Argh...Matey!

I wish I could describe Billy Bowlegs - the pirate, cannon-shooting event that we went to today. But I suppose any way I described it would do no justice to what an event it actually was. We started at Brooke and Brittany's house and boated out to the site of the event which, to be quite honest, was nothing we had ever seen before. So, I suppose the best way to describe to scene is to have you picture New Orleans. Now replace all the buildings with boats - with a space in between the lines of boats to stroll the boardwalk (no joke, this is what they called it - and yes, we did stroll the boardwalk). And the most important part: pretend a hurricane just hit (because it took place right in the Gulf of Mexico...where Destin faces) and no one cared - people still partied and celebrated with water surrounding every nook and cranny. Ok, I know how I describe is probably not imaginable...but, whatever I say, as I said, does no justice! Anyways as we got closer while boating in, people would shoot waterguns like cannons (and acted as the cannons). Since it was hot, the first few hits felt nice - especially when they used ice cold water instead of the icky warm water from the Gulf. However, after getting hit a few times we surrendered...it was just getting too cold and we didn't have "cannons"! After Brittany spotted several friends, we parked our motor boat to the edge of the mush of boats, all crowding for the best spot on the "boardwalk". As soon as we got situated, we decided to stroll (well, stroll in the water if there is such a thing) the boardwalk and, this is where it got interesting. The boats lined up on two sides of the area to create a boardwalk (as a previously mentioned) so we swam to where the water was about waste deep and we literally were able to stroll the boardwalk...in water. And, there were people either walking or dancing near their boat as far as the eye could see...it was literally...amazing. The party atmosphere was surely there - I think nearly 99.9% were drunk or on their way there (...and Brooke, Britt, Andrew and I were the .1% not drinking to craziness!)...people on the sidelines, already passed out from either heat or alcohol - I choose the later. It was...wild...but fun and quite the experience. But, there wasn't much to do but stroll and take in the scene - which was experience enough. And when we got back to the boat, it was time to move on home.
As soon as we arrived back to the Lee's dock, I discovered the horrible sin of the day...I had a terrible burn on my chest. I had put sunscreen on every other inch of my body except for the chest area...to which I forgot because of the t-shirt I wore on the way to Billy Bowlegs and when I finally took my covering off, I took for granted that I was already slathered in sunscreen. Boy was I wrong. Terrible, terrible, terrible...fortunately, or at least I am hoping, that instead of an angry devilish color, it is turning into the color of nice, tanned skin - if anything...to protect me from the pain of the day.
We did end the day with a lovely birthday party of Brooke and Brittany's cousin, Kristen, who was celebrating her 21 birthday with a small party at her home. We celebrated with a fun fish fry which I hear is like a clam bake (but then again, I have never experienced that either). We ate cheese grits, salad, beans and of course, the fish fry. What a meal it was...just perfect to end the day.