We arrived Friday night around 7PM and checked into our room. Little did we know that's when the adventure would begin. We stayed in the West Lot Dwelling, which if you've ever been to Shaker Village, you know that....well, it's kind of out there. A mile and a half out there, away from the main part of the village. By the time we arrived it was starting to get dark. We got in the car and drove to the house, couldn't see the sign (which we figured out later that that was it) and then realized maybe we missed it and drove back to the main part of the village. We walked around for over an hour, going into the different houses where people stayed, desperately trying to find our room! Then, it dawned on me, maybe the building we saw the first time was it. So we drove allllllllllllll the way back out there (and it was dark by this point) and went to the first building we found, and sure enough, that was it. Holly's room key had two keys on it and mine only had one; the check in person at the desk said that she didn't need the second key but said to just keep it there so they wouldn't have to worry about it. We got to the West Lot house and the door was locked. I told her "try that other key the desk person said was useless" and sure enough, that spare key opened the side door. Thank GOODNESS we had it, otherwise we would have been stuck. So we moved all our stuff in, got settled and drove BACK to the main area, chilled out at the Dancing Pony, met a few people and that was the end of Friday. There were lots of catchy drinking songs; yes we have videos but they are too big and Blogger doesn't like that.
Saturday was a beautiful day! We got up early and I (Kelly) went downstairs to the kitchen and fumbled around trying to figure out how to use the complimentary coffee maker. It worked, after about 5 minutes of tinkering with it. Once we got to the main village, we just walked around, since nothing started till 10 in the morning and we got up there at like 9ish. It was nice to look around, explore and actually see all the sites in daylight! We ran into a few people we met the night before and bought some cool little trinkets (and I bought an Evenstar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Right before lunch time we went to a workshop by an artist who showcased various paintings and sketches of Middle Earth from the beginning of it until the fourth age (the end of Middle Earth). Oh. My Goodness. Beautiful and stunning artwork....kinda wish we would have snagged some pictures of them. After lunch was a bit of chill time before we decided to join the Hobbit choir. Our selections were May it Be and The Road Goes Ever On, which is from the musical. Yes, there is a LOTR musical and apparently will be world touring next year. Wee.
The big party was at the site where our house was we were staying at, so we took naps! The party site looked pretty much dead-on to Bilbo's birthday party in Fellowship. There was also a Bag End site that was built by two of the coordinators of ALEP. Let me tell you it is a SPOT ON replica (pictured below). Holly also did a Bag End painting about a year ago...it's in our den :)
So anyway, thus the party began. It was all outside and there were tables and chairs set up under lights and paper lanterns. Like I said, it looked exactly like Hobbiton. We were joined at a table with the only person we knew at the time and met lots of other awesome people! What was so interesting was that we were some of the youngest attendees, with the exception of a few families who brought their young children. At this party, there was AWESOME food, music (major kudos to the Great Hobbit Jam Band) and a HILARIOUS skit near the end. I would post my video, but Lord of the peepers took over and its sound quality is a bit rubbish, but I still have it for my enjoyment. Holly has a video as well, but its watchers may endure a grand mal seizure in an attempt to view it. Anyway, after the sun went down it got a bit chilly but there were gracious individuals who were warm hearted...and also had a few matches to spare for some lanterns that had tea lights in them. After a final parting song, we made our way back to the Dancing Pony again where we chatted, nibbled and had some lovely tea and used our new tea pots. Then it turned into a mini bar where a bit of drunken foolishness occurred and we left. This was at about 1AM and we got back to our room and craaaaaaaaashed.
Sunday was very lovely. We arose a bit early, packed up our room and drove to the main village again. Debbie, who we knew and goes to our church and told us about this in the first place, led a mini church service so to speak. None of us were expecting a good turnout but actually about 20 people showed up! We sang, prayed and Debbie shared a devotional that she wrote, and it was lovely. After mini church, we stayed around for a bit and watched a fan made movie called The Hunt for Gollum. For being done by fans, it was really well done! The cinematography was stunning! Then we drove home, and on the way home my GPS got a bit wonky and we ended up driving through Danville. It was a nice detour to say the least. So there you have it. ALEP in a nut shell. Overall, the time was too short. It was too fast. We met a lot of awesome people, some only briefly, but there is no doubt we will meet again. It was more than just a bunch of costumes, dancing and food. It was a retreat, so to speak. A revamping of it all, not necessarily an escape, but a respite. It was different and special. And on that note, we will close with this:
I (Holly) wrote this in my journal last night, and I think it captures the spirit and mentality of the weekend perfectly. Until 2017...
I met so many wonderful people, all from such vast and different walks of life. And yet, despite our differences, backgrounds, characters of choice, we were all bonded and united by this one love of this brilliant soul and his magical world that will forever captivate us...I pray for a continued, prolonged sense of wonder, that we will establish our own Shires, wherever we may be, and that we will never, ever lose sight of not only the time spent together this weekend, but of the One who made it all possible in the first place.
