Fact: 200 years ago this week, voyageurs coming off the trail didn’t have the luxury of browsing the gift shop for birch bark picture frames and moose poop incense.
What they did have, was the Rendezvous: a merry mid-summer celebration with plenty of food, sport and dance. This weekend, you’re invited to join them.
Grand Portage National Monument hosts the annual event with an impressive schedule [PDF] of re-enactments, demos, workshops, games of skill, and kids’ activities. A few items that stuck out to me, after the jump…
• Musket Firing Demonstrations
• Culture of the Fur Trade
• Tinsmithing for Kids
• Rugged Voyageur Contest
• Scottish Music and Haggis Making
What, no deep-fried beaver tail on a stick?
So if you’re up that way, you should off-load your stack of pelts and enjoy yourself. Maybe you won’t find cheap wineskins being passed around the fire or hear lots of swearing in French. But you’re likely to have so much fun learning other stuff, that you won’t miss it.
BTW, you thought I was kidding about moose poop incense?
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