As the much anticipated Gasparilla weekend approaches, student excitement is mounting to a an almost-tangible level of anticipation. Campus is buzzing with talk of parties, parades, drinking schedules and plans for all manner of debauchery.
To help bring to life the widespread enthusiasm over this unique Tampa celebration, The Minaret collected a handful of student experiences — some mellow and some mad — to share with our readers.
A central component to Gasparilla, of course, is the established drinking culture.
Though open containers and imbibing alcohol outside of designated drinking areas has been done away with in recent years, parade-goers still manage to get liquored up to enjoy the festivities.
In many cases, students wake up at outlandish hours to begin drinking and pass out before the afternoon.
“I made jello shots the night before and started drinking at 9 a.m., [only] to fall asleep just a few hours later,” admitted UT senior Sarah Curran.
“Then I woke up at six, had a beer and ordered Chinese [food].”
Understandably in such circumstances, craziness has a way of escalating fast. Senior David Edgecomb reminisced about a misadventure his freshman year in which he was reprimanded by a mounted police officer for openly possessing a stash of malt liquor and blended pineapple vodka.
“He let me go, but arrested my friend who was holding it all while I tried to [urinate] behind a tree,” remembered Edgecomb.
The temptations of the holiday proved to be too much for some, to the extent that they hardly remember their actions during the day and had to rely upon the words of friends to piece their experience together.
The unresponsive body of junior Sean McCleary was dragged for several hours back and forth across campus by two friends who wanted to ensure his safety and at the same time not miss any dorm parties.
“At least I managed to hold on to my pirate hat the entire time,” said McCleary.
Not everyone resorted to the use of alcohol to enjoy the Tampa holiday. Sophomore Tyler Alton experienced a much more moderate and, arguably, fulfilling day than many of his fellow UT students.
“When we got to the parade we eventually made it to the front. There were a lot of floats that promoted things around Tampa.
There were so many beads. It was like a Tampa Mardi Gras,” said Alton.
“It was a pretty crazy day. It was nice hanging out, seeing all the crazy people out there.
I came back to campus and had a meal with some friends. Me and my friends then divided our beads and there were so many — too many to count.”
Though not everyone partook in the festivities, most at least attended the Bayshore Parade and witnessed the day’s happenings.
Not everyone was amused by what they saw.
“I’ve only been to Gasparilla once and stayed fifteen minutes,” said junior Samantha Pippenger, “It was boring and it rained.
“Then some people got into a fight and the cops were called.”
Many others, however, were delighted by the strange and outlandish sights confronting them along the parade route and still conjure them to mind with a chuckle.
“It looked like a battlefield,” said junior Aaron Feld. “People had fallen down face-first in groups of two or three. Not everyone was fully clothed.”
The story of junior Ryan Niksa proved to be bizarre almost beyond belief.
“I saw a girl in a bright neon shirt crawl along the street on all fours,” Niksa remembered. “She was trying to eat the grass while her friends were holding her back.”
Senior Kristi Marsili was kind enough not only to share her hilarious account with The Minaret, but to impart heartfelt advice to those students soon to experience their first Gasparilla.
“After our morning with mimosas and an early afternoon with rum, my friend and I started our venture to Bayshore to enjoy the Gasparilla Celebration.
“As we continued our stumbling stroll, my friend causally mention[ed that] she want[ed] some salt. ‘Perfect,’ I thought, ‘I would love some salty french-fries right about now.’ After following the smells to a mini fried food heaven we reach[ed] our destination.
“I head[ed] toward the end of the line, but once I get there I realized I was alone. I look[ed] around in panic until I [saw] my friend already at the counter. [I]nstead of ordering, she [started] grabbing packets of salt.
“I [left] my spot in line only to approach my friend finishing her third packet of salt. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked.
“Her response was, ‘I’m taking shots of salt to absorb the alcohol, so I won’t have to pee as much.’ ‘That’s just absurd,’ I thought and disregarded her offer.
“No more than 20 minutes later I was kneeling over doing the ‘pee-pee dance.’ I [took] a look at the bathroom line and felt my bladder die a little bit.
“Then I [took] a look at my friend. She was not only joining me in the ‘pee-pee dance,’ but she was enjoying two Bud Light beers in a beer helmet.
“So my advice to all of you for Gasparilla is to listen to the dumb ideas your drunk friends have.
And if you are really desperate, just go to the front of the bathroom line and tell that person you are going to puke on them if they don’t let you go next. That works too.”
Jeffery Palmer can be reached at jeffery.palmer@spartans.ut.edu.