Gasparilla!

Jose Gaspar- pirate ship

     Gasparilla is a pirate festival that takes place in downtown Tampa every year in honor of the legend of the great pirate Jose Gaspar, aka Gasparilla. According to wikipedia Jose Gaspar was one of the "last Buccaneers" who went up and down the west coast of florida as a pirate raiding and invading during the late 18'th and early 19'th century.

   Since 1904 Tampa has been celebrating this festival which is often compared to Mardi Gras, in that beads are thrown out from the parade floats and drinking is legal on the streets. The festival begins with an "invasion" by the pirate ship into the tampa harbor, followed by a massive street parade that last for approx 3 hours. Unfortunately, I worked the night prior so we didn't make it to the invasion, but we arrived in time to see the parade. The parade is full of different pirate themed floats- from captain morgan to medieval and greek pirates! The parade can be a little rowdy with everyone drinking and trying to catch beads, as you can imagine the value of beads goes way up for the day! lol.  Below are a few pics from the parade.  Have you ever been to Gasparilla?

Captain Morgan