What do you do on a Saturday afternoon in August in Iowa? Well go to a Pirate Festival, of course! We wanted to do something fun with Carlton so off we went to Clear Lake to the Pirate Festival in PM Park. If you have ever been to a Renaissance Festival this is basically it—except with a lot more pirates walking around. It was not very crowded at all when we got there and the entertainment acts were begging folks to come sit down—well actually SCREAMING at us to sit down. Pirates are not low key people, that is for sure.
I think Carlton had fun after the initial shock wore off. He got taken in by Story, a story telling modestly dressed pirate (thank goodness) who told the story of a handsome man named Carlton. We let him experience the stocks and sat and watched a sword fight (which I ended up getting to be a participant in) and an awesome juggler named Crazy Boy Coy. He was amazing.
All in all a fun afternoon and of course, pictures to document follow!!! Oh yea–click on the pics to enlarge if you want to see them bigger—I just made smaller ones this post since I did not do the usual slide show.
Carlton and Story
His offense?? Being too handsome!
Jack Sparrow?? In Clear Lake?
I wanted this but Chris said no….
- I asked if there were lice in the hat….
Seriously–if I get lice I am getting in touch with Captain Black…he promised me that they were all treated…
- I was scared to put the hook on!
A tennis racquet –he fit his body all the way through it–no joke!
This guy was amazing—look him up—Crazy Boy Coy. This is his website.
Almost done!
Juggling!
Juggling a flaming torch, a bowling ball and the tennis racquet—he did it !!! While balancing on the board thingy! Amazing!
Got some tips so time to eat some pirate grub!!!
Even the young ones got into the spirit of things!
Chris and Carlton saying YARRRRR!!!
It's Just Life 
Another day of fun! The weather even cooperated.
It did cooperate and today we are getting a nice much needed rain!!! Yay!
You potentially solved a seven year mystery for Juli and me. You see, in June 2005, I had occasion to ride with a pirate on a flight to a good friend’s wedding in Madison, Wisconsin. This guy was a pirate at DFW. He was a pirate sitting next to us on the plane. He added an eye-patch to his outfit before deplaning in Madison. So he was in character the entire time we were with him.
During the flight, he advised me on a number of pirate-related matters. As he switched seats so Juli and I could sit together he said, “We pirates can be very accommodating, but you’d be well-advised to watch your stuff.” He further explained that pirates are a lot like politicians; they can seem very friendly, but you really can’t trust them.
During the flight, Juli found this article in the flight magazine:
http://www.americanwaymag.com/blackbeard-beaufort-inlet-ocracoke-inlet
We gave him our copy of the magazine, and the article created plenty of opportunity for him to tell me all about pirates. He was very knowledgable on the subject.
Juli has always been incredulous that I talked to him all the way to Madison and never asked why he was a pirate. Your mention of a festival made me curious again, so I googled and there is a pirate festival at Port Washington, Wisconsin, that was held in June this year. It says the festival was first held in 2005. So maybe, that’s where he was headed?
Oh I bet he was headed that way!! I loved hearing about your interaction with him! And yes—I imagine he gave you sound advice to not be too trusting of a pirate!!! This festival was probably fairly small in comparison to some but it was fun and they made a point of making it kid friendly (although there was a lot of innuendo involved!!!) which was nice for the family atmosphere. Of course some of the wenches were dressed very scantily but hey—they are wenches!!! I guess cleavage was the word of the day!
I think it would be amazing to have been seated next to your pirate. I would have been talking the whole time, also, and what an amazing memory of what could have been an otherwise dull and routine flight! Thanks so much for sharing!
Ahoy!
You look good no matter what color your hair is..How about dreads the next time matey…But yo, ho , ho, and bottle of ice tea…Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it..lol
Yea, the ice tea just did not go with it but it was only 11 am so it was a little early to be kicking back the grog. It was funny because when he went to put the hat on me I told him there had better not be any lice! He broke character long enough to whisper in my ear that they made sure they sprayed them and took good care so that did not happen. No worries, love!
..And you trusted a PIRATE…Double yo, ho, ho….
Arrrr–I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him. Looks like I need to go get some NIX !!
Black hair suits ye, landlubber 😀
What kind of stories did the pirate tell? Any interesting treasure stories?
Basically a story about how handsome Carlton was! :-0
Looks like a great afternoon, Beth Ann. The tennis racket trick is impressive.
Man—it was impressive! But one of those “do not try this at home” things—-I would end up in the ER.
Looks like you guys had a great time. We went to a Renaissance Fair a few years back and haven’t been since. I think, the kids need to be a bit bigger. We have a huge one in the area every year it last for 6 weeks!!!
Blimey—-6 weeks???That is crazy!!!!
Looks like a day of fun.
Indeed!
Oh, I would have loved this event. Thank you for taking me there as I was a bit busy with activities in Faribault on Saturday. I did see and photograph a pirate, but chose not to post it.
I took so many pictures but I have been having issues putting pics in the WP slide show lately–they have been all distorted though I am doing nothing different so I chose smaller pics in the post. Me thinks your pirate was misplaced from Clear Lake!!! 🙂
I’ve always been fascinated by pirates. I never knew this existed. A whole new world of possibilities.
Oh yes—it is a whole other life!!! And pretty funny, too! You will have to explore this sometime!
Sounds like there is always excitement in your life. On the positive, you never know what is going to happen! 🙂
It is a good thing. Being predictable is boring…..:-)
I know why you are a klutz, you are my daughter! You don’t know and I am not going to tell you all the times I have broken something, tripped or fallen and receiving bruises and maybe a little blood.
I think the apple does not fall too far from the tree…or something like that. But I wasn’t going to point any fingers…