72nd Annual DeSoto Grand Parade or Who makes the best Pirate Ship

So one thing we have noticed in Bradenton is that they love a chance to block of all the roads and have a street fair, festival, concert or something that means they can drink on the streets and have loud music. So when we heard there was a parade in town last night on Manatee Ave (one of the main drags) we kind of thought small scale Santa parade style event with loud music and people drinking on the street. Roe and I figured hey why not in will probably only last 20 mins anyway why don't we head along.

We had been told it started at 6 or 6.30 so off we went at 6 to find a spot to stand, and stand we did. We waited and waited until we started hearing all this applause coming so we anxiously stood on our tippy toes and stared off in the distance and we saw a bunch of sweaty people running at us. Great we came to watch a race! We where promised a parade, we decided to stick it out and wait a bit longer, it took about half an hour for all the runners to go past, the last being a 64 year old man who apparently runs 4 miles a day, he got such huge applause which was very cool.

We got chatting to a couple of locals and they told us to hang out and wait, the promised parade will come. So at about 7.30 some floats started coming by. And I have to hand it to them, there was some very cool floats, there where some no effort at all ones, like Verizon (a cell phoney type company here) that sent a few of their staff to march with umbrellas. What did become clear though is this area is OBSESSED with Pirates, there was no end of pirate ship floats.

So this parade is to celebrate Hernando DeSoto the first Spanish explorer to set foot on what is now known as Manatee County. DeSoto and his Conquistadors landed near the mouth of Manatee River in May 1939. All though there is a bit of the history stuff with a few floats with Spanish explorers on it most of the parade seemed to be all about throwing beads out to the crowd, which was loved! The magpie in me came out and I was collecting them like I was Gollum searching for "my precous"

The parade finally came to an end at 9.30 and Roe and I wandered back to the boat laden with beads and laughing at the drunk people on the street.

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