PUT-IN-BAY – Aargh! Scallywags and water-rats were plentiful at the Put-in-Bay pirate festival on June 28 and 29.
There were pirate vendors selling jewelry, costumes, and plenty of swords.
Swords were extremely popular among the children, resulting in impromptu sword fights with random strangers. Eleanora “Lucy” Franklin, 7, from northwest Indiana, enjoys the fighting. She shared her favorite part: “I beat them up.” “I am a pirate.
Among the vendors were fortune tellers, a mermaid in her tank, and Rodney the Magician.
Henson Simmerer, eight, was tossing fish into a barrel. Keith Simmerer, his father, stated that this is their third time attending Pyrate Fest. Keith performs guitar in a local band.
“We love it here on the island.” I am a local entertainer. “I bring my family up and we have a great time here,” Simmerer said.
Witches, wenches, and villains from their ships were out and about. Surprisingly, some of them knew how to operate golf carts and electric bicycles.
Carrie Corbin and Trisha Thompsen, sisters of the Supreme Coven, posed with Danielle Waibel, the Sword Master, outside Portly Pints Pirate Panopoly.
Many people attended the festival in costume, including Waibel and her friends Purveyor Rick “Rosszaszi” Ross, Greyhound Bittisporian, Aunt Whisper, the Sea Witch fortune teller, and Cyros Quill the Seabeard.
“I am not in-character, I just ransacked an island village,” Waibel replied.
Several bachelorette parties were held during the pirate weekend.
Kathryn Gallagher, the soon-to-be McDonough, was celebrating her bachelorette party on South Bass Island.
“We’re crossing the lake before crossing the pond,” Gallagher explained. The group of young women from Cleveland will then travel to Dublin, Ireland for the wedding.
Another group from Carlisle, Ohio, gathered at The Tree Bar to celebrate Nathan McIntosh’s birthday, including Jason Hatfield, Sarah McIntosh, and Molly Hatfield.
However, the crazy party atmosphere was not for everyone. The GOAT’s Biergarten is a traditional German-style biergarten that featured special guest musicians from the Cleveland Deutscher Musikverein on Saturday.
“Locals don’t always go to the same places as tourists,” Terry Freeman explained. He and his wife Meriam live on South Bass Island and stopped in for a pint at the Biergarten.
Terry was assisting as the designated driver, adding a layer of safety to the weekend.
