2012 Fort Myers Beach Pirate Fest

Arrrg, the 2012 Fort Myers Beach Pirate Fest was almost the festival that didn’t happen. Two weeks before the big event, the program promoters packed their bags and left the city to fend for itself. Luckily, a group of local merchants and strong supporters of the annual event came together, and in a very short time were able to push through desperately needed permits, allowing the show to go on as scheduled. A variety of street performers, including dancers, magicians, and musicians entertained children and adults alike.

The weekend event kicked-off Friday night, with the Pirates’ Ball at “Ugly’s”, which included music, dancing, and the annual Best Pirate Costume Award.  Saturday started with a hearty buccaneer breakfast at Beach Pierside Grill on the boardwalk, and then a leisurely walk through the tent-covered Old San Carlos Boulevard, where local vendors displayed a mixed array of art, crafts, souvenirs, mock era-weaponry, costumes, handmade jewelry, and artisan works.

A breezy afternoon was just the right ambiance for relaxing al-fresco at Nervous Nellie’s Crazy Waterfront Eatery, where we enjoyed a few cocktails, live music, belly dancers, photo-ops with a mermaid, and a grand view of the exciting canon battle demonstration. Later that afternoon, a bright warm-orange sun, set behind the bay waters of the Gulf Coast, followed by a cool-warm and clear star-filled sky. It was the perfect back-drop for a filling pirate-fest dinner at the Yucatan Bar & Grill. We wrapped-up the day’s events at Ugly’s, sharing good wine and dancing the night away as the Pirate DJ spun the latest pop tunes on his digital mixer.

It was a great Pirate Fest, and we owe it all to the fast thinking and even faster acting local merchants of Old San Marco Boulevard, and specifically the owners of Nervous Nellie’s and The Shipwreck Motel and Emporium, who rallied the local community to ensure the show would go on. Kudos!

A final note: I rarely get lost, but when I do, someone will almost always ask me why I don't just ask for directions; my answer is always the same, "Pirates do not ask for directions. They rely on gut instinct, a compass, or a treasure map."  Happy plundering...!





(for more photos of the 2012 Pirate Fest, click here.)

Space Shuttle Discovery

The Space Shuttle Discovery was NASA’s third operational orbiter. Its name originated primarily from the British full-rigged ship HMS Discovery, captained by James Cook during its final exploration voyage of 1776. The spacecraft Discovery was first launched in 1984, and flew more missions than any of its sister shuttles by the time it was retired in 2011. Today, the Space Shuttle Discovery is displayed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia – just a few minutes from Washington Dulles International Airport. If you have an opportunity to see her in person, I highly recommend it. 

It’s difficult for me to imagine a national space program without these magnificent space machines, majestically taking-off and landing periodically, but times change and there are some very intelligent individuals in the space program who I’m sure know better than I. So, in my own small salute and tribute to the many years of wonderful and astonishing memories from the Space Shuttle Program, here are a few of Space Shuttle Discovery’s many notable accomplishments:

- Discovery completed 39 successful missions in 27 years.
- Discovery flew 149 million miles and completed 5,830 orbits.
- Discovery spent a cumulative total of 365 days (1 full year) in space.
- Discovery was chosen for the “Return to Flight” orbiter in 1988, after the 1986 Challenger disaster.
- Discovery launched the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990.
- Discovery is the first American spacecraft to carry a Russian into space (1994).
- Discovery carried 77 year old Mercury astronaut John Glenn, back in to space in 1998, making Glenn the oldest person to have ever gone into space.
- Discovery carries the first Spaniard to ever travel into space (1998).
- Discovery was the first shuttle to dock with the International Space Station (1999).
- Discovery was chosen again for the “Return to Flight” orbiter in 2005, after the 2003 Columbia disaster.
- Discovery was the first operational NASA space shuttle to be retired (2011).

(for more photos of the Space Shuttle Discovery and other aircraft at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, click here.)