Last night we went out to the Ben Hur Shrine circus. The circus is only in town this weekend, so we decided to go Friday night to avoid all of the other craziness that is our usual weekend.
The Travis County Expo Center is a converted rodeo arena turned hockey rink that has hosted the circus for the last couple of years. And after last night I am sure that we will be back every year.
We arrived really early. I thought it started a half hour earlier than it actually did. And we ran into no traffic on the way out there. Putting us there 90 minutes before the doors even opened. One of the fun parts of the Shrine circus is the interaction that the kids get with the roving gangs of Shrine clowns before the show starts. And we were even there before the clowns!
Luckily, there was a dog agility competition taking place across the parking lot, so the kids and wife were entertained while I stood in line for tickets. Once inside, thanks to that early arrival, we had the bestest circus seats in the entire world. We were dead center on the middle ring and the tight rope was set up only 15 feet in front of us and less than 20 feet over our heads. It may not have qualified as a "high" wire, but when you can feel the support cables shaking your seat with each step the performers take, it adds a little excitement to the experience.
The Princess rode a pony. The Talker chose to cash in his college fund and he rode an elephant. Big fun for all. Except maybe Number 12, the pony and she was just sad about the name. The Princess asked her name and the pony handler looked at a tag on the side of the pony's bridle before he told her "Number 12".
We cheated. We carried in glow sticks that we bought at Costco, bypassing the $$$ circus souvenirs, except for the circus program/coloring book that each of the kids brought home. All in all it was well worth the cost and the extra hour and a half waiting for the show to start.
I am sure it is a circus the kids won't forget for a while. And hoepfully we won't forget to go really early again, next year.
12 years ago
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2 comments:
You probably saved $12 on glow sticks alone. Smart thinking.
Uh... Yeah... Circuses (is that the plural spelling of Circus? It looks funny)...
Well, Circuses... Don't like 'em. I'm not sure why.. I remember going to one as a kid - and I don't even remember having a particularly bad time of it.. There was just something about it that "stuck with me"...
I have not been back to one yet - although - over the past couple of years - I have tried to.. Many Things Do Not Fly has had both her son's performing at Circus Juventas... And I have been meaning to attend a performance.
Glad y'all (my Texas accent) had a great time!
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