A knight is someone who does not what he wants to do, but what he should do.
— Haruki Murakami
This past Christmas, I decided to buy my family and my boyfriend tickets to see Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament. This dinner and tournament features staged-medieval games, sword-fighting, jousting, and horse dancing.
We arrived an hour before showtime, as instructed by the company. I purchased VIP Royalty tickets so our check-in process went fairly quickly and smoothly. Upon entering the king’s castle, we were given tickets to root for the green knight. There were a total of six knights in all, each representing a different city ruled by the king.
Before the jousting, the King’s guards performed choreographed maneuvers while dinner was being served. The “feast” included tomato bisque, garlic bread, chicken, corn on the cob, potato and the pastry of the castle for the day. Following medieval traditions, there were no utensils in the castle. Prior to buying the tickets, I read several Yelp reviews saying that the dinner was “bland”; however, the chicken was cooked really well and had a good taste to it when we were there! The corn was exceptional as well – they glazed with a really appetizing sauce.
The knights did some staged-medieval games and gave away roses. Unfortunately, no one in my group got a rose nor did anyone of us get picked to be his handmaiden. I told Chris he should just buy me a rose so I can say I got one, ha!
Our knight lost the final joust to the red knight. We were bummed about it but nevertheless, we had a lot fun. The crowd rooting for the green knight went crazy and just started chanting “green knight” repeatedly. Even if he did lose, I already have my own knight ;D
I highly recommend this dinner and tournament for anyone who enjoys this time period or simply, anyone who wants to do something new and fun over the weekend! The tournament/show came with a dinner, and you get to cheer on your knight and maybe even get a rose in the process. I’m already looking forward to my next trip where I actually root for a knight who wins!
