Ahoy, pirate fans: your battle plan for the invasion
We've got all you need to know for a day of successful looting.
By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN
Published February 7, 2004
TAMPA - Get out the pirate hats and eye patches, commemorative beads and plastic swords. Gasparilla Pirate Fest is today, matey.
All the pirate invasion stuff starts mid morning and runs into the evening with music, food and carnival-like games. If you don't know how to get there, where to camp out, what to bring or how to dress, here's a quick guide to get you through the day.
And even if Gasparilla is an annual outing for your family, you might want to read on. With the event in its 100th year, there are new things, new participants and new happenings.
Also, if it rained last night, as forecasters predicted, you're probably wondering: will water drops obscure my view of the floats and force me to close my eyes just as plastic beads come flying toward me?
All you need is a jacket, said Russell Henes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin. "It looks like the rain will end by (the start of the parade)," Henes said. "But it will be chilly."
Temperatures will drop to the 40s before day's end, he said.
The schedule
Despite predictions for a cold day, you can still enjoy it. Here's the lowdown, as the schedule - and the legend - goes:
The legendary pirate Jose Gaspar, accompanied by thousands of water crafts of all sizes, will appear at the south end of Hillsborough Bay at 11:30 a.m. The flotilla will sail north across Hillsborough Bay and into Seddon Channel (the channel between Davis Islands and Harbour Island), toward downtown Tampa.
About 1 p.m., they will dock at the convention center, amid a volley of cannon fire, where a defenseless mayor will surrender and present a key to the city to the captain of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla.
The pirates will celebrate another successful invasion of Tampa by gathering at 1:45 p.m. for a victory parade beginning near Bay to Bay and Bayshore boulevards.
The parade
Here's where the bead-catching, attention-screaming part comes in.
About half a million people are expected to line the 3.5-mile parade route, which begins at Bay to Bay, continues north along Bayshore Boulevard to the Platt Street bridge, continues east on Channelside Drive, turns north on Florida Street to Jackson Street, turns east on Jackson and ends at Marion.
They will witness about 130 units, including more than 90 colorful floats, 14 bands and 30 participating Krewes.
This year, several new krewes have joined in the revelry. They include Ye Royal Krewe of Charlotte de Berry, Ye Noble Krewe of Famhair, Ye Krewe of Sir Henry Morgan, Krewe of Alegria and the Krewe of the Knights of St. John.
The parade season is the social highlight of the year for many krewes, said Carol Ferguson, chair of the Inter-Krewe Council.
Year-round, the krewes perform charity work. "This is kind of like payback for all the work they've done," Ferguson said.
The parade is expected to run more than three hours and feature a mountain of plastic beads. But that's not all, so don't leave, yet.
Traffic
So you're still interested in going but want to avoid all the traffic? Here are two alternatives: HARTline will offer shuttle service between 9 a.m. and midnight continuously from Raymond James Stadium to Jefferson and Whiting streets or Hyde Park Avenue and DeLeon Street near Bayshore. Also, you can ride the TECO Line Street Car from Centro Ybor in the Southern Transportation Plaza, across from the Tampa Convention Center, at 333 Franklin St.
If you plan on driving, keep in mind that several streets in and around the downtown area will be closed.
They include Jackson from Tampa to Morgan streets beginning at 9:30 a.m.; Willow Street from Swann Avenue to Platt Street, southbound Willow/Crosstown Expressway exit will be closed beginning at 6 a.m.; and starting at 2 p.m., Whiting from Tampa to Morgan streets.
And if you want to avoid the scene altogether, but still take in the floats, you can watch a live broadcast at 2:30 p.m. on WFLA-Ch.8.
