Meet @ the Barre Life + Style blog by Amanda Elizabeth

Gasparilla•Gasparilla 2014•Weekend Recap

“Are You Even Wearing Pants???” Gasparilla Recap

January 27, 2014
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Another Gasparilla in the books for the pirates of Tampa Bay.  Each year gets a little more tame due to limiting drinking to “designated wet zones”, increased police presence and a heck of a lot more porta potties.  Nothing leads to more chaos then not having plenty of opportunities for people drinking alcohol all day aka a diuretic for places to relieve themselves.  The million dollar homes around Bayshore were getting fed up with people using their lawns in the same manner that their dogs would.  This year in my opinion the parade looked well organized and I saw less public arrests.

With that said.  I am starting to feel old.  Well maybe not old but at the point in my life where I feel it is inappropriate for girls to dress up in lingerie and call themselves a pirate.

Let’s start from the beginning. For all the non Tampa people let me give you a quick recap of Gasparilla.  I’m not going to get into the complete history of it but for all intents and purposes Gasparilla is a big pirate drinking fest.  Jose Gaspar and his crew on their pirate ship comes into Tampa Bay and “captures” the city.  The mayor of Tampa hands over the key to the city and the pirates have a victory parade with floats that drive down Bayshore Blvd aka the most expensive multi million dollar houses throwing beads like Mardi Gras.  The first Gasparilla parade was held in 1904.  The first invasion was by was by horseback and the first sea invasion was in 1911.
Everyone throws breakfast parties where you load up on carbs with bagels and other filling breakfast food so you can survive the entire day of drinking.  Breakfast parties usually involve Bloody Mary Bars, Mimosas and whatever else people can stomach at 9 in the morning.  There are tons of ways you can celebrate Gasparilla.  I’ve been on a boat before in the bay coming in for the invasion (that involved a very early wakeup call).  On Davis Island to watch the invasion come in, stayed at house parties all day (when it rained booo) and this year down on Bayshore for the actual parade.
I had my nice tasteful outfit that involved wearing bottoms.

As we were walking around the invasion I asked about 5 different girls if they were wearing pants.  Apparently I didn’t get the memo this year the dress code was a shirt and boy shorts underwear.  Don’t worry I captured some evidence for you.

This was captured outside of one of the porta potties….I hate to admit I used one but this said culprits friend came out and I asked her how bad it was inside her response “oh I don’t know I just went in to do my makeup“.
I mean everyone knows you go in there hold your breath and pray you don’t fall….you  mean you went in there just to do your makeup??? Are there even mirrors in there??  I can’t even….
Anyways….we had a nice time down by the parade route and then ventured our way back.
The parade didn’t disappoint. It is like Mardi Gras but on a much more PG scale.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day out in Florida.
I felt like saying this on many occasions with the debauchery we saw on the way back.
I once again felt old or extremely sober in comparison.  There were people everywhere posted up doing this.
We passed by Sally O’Neals a pizza place and I saw a girl with an entire large pizza on her lap (wasn’t that hot???) stuffing her face and not sharing with anyone else.
We had lots of giggling moments for sure.  I had such a nice day spending time with friends and running into people I haven’t seen in forever.  We came home and eat these amazing cupcakes from Alessi Bakery(the best cupcakes in Tampa in my opinion).  How cute are the pirate details?
Another fun Gasparilla in the books.  We were in bed by 10 and ready for a productive rest of the weekend!  Does your city have any big events like this every year?  Anyone want to come down for Gasparilla next year?  You have to bring pants though :-)  Hope you had a great weekend!  Did you do anything fun?
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Comments

  3. I already told you, Gary and I are in for next year!! Get ready for your own invasion…haha that came out wrong!! Loved your outfit and I can’t believe you were actually productive on Sunday…shows you how much has changed since college! I could barely function the next day!!

  4. hahah OMG. this recap was hilarious (bonus points for the title). hoooray for wearing pants! haha and OMG, i wouldnt go into a portapotty to do my makeup! what was that girl thinking (i guess insert a LOT of alcohol there). xo jillian – cornflake dreams

  5. Oh my!! I can’t believe people were wearing that!! And to go in one of those bathrooms for makeup?! I only go in there if I am dying to go. Ew!

    agirlandhersparkles.blogspot.com

  9. Wow! I could not just walk around in boy shorts like that. “There are youths everywhere” is one of my favorite lines from New Girl and extremely applicable in this situation. Sounds like fun though!

  11. A coworker of mine has been to Gasparilla and I always found the concept kind of strange! I’m sure it’s a blast but crazy!! How can those girls feel comfortable wearing boy shorts out?! I’d be having to adjust it every second! And it looks like there’s a condom next to that girls shoe!!

  14. Bahaha, that photo of the culprit is hilarious, she’s definitely NOT wearing pants – those are underwear from VS…I definitely feel old when I see stuff like this too lol, Your outfit was adorable btw :) Also, thanks for hosting the giveaway, definitely entered and crossing my fingers!
    Miche from Buttons and Birdcages

  15. Any time there’s a costume-theme and alcohol, minimum clothing seems to be another common theme. Way to stay classy out there ha. And if you’re going to eat a whole pizza by yourself, it’s called delivery :)

  16. pirate theme! i must come some day. and can we talk about how i legit have those boyshort undies but would never dream of wearing them on their own.

  18. Truly sounds like a crazy day adventure! I would be giving crazy looks to all the pant-less girls! I don’t know how they dress like that. “There are youths everywhere” is exactly what I would be saying! One of my favorite lines from New Girl, and so appropriate in this situation haha!

  19. Sounds like a crazy day! This is starting to be how I feel about Halloween as well.. just an excuse for drunk girls to wear zero clothes haha. And those cupcakes.. YUM.

  21. Aww it’s a sad day when you have to ask yourself if you’re too old to wear something. If you’re asking, the answer is probably yes (a Juicy purse was my first brush with reality. apparently I’m not 16). That said, I’m glad I leave the house fully dressed. Those don’t look like pants to me :)

  24. Oh dear, no pants? Haha, I’d like to see those girls do that here in Scotland at this time of year :P Mind you, I’ve seen all sorts on a Saturday night here, even in snow haha. Good on you for keeping it classy! Those cupcakes look delicious :)

  25. Oh wow! Looks like a good time! I have always wondered what Gasperilla was like, now I know lol! I wish it was warm enough here to walk around with no pants :( haha

  26. Looks like this was a really fun tine! A friend on Instagram was there and that was the first time we had heard of Gasparilla. Love that you got a pic of the girl running around in her underwear acting they they were pants. :-)

    Jayme & Mendi @ Her Late Night Cravings

  28. omg i am not lying when i say i grabbed some hand sanitizer after reading that. MAKEUP IN A PORTA POTTY. i cannot deal. hand me a cupcake to cope with this.

  30. lol @ Gasparilla is a big pirate drinking fest. love it and want to do it! ew to so many things, boyshort underwear are not pants, and makeup in a porta potty?!?! ewwwwwww

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