Dawn on Sunday, August 17
Today it was going to be in the low 90s and humid with a chance of rain, so we did not want to walk around. We also wanted to use the car since we were paying for it. This morning we did an internet search for “fun things for teens to do around Baltimore” one of the things that popped up was Medieval Times Dinner and Show. Christi and Eric have both been wanting to go to the Medieval Times on the outskirts of Los Angeles for decades, but the logistics were tough as it was a long drive in terrible traffic. As soon as Christi and Eric saw there was a Medieval Times only a half-hour away from Baltimore (by car), they immediately booked tickets for the next show, which was today at 1400. Tickets were $75 for the base price, and there were a lot of items that could be added-on, as well as multiple special packages. We stuck with the basic tickets. The website suggested arriving early, so at 1215, we headed out. Here was a shot of downtown Baltimore as we were driving through it.
Much to our surprise, it was in a mall. Despite the parking lot being giant, we had a hard time finding a spot. We suppose spending a hot yet rainy day in an air-conditioned indoor mall was not an original idea. We checked in at the ticket counter.
When we’d bought the tickets, there were no options for a special meal. Given her food allergy, Christi had assumed she wouldn’t be able to eat. So we were surprised when the ticket lady asked about allergies. She said they had unseasoned meals and gave her a “no seasoning meal” card to give to the waiter.
We were one of the first to arrive. The lobby was decorated to look like a medieval castle. It was darling. They did a good job with the decor.
About 1/3 of the lobby was a store, and the items up for sale were medieval themed and very fun.
There was a big bar area, too. You had to buy a souvenir cup and they filled it with the beverage of your choice. There were several cups to choose from. We didn’t write down the numbers, so we could be off by a dollar or two, but we’re close: the small cups were around $10, small non-alcoholic drinks were about $8, and the small alcoholic drinks started at about $12. Since there was no way we were paying $18 for a small soda, we didn’t buy any drinks .
One of the many add-ons you could purchase was to have your photo taken with the king and queen. Another was to be knighted by the king and queen, and we watched a knighting ceremony.
Eventually, we were let into the arena and seated at long tables. Keith had told us that they didn’t commonly use silverware in the medieval times, and we guess he was right because there was no silverware provided – though they did have wet wipes on the table. The hot liquid container had soup.
The waiter came with pitchers right away, before the show began. We could choose between water or Pepsi products. Christi’s plate of food was delivered as the show was beginning. For everyone else, the food was served throughout the show. The waiter came by and poured everyone their soups, then came by again and put a piece of chicken on everyone’s plate, then came back later with a piece of corn, etc. The food was surprisingly good. Even Christi’s unseasoned meal was not bad. The waiter brought more wet-wipes out after the meal.
We don’t want to ruin the show for those who wish to attend, but it started with a (very long) introduction of the royal party and jousters, followed by some animal performances, then the jousting tournament began. They put a lot of effort into rallying the crowd to get us to cheer loudly for our assigned jousting team.
For each round of jousting, they rode out on the horses, but quickly abandoned them in favor of hand-to-hand combat. The combat was obviously staged — for example, a knight falling down from a punch before the other person had even swung.
The horses pooped a lot, so these guys were constantly out there cleaning it up.
Our concluding thoughts: Even though it was very cheesy, it was fun. We were glad we went, however, we have no desire to ever go back again. We feel like the base price was good value for the money since nowadays a chicken dinner with soup, two sides, bread, drink and dessert is at least $40 in a restaurant, and with all the animals to care for, this was probably an expensive show to produce. We’re also glad we didn’t buy any of the extras. We felt like the extras were not worth the money.
After the show, we went back to Kosmos and had a quiet evening aboard.