Sunday, July 17, 2011

Pirates Of The . . . Mississippi?

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Pirates of the Mississippi 2

They're not going to make very much progress going upriver with those sails.

There is an event every summer on the Mississippi called the Blessing Of The Fleet. It happens at the little town of Portage des Sioux, Missouri, facing the limestone bluffs on the Illinois side of the river. An amazing number of pleasure boats parade past the slightly run down shrine of Our Lady of the Waters, where the local Catholic priest waves a holy water wand at them and their cargoes of Budweiser.

No idea what this boat is about. This year's decoration theme was mermaids. (Few people bothered.) Last year's was pirates. Somebody didn't get the updated memo. Still, they were enthusiastic.

More of this over the next few days.

Pirates of the Mississippi 1

Pirates of the Mississippi 3

13 comments:

PerthDailyPhoto said...

I'm a huge pirates fan Bob, and they look like they're having a great time even though they did miss this years update haha! Fun set of pictures.

Kate said...

Very amusing! And I imagine the "Pirates" antics were pretty funny too. Where is Johnny Depp when we need him?

Birdman said...

Even pirates would have disowned this rig. A cargo of Bud? Nor surprised. hahaha

brattcat said...

Argh, these are grand shots, matey.

cieldequimper said...

Portage des Sioux? What a name. I would have expected canoes.

Sharon said...

That is quite a ship/boat. The site of that would stop me in my tracks.

Virginia said...

This is hilarious. You can find 'em B!
V

Olivier said...

un beau delire, j'adore. superbe le bateau

Unknown said...

Very funny post! It seems the Pirates of the Mississipi are one year late. :-)

Oakland Daily Photo said...

I guess with enough Bud, pirates don't give a hoot about mermaids.

T. Becque said...

I can't reconcile this photo having to do with an religious event! :)

U "R" Us AKA Captain Crowe said...

So cool! Very Burning Man. I love your comment about the sirens in the next post too.

Saint Louis Ford said...

There's something very wrong about a priest waving a wand at a case of Budweiser... Looks like a lot of fun though.