Happy Gasparilla! Today starts the two to three month long Gasparilla celebrations in Tampa which is one of my favorite times of the year. I have never been a huge fan of the day parade because there are way way more people attending (average 300,00) and you can drink openly and apparently, now smoke weed openly (its been decriminalized and you can get a medical card). The crowd seems to be a lot wilder, louder, drunker, and on edge.
Gasparilla is fun, don't let me scare you guys lol. Its actually more tame than Mardi Gras, but for me, I am a bit of a homebody and get kind of antsy around such crowds. This year it was 100% lit with my attending the 3rd annual Gasparilla brunch and pub crawl with Budweiser . I actually do not drink beer because it isn't gluten free, Budweiser does make a gluten free beer which is called Redbridge which is rather enjoyable, but I have never seen it being sold anywhere other than 6 packs at Publix. So, with that being said, I was at the Pub Crawl with Bon & Viv which is the gluten free spiked seltzer that AB sales now and I am a ambassador for them also.
We started off our morning at 9am at the Starship Yacht which is well known in Tampa for dinner cruises and celebrations. Every year Gasparilla starts off with the Pirate Invasion where anyone and everyone who owns a boat or a yacht can cruise the Channel into the Hillsborough river to meet the Jose Gaspar pirate ship and accompany them down to the Convention Center to get the key to the city from the mayor (Now Jane Castor). It may sound cheesy, but its cool- really really cool to be honest. If you have ever experienced a Flotilla you will agree its one of the coolest things ever to experience. So, we being on the biggest yacht actually cruised down to the Interbay area and met up with the Jose Gaspar pirate ship and sailed in front of the Fire department ship and everyone else.
The flotilla invasion takes about 2 hours believe it or not so on the Starship you get a full brunch and 2 drinks along with your ticket. The ticket price is steep. For 2 people its 380.00. The food was mediocre and not that great. I was actually glutened the day before and barely ate because I was nauseated by everything! Their buffet was gluten free with acceptation of the Cuban Sandwiches and waffles which wasn't too bad! There was no clear way to get cross contaminated, all of the pastries and waffles were on a completely different table across from the other foods.
We lucked out, we had the best seat on the yacht and people were asking how we got those seats. It was complete luck. I felt like I had such a crappy time the last two weeks, I had been super depressed and had been crying all day before after getting news that someone in my family has cancer. I did not even want to go out, but I had commitments to honor and look at God, I get the best seats on the yacht to watch the Flotilla. Ok, So my point is getting a little lost, the brunch wasn't "great" but you are paying to be in the Flotilla 100%.
So, the day wears on and Tampa is in full party mode. We booked a room at the Sheraton hotel (You will get more photos in my re-cap in a few days). I was running on 3 hours of sleep and we checked in and I was trying to take a nap, but I just couldn't! I am one of those people where I strongly pick up energy as an empath and it can be great in electrifying and exciting situations and horrible in scary or pensive situations. The day parade is exciting and electrifying, but a little scary because I am not used to being around large crowds and drunk people. Mostly, I can handle it in small doses so being in the hotel that is right on the parade route was great because I could come right downstairs in less than five minutes to view the parade and feel pretty safe. Tampa pd was everywhere up in our hotel. We couldnt even walk in the building without a wriste band on!
Its tradition on to dress up like a slutty pirate for Gasparilla lol. I don't do all of that. I thought this was about as piratey as I was going to get on this day. I love comfortable flowy dresses and skirts. I got glutened the day before at Thee Treehouse of all places!!! And my body was going into a full autoimmune reaction by this time, so I just wanted to be comfortable as possible.
New Energy Brown Print Maxi Skirt: Red Dress Boutique
Heels: Jimmy Choo Abel Romy
Anklets: C/O Ettika
Spiritual high charm necklace: Ettika
Cowerie shell necklace: Ettika
Earrings: C/O Ettika
Ear cuffs: Ettika
Coin belt: Ettika
Kendra Scott: Candace cuff, Rocksbox
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| Gasparilla brunch Starship yacht |
On our way to the Bayshore/Interbay area of Tampa
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| The Jose Gaspar Pirate ship |
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| Basically we are in the lead to the Flotilla |
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| This is Harbor Island where most of the rich people live. They get this awesome view every year for free! |
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| The Flotilla flooding the Riverwalk/Harbour Island area as the pirate ship is approaching. At this point we have docked and can disembark or stay for a while. Everywhere is a party so we had to move on to the next stop! |
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