Pirate Invasion

I thought I was going nuts when I saw pirates all over in Tampa...then I found out, this past week was an annual event, a mardi gras, in Tampa. They call it Gasparilla.

I searched around the web and got some information about it. Dan and I watched the parade and fireworks display from our living room couch on tv.

Here's what I found:

History of Gasparilla
The history and name of this Tampa tradition traces back to the legendary antics of Jose Gaspar. Gaspar reportedly patrolled the waters of West Florida during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A society columnist with the Tampa Tribune is credited with creating a May festival in 1904 that first incorporated a pirate-inspired theme. The original members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla stormed Tampa on horseback before becoming seaworthy in 1911. The success of those early invasions prompted planners to move the celebration to its winter time slot and encouraged the creation of additional events.
(I got this off the Fox News site)
You can see pictures and video news coverage of this event at:
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/