Yo Ho Ho
I'm never really good with recaps, but I shall try.
This is especially difficult due to sleep- deprivation and the fact that I can't really move my arms to type after I had my "body attacked" at the gym this evening (I feel your pain, Whitney!). But, I digress. OK...Gasparilla... hmmm...it was a marathon of mirth, merriment, and mass consumption. Let's see....Saturday we awoke to sunshine and glorious 78-degree temperatures which set the stage beautifully for our day of debauchery in the streets of Tampa. After packing coolers and applying sunscreen, we piled in cars and headed downtown to Bayshore Boulevard. This is a beautiful, mansion-lined street overlooking the sparkling waters of Tampa Bay. Gasparilla is unique in that it's the only time you can walk down this picturesque street and see children, beer bongs, boobs, and some dude in a Jordan jersey passed out in a multi-million dollar yard--all surrounded by pirates. Good times. When we made it through traffic and downtown, we walked for what seemed lik
e 5 miles and finally found the rest of our crew. These people definitely knew how to come prepared. They arrived downtown at 8:00 a.m. that morning to secure the perfect spot on the parade route--complete with three kegs on a push cart. We pretty much stayed in that same spot all day because we were close enough to the port-o-pots (without being too close, of course) and the fried carnie food was within arms' reach. As the parade came to an end and we were all weighed-down with beads, we ventured back toward the bars. The guys caught a Nerf football from one of the floats and proceeded to duck and weave through the crowd in a game of “urban football.” At this point, my feet were far too blistered (seriously-when will I learn?) to do anything even resembling a brisk walk, so I was the hobbling cheerleader trying to catch up with the team. The crowd of over 500,000 was in very good spirits all day, and even the police seemed to be having fun. So instead of arresting us for “grand theft golf cart,” they just laughed at us, shook their heads, and said “nope.” So we had to give up what could have been the best ride in town. My feet still thanked me for the most magnificent five minutes of freedom while riding on that cart. We finally made it to a bar to rest and re-hydrate our bodies. For some reason, I thought multiple Red Bulls would be an acceptable substitute for water. Needless to say, my second wind came pretty quickly. By 8:00 people were either sleepy, hobbling on blisters, intoxicated, sunburned, or starving, so we decided to go back to John's for pizza and beer pong. Molly was very glad to see us home safely and she came over to John's to socialize a bit before giving us her look that says "guys, it is in your best interest to call it a night." Thanks, Molly. You were so right.
This is especially difficult due to sleep- deprivation and the fact that I can't really move my arms to type after I had my "body attacked" at the gym this evening (I feel your pain, Whitney!). But, I digress. OK...Gasparilla... hmmm...it was a marathon of mirth, merriment, and mass consumption. Let's see....Saturday we awoke to sunshine and glorious 78-degree temperatures which set the stage beautifully for our day of debauchery in the streets of Tampa. After packing coolers and applying sunscreen, we piled in cars and headed downtown to Bayshore Boulevard. This is a beautiful, mansion-lined street overlooking the sparkling waters of Tampa Bay. Gasparilla is unique in that it's the only time you can walk down this picturesque street and see children, beer bongs, boobs, and some dude in a Jordan jersey passed out in a multi-million dollar yard--all surrounded by pirates. Good times. When we made it through traffic and downtown, we walked for what seemed lik
e 5 miles and finally found the rest of our crew. These people definitely knew how to come prepared. They arrived downtown at 8:00 a.m. that morning to secure the perfect spot on the parade route--complete with three kegs on a push cart. We pretty much stayed in that same spot all day because we were close enough to the port-o-pots (without being too close, of course) and the fried carnie food was within arms' reach. As the parade came to an end and we were all weighed-down with beads, we ventured back toward the bars. The guys caught a Nerf football from one of the floats and proceeded to duck and weave through the crowd in a game of “urban football.” At this point, my feet were far too blistered (seriously-when will I learn?) to do anything even resembling a brisk walk, so I was the hobbling cheerleader trying to catch up with the team. The crowd of over 500,000 was in very good spirits all day, and even the police seemed to be having fun. So instead of arresting us for “grand theft golf cart,” they just laughed at us, shook their heads, and said “nope.” So we had to give up what could have been the best ride in town. My feet still thanked me for the most magnificent five minutes of freedom while riding on that cart. We finally made it to a bar to rest and re-hydrate our bodies. For some reason, I thought multiple Red Bulls would be an acceptable substitute for water. Needless to say, my second wind came pretty quickly. By 8:00 people were either sleepy, hobbling on blisters, intoxicated, sunburned, or starving, so we decided to go back to John's for pizza and beer pong. Molly was very glad to see us home safely and she came over to John's to socialize a bit before giving us her look that says "guys, it is in your best interest to call it a night." Thanks, Molly. You were so right. posted by Keenan at
8:06 PM
I love that you guys had a joy-ride on a golf cart and didn't get busted. Sorry about your blisters, that is the worst! I am so jealous of your warm weather-hope you bring some warmth with you when you visit in a month!