Where There Is A Sea There Are Pirates!

The annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival is going on in Tampa soon! I had never even heard about it until I moved to Tampa. I was invited to go by some new friends, and they said it was kind of like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was pretty interesting to say the least! There were parade floats (mainly shaped like pirate ships) going down the streets of the old historic section of Ybor City tossing beads into the crowd, and shooting blank pistols. There were food vendors off to the side, little shops, and just tons of people! It is said that over 400,000 people attend.

It’s about the legend of Jose’ Gaspar that was said to be a Spanish pirate that operated in southwestern Florida. It was first held in 1904 on horseback. In the parade, the “crew” all dressed in pirate and wench costumes, arrives on a 165 ft. long pirate ship landing by downtown Tampa. The mayor of the city lends the key of the city to Captain Gaspar and they go on down one of the city’s major streets, Bayshore Boulevard. The festivities last for a few weeks! It begins with the children’s parade. They launch fireworks over Tampa Bay. A couple of weeks after the “invasion” mentioned above, there's a more adult oriented night parade in Ybor City.

Mardi Gras begins February 24th, the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is celebrated in New Orleans, Louisiana, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro! In Europe they have “Carnival”. Ireland and the U.K. have what is called “Shrovetide” where eating pancakes are their tradition on Shrove Tuesday. This is also popular in the Caribbean and parts of Latin America.

Well, keep in mind as the old saying goes “Where there is a sea there are pirates”. No matter where you’ll be, if you're near festivities or crowds, it’s always a good idea to keep yourself protected as these kind of festivities are also usually associated with alcoholics, pick pockets, robbers and who knows what else. You don’t want to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and not be able to protect yourself. The Runt Stun Gun is a great light weight little device with max power to have on you!

Yours In Safety,

Regina Jacques

By: Regina Jacques

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Regina Jacques is the Vice President of BodySecurity and SpyEquipmentHq Visit her companies today for ALL your security, surveillance and spy equipment needs! More information on the Runt Stun Gun can be found here.