Pirates Week, Grand Cayman
So we're still technically in the midst of low season. Aside from the cruise ships which come in 3-4 days a week, there hasn't been a whole lot of diving action. BUT, Grand Cayman has had some other very fun activities in store.
Pirate's Week!
I've heard quite a lot of debate about the history of pirates in Cayman. According to some, the pirate lore that travels around the island is mostly untrue and pirates only visited Grand Cayman for food runs. Back in the day, Grand Cayman was literally crawling with sea turtles so the pirates would run in, grab as many as they needed, and leave. But that history is not nearly as much fun. So I'm going to chose to believe that Blackbeard still has treasure buried in a sea cave on Cayman Brac, and that other pirates cruised around these waters regularly.
So Pirate's Week is an annual festival that falls in October or November. It falls during the low season, so it's a good way to encourage tourism when the island is quiet and it's a fun thing for locals to look forward to!
The festival started on Friday and will run until next Sunday. For those of you that know Tampa, it's like a Gasparilla marathon!!
Friday night was really fun. They've closed off about four or five blocks of downtown waterfront George Town and had two stages set up with live music and DJs. We had to walk into town because it was too busy for our bikes. The streets were packed and the costumes were awesome! Everyone dresses up, some really authentically! Some of my friends were so well pirated, I didn't recognize them at first. I have a pretty awesome pirate hat, complete with a big feather and a plastic pirate sword. So I'm basically a real pirate now. Friday night was a big party night and they even set off fireworks.
Saturday was the big pirate day, but unfortunately I was working. There is a mock invasion of George Town and the local fake pirate booze cruise boat pulls into the harbor and "captures" the Governor. I was bummed that I missed that, but there's always next year. There's also a parade and then more party time in the evening.
Last night, Mike and I kept it a little more low key and just went out and sampled the food vendors that were out and about. I still wore my pirate hat, but I left the swashbuckling sword at home. We had some really excellent Caribbean food and I will now be searching the island for the restaurant where our Cayman beef came from.
During the week, the festival gets a little quieter. There are sporting activities, like a 5k, a 10k, a swim meet and a golf tournament. The parade moves to the different districts of Grand Cayman and there are Heritage Day celebrations in each of the districts as well. Next weekend there are more party festivities. Next Saturday, the festival wraps up with the "sentencing of the pirates" and a night parade.
Last night, when Mike and I were walking around, I was just thinking about all the cool festivals, fairs and street food that I've been lucky enough to try around the world. It's been such a fun adventure these past few years and I can't wait to see what other fun holidays and festivals I can find in the future!
Thanksgiving marks the unofficial beginning of high season, so hopefully I'll have lots of good dive stories for you all soon!
Love and fishes!
Pirate's Week!
I've heard quite a lot of debate about the history of pirates in Cayman. According to some, the pirate lore that travels around the island is mostly untrue and pirates only visited Grand Cayman for food runs. Back in the day, Grand Cayman was literally crawling with sea turtles so the pirates would run in, grab as many as they needed, and leave. But that history is not nearly as much fun. So I'm going to chose to believe that Blackbeard still has treasure buried in a sea cave on Cayman Brac, and that other pirates cruised around these waters regularly.
So Pirate's Week is an annual festival that falls in October or November. It falls during the low season, so it's a good way to encourage tourism when the island is quiet and it's a fun thing for locals to look forward to!
The festival started on Friday and will run until next Sunday. For those of you that know Tampa, it's like a Gasparilla marathon!!
Friday night was really fun. They've closed off about four or five blocks of downtown waterfront George Town and had two stages set up with live music and DJs. We had to walk into town because it was too busy for our bikes. The streets were packed and the costumes were awesome! Everyone dresses up, some really authentically! Some of my friends were so well pirated, I didn't recognize them at first. I have a pretty awesome pirate hat, complete with a big feather and a plastic pirate sword. So I'm basically a real pirate now. Friday night was a big party night and they even set off fireworks.
Saturday was the big pirate day, but unfortunately I was working. There is a mock invasion of George Town and the local fake pirate booze cruise boat pulls into the harbor and "captures" the Governor. I was bummed that I missed that, but there's always next year. There's also a parade and then more party time in the evening.
Last night, Mike and I kept it a little more low key and just went out and sampled the food vendors that were out and about. I still wore my pirate hat, but I left the swashbuckling sword at home. We had some really excellent Caribbean food and I will now be searching the island for the restaurant where our Cayman beef came from.
During the week, the festival gets a little quieter. There are sporting activities, like a 5k, a 10k, a swim meet and a golf tournament. The parade moves to the different districts of Grand Cayman and there are Heritage Day celebrations in each of the districts as well. Next weekend there are more party festivities. Next Saturday, the festival wraps up with the "sentencing of the pirates" and a night parade.
Last night, when Mike and I were walking around, I was just thinking about all the cool festivals, fairs and street food that I've been lucky enough to try around the world. It's been such a fun adventure these past few years and I can't wait to see what other fun holidays and festivals I can find in the future!
Thanksgiving marks the unofficial beginning of high season, so hopefully I'll have lots of good dive stories for you all soon!
Love and fishes!
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