Tampa

I flew to Tampa today to attend the PACE conference (Paint And Coatings Expo), pretty exciting. Apparently this weekend is the Gasparilla Festival, which I had never heard of until I came down here a year ago for a friend's birthday party.

In Tampa, Florida, the legend of the Spanish pirate José Gaspar is the basis of a colorful festival every February. Members of the local business elite, disguised as pirates, arrive on a galleon, land, and take the city to sack it. The festival ends with a parade in which all the authorities of the city escort King Gasparilla and his Queen. The royal couple is elected for the occasion by members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, a very exclusive club which organizes the festival and the social activities that revolve around it. On the route of the pageant, the pirates of Gasparilla's crew, cigars in mouth, openly drinking and firing thousands of blank shots in the air, throw handfuls of fake gold coins, plastic pearl necklaces, and empty cartridge shells among the spectators at the parade. Children and adults alike jostle each other to get hold of these mementoes. Behind the festival lies a recurring debate about the historical authenticity of the pirate José Gaspar.
From the Tampa Bay History Center

So, it's a festival that lets you dress up like a pirate and drink rum and go to parades and throw plastic stuff. Kind of like Mardi Gras for pirates. Arrrrrrrrrr!

My pirate name is:

Dirty Davy Cash

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.