There’s not a lot to do in Schaumburg, this is what I discovered when I went looking for an activity on my birthday. The choices: Legoland (which is no fun without kids and not actually open in the evenings), shopping (at the 7th largest shopping mall in the US), and LARPing (live-action role-playing).
I’m not much of a shopper, but I am fascinated by people who role-play, and Medieval Times has turned LARPing into an actual profession. I’ve seen the castles in other cities and have long wanted to try the experience so I decided to head over and celebrate my birthday with horses and LARPers rather than with the bad wallpaper in my tiny hotel room.
The night includes a meal (which is gf because this is Schaumburg) with no utensils (to maximize the medieval feast experience) and a medieval tournament as entertainment. A lot of interaction happens between the knights and audience, and the louder your “country” is, the more interaction there is (knights give flowers to people in their country when they win challenges).
The true stars of this show are the horses, many of which are Spanish Andalusian horses. They dance, jump, sprint, and are a part of the jousting and games. Retired horses get a pretty good life that involves roaming open fields and just being a horse at Chapel Creek Ranch in Texas.
I was surprised that the venue was not packed on the evening that I attended (a Wednesday)… I guess everyone was tired from Cinco de Mayo. The bulk of people came from school and tour groups, with the occasional birthday celebration. I attended by myself and wished that Michelle or La Niña were there. Both would have loved the horses.
