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
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13 comments:

  1. PerthDailyPhotoJuly 17, 2011 at 2:46 AM

    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.

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  2. KateJuly 17, 2011 at 4:58 AM

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

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  3. BirdmanJuly 17, 2011 at 6:14 AM

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

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  4. brattcatJuly 17, 2011 at 6:16 AM

    Argh, these are grand shots, matey.

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  5. cieldequimperJuly 17, 2011 at 6:52 AM

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

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  6. SharonJuly 17, 2011 at 8:26 AM

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

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  7. VirginiaJuly 17, 2011 at 8:57 AM

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

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  8. OlivierJuly 17, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    un beau delire, j'adore. superbe le bateau

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  9. UnknownJuly 17, 2011 at 9:44 AM

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

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  10. Oakland Daily PhotoJuly 17, 2011 at 2:00 PM

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

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  11. T. BecqueJuly 17, 2011 at 7:10 PM

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

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  12. U "R" Us AKA Captain CroweJuly 21, 2011 at 10:11 AM

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

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  13. Saint Louis FordJuly 22, 2011 at 10:23 AM

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

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