Josette wins for helping to create my favorite shot of the entire, wet, Gasparilla day.  

The Sunset Salsa Tent . . . packed and protecting people from the rain.

The annual pirate invasion of Tampa, Gasparilla, is a day Tampa-natives look forward to all year long.  It is basically our Mardi Gras.  There are thousands of people who flood the waters and streets, awaiting the invasion of hundreds of pirates who willingly share their booty by throwing beads out to all on-lookers (on land and sea).  For the past two years, Kenzo and I have been on boats as a part of the invasion (shots from the better weathered event last year).  However, this past weekend for Gasparilla, we made plans to stay on land and attend the popular Sunset Salsa Tent Party.  We were really thankful for this decision when we woke up and heard of the 3 to 6 foot swells and "advisory warnings for small crafts".  I do not know how the invasion actually took place.  The tent was definitely the place to be this year and the parade went on, even in the worst weather in Gasparilla history (at least the history I can remember).    We had a blast with my friends and family.  Here are some fun shots from the day . . . 

Jeff . . .

. . . Jocelyn . . .

. . . Jeff & Jocelyn.

My baby brother, Joseph.  I like his look here, and the rain falling around him.
 

My husband, post-parade, taking in the madness that is Gasparilla.

Joe and Josette.

Dad with "his youngest set of high school friends".

Kenzo and Jocelyn owning the side-line.

There was definitely a huge rain drop on my lens, right over my mom's face.  Still a great shot of pirates and friends!

Pre-party at Ship's house.  It was a great way to start the day — with some of my favorite people and cuban sandwich casserole . . . and mimosas . . . and pirate punch, okay, it was awesome.  (Photo taken by Kenzo).

Kenzo and me, staying dry, pre-parade.  (Photo taken by mom).

The aftermath.

Post Script: we heard that even though attendance was 50% of the norm, there were still 400 arrests.  Wow.  Take it easy popo.

As expected, Gasparilla was a blast!  We set sail in the morning and headed out to meet thousands of other boats for the invasion.  I happened to be the captain of our ship (as we were borrowing my dad's boat), so while on the water I wasn't able to take any photos (imagine trying to maneuver a 19 foot ski boat through a crowd of 2,000 other boats AND take pictures…I tried and it was pretty impossible).  I captured the shots above when we parked our boat at Rome Ave and joined my parents for part of the parade.  While at sea Kenzo was the photographer and he got some amazing shots, which I have posted below.

the photo above is my favorite of all of kenzo's shots. he took it while our boat passed their dock with our "crew" tossing beads to the little pirates.

Jose Gaspar was a mythical pirate, which legend tells, invaded the city of Tampa.

In two short days, the city of Tampa will host our annual Gasparilla Celebration.  The debaucherous reenactment of Gaspar's attack on Tampa will be complete with pirates demanding the key to the city from the mayor, the mayor refusing, and thus inciting an invasion upon the city of Tampa, followed by a parade of pirates into downtown.  I took this shot last year as a part of the boat invasion.  It's in black to give the feel of Gaspar's attack but I couldn't resist having the color version here too to show the spectacle that this ship, full of "high-standing" Tampa citizens, truly is on Gasparilla Day

I will definitely be taking my camera this year and will look forward to posting some fun shots.  We are really excited about having Dave and Jess (a real pirate) in town for the festivities!