[Sca-cooks] other things they dont explain about Pennsic

[Sharon Gordon]

A few more to add to the list:

1) In the evening just before dusk on a clear night, walk up a hill where
you can see a good section of Pennsic.  The incredible view will take you
back 400+ years.

2) Usually a professional photographer gets quite a number of aerial shots
including some amazing close up shots of Pennsic.  The battle scenes are
particularly amazing.  I really like the Pennsic-Town-Map shots as well, and
amazingly you can usually spot your tent along with the rest of your
encampment in these.  At some point these will be posted and you can order
the ones you want.

3) It's really nice to have a subscription to the Pennsic newspaper.

4)  If you'd like to do Pennsic without ice or cooler, there are several
helpful articles at
http://www.geocities.com/aecooks/CGCampFood.html
This gives a more medieval context to your meals.  The two main differences
between historic eating and Pennsic eating are that at Pennsic, you won't
have a chicken for fresh eggs or livestock available for fresh meat.  In
addition to the fresh food available at Pennsic, there are farmer's markets
near Pennsic with all sorts of freshly harvested produce.

5) If you line the walls of your tent or remember to turn out the lights,
you won't give shadow shows to your neighbors.

6) Pennsylvania has some different traffic laws than other states, some
differences in intensity of enforcement, and a few police who specifically
target SCA people enroute or around Pennsic.  The main issues I know of are:
1) Children up to(thru?) age 8 need to be in car seats.
2) There are speed traps on many if not all of the main routes to Pennsic
including quite far away from Pennsic.  There are indications that Pennsic
is specifically targeted.
3) There are issues with alcohol being brought into the state.  Can't
remember exactly what.  But it seems to me that someone checked and that
homemade for personal use (ie not for sale) was ok.  Someone might want to
check for latest info to be sure.
4) Due to severe problems in PA with unregistered and uninsured drivers,
there are often times where all cars are stopped and people must produce
license, registration, and insurance info.  So keep these accessible.  At
one point if people couldn't produce these, they were taking their cars for
several weeks.
5) If you go into town, be sure to take your Pennic parking hangtag off your
mirror as you are exiting the site.  The local police heavily target this
violation.

6) There are lots of 3 month olds at any Pennsic.  Plan accordingly to
increase or decrease your odds of being part of this phenomenon.

7) If the class and event lists are up before you go to Pennsic, you can
save Pennsic time by mapping out your schedule ahead of time.  Do check
everyday though for additions and cancelations.

8) If you sleep in comfortable tunic and pants, it makes hiking to and using
the restrooms easier at night.  Most people prefer having a flashlight for
this, though some will carry a lit lantern.

9) If you have extra room, take some split wood or kindling for the
campfires.  If not you can get some on site.

10) Usually there is at least some recycling at Pennsic.  If your home area
recycles more than what you can at Pennsic, your group may want to collect
these recyclables and recycle them at home.  Also the amount of trash
generated at Pennsic is horrendous, so anything you can do to prevent trash
from happening is good (cloth shopping bags, cloth produce bags, reusuable
containers, cloth napkins, cloth hand/dish towels, etc.).

11) The Pennsic chocolate milk is deservedly legendary, and if you are going
to have one nonperiod food item during your time at Pennsic either this or
the fresh corn would get my vote.

12) People who have really spiffy garb usually don't mind if you ask them if
you can get a picture of them.  So if you have a small camera, it's worth it
to carry it (concealed) wherever you go.  Ditto for encampments with
wonderful walls and structures.

13) If you are trying to pack up on the last afternoon/evening for an early
morning departure, it helps either to eat out or to have a one pot dish, so
that clean up is faster, and unneeded things can be packed up.  If you have
fruit, cheese, and bread for breakfast, then you won't need to cook for
that.

14) There are usually music groups and choruses that perform.  If you'd like
to be part of one, email for the music ahead of time so you can practice in
advance.

15) Take some rolls of quarters to do laundry at in town laundromats.

16) Take a pot large enough to heat water for dish washing, and some dish
pans as well as a dish drying rack.  There are wooden dish drying racks.
Period looking dish pans are harder to find.

17) It's helpful to take some water hose and a Y-connector to help move
water around your encampment.  Some encampments have plumbed kitchen sink
set ups. (Yes, here's a place where people really do pack the kitchen sink
:-) ).

18) If your shopping is very successful and you can't get it all in your car
or airplane luggage, you can mail some of the excess to yourself.

19) At night at Pennsic, it's often damp, so besides suitable clothing, it's
very useful to have a groundcloth under your tent.  Many people keep lots of
their belongings in plastic rubber maid containers (cloth, paper, stamps,
dryfoods and spices).  Others go for more period ceramic, metal, or glass
containers for food, stamps, and paper and just dry the cloth as best they
can.

20) It's nice to have a clothesline or wooden drying rack for clothes and
towels.  Be sure to site the clothes line so no one is hurt running into it
in the dark.

21) If you play a portable musical instrument, playing and singing around
the fire can be a lot of fun.

22) It can be hard to find quiet for sleeping at Pennsic.  If you like to
sleep by 10 most nights, try to get in an encampment in a quiet area, and
ask to be in the quieter area of your encampment.  Though even this doesn't
always work.  There was the year I was next to the fire circle, people
drummed to 2am in another encampment nearby, and then just as I was finally
dozing off about 2:15am the bagpipe serenade came through the
encampment...the birds start singing about 5am.  On the otherhand if you
like to sleep late, try to camp away from the breakfast area, and the
entrance/exit to your encampment.

23) If you go to dinner or a party in another encampment, take a flashlight
or lantern with you to make your return easier.

24) It can be very helpful to have a wooden folding chair for courts or
events in other encampments.

25) If you have things you only use at Pennsic, you can rent local storage
units and just leave the items there from year to year.  Sometimes groups
will rent one together.

26) There are two different swimming areas.  Be aware of their different
swimming situations.

27) Email your friends before you go to Pennsic to find out where they are
camping.  Otherwise it may be challenging to locate them when you are there.

28) If you are working on a portable hand craft, it makes it easier for
someone to strike up a conversation with you on an art or science you are
both interested in.

29) If a tour of especially spiffy encampments is offered, take the tour if
you can as you will get to see a lot more interesting things than you might
just walking by.

30) There are at least two grocery stores in town which will special order
meats and other foods for you.  This way you can get some of the more
unusual period items.

31) There are more fun things than you can do in any one year at Pennsic, so
enjoy as much as you can this year and start a list of things you'd like to
do next Pennsic.

Sharon
gordonse at one.net