Continuing this great weekend, some of us headed back home while others continued on to the Pirate Festival in Vallejo. We zipped down 80 to Hwy 12, there cutting over to American Canyon as we knew there were races at Infineon this weekend and that both ends of 37 were going to be a mess. We followed it straight into Vallejo, turning west on Tennessee St, then south to the end of the Marina area. And Wow! This was a huge event!
The first thing we saw was the Jolly Roger flying high from a land mast and a giant inflatable version of Captain Jack Sparrow's ship being pulled under by the Kraken, (a big octopus type beastie), with lots and lots of actors and visitors dressed as pirates of all sorts, from period to steam punk, with every Hollywood version between, including a total ringer for Captain Jack Sparrow himself. (And even bikers - I counted no less that eight other clubs there). I found out later that the organizers were officially attempting to set a world record for the most pirates at one event. The final count for Saturday was 2600 Pirates - a new Guinness Book record. If you have ever been to the Renaissance Faire, imagine that with a big pirate spin on everything. There were crafts, games, comedy and magic shows, and a terrific pirate- themed rock/folk band. There were even live cannon drills firing (loud) blanks with large sailing ships in the estuary firing back! The food there was pretty amazing also, with something for every palate. A fantastic time was had by all. By closing, having determined that most of the traffic was now clear of Hwy 37, we made our way uneventfully to 101 and back home. Arrr! and Aye! to all.
JT