5321.

Coming up...

The Orange Show in Houston has added weekend hours - noon-5pm - for this winter. But the theme park at 2401 Munger will close Dec. 6 until mid-March for restoration. The Orange Show Foundation sponsors a tour of the neighborhood juke joints that made the city's blues scene a national treasure, Nov. 10. A tour of folk art sites for kids, Nov. 11. 713/926-6368.

Uncle Fletch Davis Hamburger Cookoff in Athens, the town that claims to be the birthplace of the hamburger, lets chefs try their skill in several different categories at Athens Alley,
Oct. 21. 903/675-5181. - Gerald E. McLeod

Collect Them All.