Northwest Pirate Festival

Pirate ship run aground!

     We followed the guidance of the Google Gal, and then the line of cars hoping to find parking at the Northwest Pirate Festival.  It was after noon by the time we arrived from the Portland area, so parking was at a premium.  We kept asking for disabled parking, and finally a guy showed us a spot through the employee gate where he said we could park.  We made a side trip to the restroom, then down the paved road to the gravel parking and gate to the event below.  Beside the parking, half the event was graveled with huge cobbles, so that it took vigilance as well as my motor to get me through the least worst parts.  We saw some other disabled folk in wheelchairs, some manual, accompanied by care givers.  I don't know how they managed.

​     The Northwest Pirate Festival was held at the Thurston County Fairgrounds, 3054 Carpenter Rd SE, Lacey, WA 98503--between Long Lake and Hicks Lake.  Long Lake Park is next to the Fairgrounds, Wanschers Park is on the west side of Hicks Lake.  Both offer trails & picnicking, swimming offered at Long Lake Park, fishing at Wanschers Park.   Woodland Creek Community Park at 6729 Pacific Ave SE, Lacey, WA 98503--west of Carpenter Rd, where you turn off Pacific Ave SE to get to the Fairgrounds--looks like a great family-friendly place with lots of amenities.
     Just past the entrance to Thurston County Fairgrounds is Boat Launch St, for the boat ramp on Long Lake.

• Long Lake Park  https://laceyparks.org/parks_trails/long-lake-park/
• Wanschers Park--2606 Hicks Lake Rd SE, Lacey, WA 98503
• Woodland Creek Community Park 

         https://laceyparks.org/parks_trails/woodland-creek-community-park/

• Thurston County Fair https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/fair/Pages/fair-home.aspx

Northwest Pirate Festival, Lacey WA

• https://nwpiratefestival.com/
•  https://nwpiratefestival.com/schedule-of-performances/
• https://nwpiratefestival.com/treasure-hunt/
• https://nwpiratefestival.com/map-of-black-sand-bay/
  

Vendors--period costumes & accoutrements, jewelry & crafts, hair braiding, fortune telling, storytelling, massage on the spot, weaponry . . . and food!

Kid Activities

The Crow's Nest--pub and performances

Bonnie's Roost performers

No Quarter Arena--Boom Pirates shows & Raptor Events

Pirate Connections at home and abroad
     I got all enthused about Pirate Food and Pirate stories, and the related topics of ships, the ocean, and other stories of the high seas . . . so here's what we did for the weekend, and some further pursuits:

What Did Pirates Eat at Sea?’

• https://us.mealkitsupply.com/blogs/news/what-did-pirates-eat-at-sea#:~:text=Dried%20meats%2C%20like%20jerky%2C%20were,early%20on%20in%20a%20voyage

What Did Pirates Eat?

• https://galaxypress.com/pirates-eat/

The difference between a Privateer & a Pirate

• https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-pirates-and-vs-privateers/​

The romanticization of bad guys, like pirates, highwaymen, the mafia . . . continues . . .

• 1926 Douglas Fairbanks film "The Black Pirate" (good guy poses as bad guy to get revenge)
• 1935 Errol Flynn film "Captain Blood"
• 1944 Bob Hope in the comedy "The Princess and the Pirate" (fumbling good guy vs bad guys)
• 1948 Judy Garland & Gene Kelly movie musical "The Pirate"
• 1958 film with Yul Brenner, Charles Boyer, Charleton Heston, Lorne Greene, "The Buccaneer"
• 1968 comedy film with Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, "Blackbeard's Ghost"
• 1987 comedy film "The Princess Bride"
• 2012 film  "The Pirate" befriends Catherine the Great amidst his long and varied career

List of Pirate Films & TV series

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pirate_films_and_television_series

Other oceanic tales:

• "Bobby Shaftoe" nursery rhyme
• ​"Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main" 1880 song by Godfrey Marks (pseudonym)
• ​"Sinbad the Sailor"
• "Pinocchio"
• "The Little Mermaid"
• etc.

Update 6-15-2023
     I attended the Oregon Renaissance Faire on a Pirate themed day (though much of the Faire was similar for all three weekends), see 

• https://www.travelpacificnw.com/accessible-travel-blog/oregon-renaissance-faire-canby-or