The captain and crew of Second Wind missed the first Gasparilla event in Tampa some 115 years ago, but we were lucky enough to make our first this year.  On Saturday, January 26th at around 12:30 PM the pirate “ship” Jose Gasparilla was pushed/pulled by tugs through the Seddon Channel and into downtown Tampa. It commemorates the, well, the events that were staged the year before, and many years before that by clever marketers starting in 1904.  With cannons and guns blazing the Jose once again took the city by storm, conveniently doing so in front of the city Convention Center.  It was quite a site among the smoke and noise, the large hulking ship (it’s really just a decorated barge) with remnants of tattered sails and heavily manned crow’s nests, rigging and decks, plodding slowly up the channel among a sea of pleasure craft.

This was staged to the delight of the several hundred $120 brunch ticket holders (alcohol not included) sitting dockside on the Convention Center patio above the public RiverWalk.  We were disappointed to be scurried off the walk by private security well before the ship was even in view.  But, why else buy the overpriced brunch if you can get the show for free? We managed to find our way to a nearby outside bar were we could secure obscured viewing at $7 a 16 oz. Bud Light.

After the landing and disembarking the heavily-bellied pirates (alcohol included) were herded onto busses that attempted to rush them several miles away to the starting point of the Gasparilla Parade.  Unfortunately, in their haste and/or excitement a few of the  bus drivers (alcohol included?) chain-crashed their vehicles into the lead bus.  (Drafting should be reserved for the Daytona 500 and professionals) A few passengers were sent to the hospital but even worse, the parade was delayed by a full thirty minutes.  Why is this important?

Well,  my first impression is that the parade brings business and attention to Tampa, but it is also kind of an unofficial coming out party for local teenage girls and a way for the university gulls and buoys to get their “sea” legs.  Neither group is good with moderation or timing, and the extra time allowed for more drinking than scheduled after the carefully planned morning “pre-game” parties.  This was enough to push some over the edge.  I observed many that had to sit down to get their bearings and avoid the spins during the later afternoon hours of the delayed parade.  It was Bourbon Street on Bayshore Boulevard, with the requisite bead throwing, but featuring more Budweiser, Rum, Ganja and these days who knows what else.

And unlike most of Bourbon Street this Boulevard was purely residential, offering nothing in the way of bars, restaurants or flushing toilets. The YMKG* claims that the parade is the third largest in the United States and it certainly attracts a sizable crowd along the Bayshore Boulevard, a tony mix of bayside historic Craftsman homes as well as period appropriate McMansions.

I would think that the influx of pirate clad and partially unclad revelers might upset some of the working rich along the shore, but if there are any serious complaints or issues they are quickly handled or at least disappear from the online world.  Some residents do enjoy their own private parties (with fencing and hired security to protect them from the unwashed masses) or they can also profit by allowing corporate hospitality rentals of their properties.

Captain Fear of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a crowd and personal parade favorite, standing proud on the stern of his ship. It could only be better if they had an effigy of Tom Brady hanging from the yard arm.  Perhaps it is only my sense of neither the Philadelphia Eagles nor the Chicago Bears making the Super Bowl, but hopefully Mr. Deflategate will get his next Sunday.

Overall it was a pretty well-organized and run event, and perhaps a good model for private/public partnership.  It got me to come to the city, and I will leave with a good impression of the area and of the community involvement and cooperation.  Please don’t ask about the historical accuracy or authenticity of actual events, people or ships.  Most people don’t really care and a good story doesn’t always rely on just the facts.  I hope to get to the sack of St. Augustine next month to make up for this past weekend.

Please let me know if you would like to come to the Tampa event next year.  Also, for this month’s contest, under Comments,  please submit your caption for the cheerleader and Captain Fear photo above.  Winner will receive a Laughing Pirate air freshener/deodorizer.

* Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla – this private and somewhat mysterious organization controls Gasparilla Fest and states that their mission is to enrich the vitality and imagination of Tampa and the surrounding areas.  Any information on their site regarding members, officers, corporate structure is not given, perhaps it is included in the area reserved for their exclusive pirate members.