Hampton Pirate Festival

I went to the Pirate Festival in Hampton as a way of getting out of the house. There were about thirty vendor tents, ranging from face painting and tee shirts, to The Leather Lair (with their $375 vests and $600 coats--I was tempted to get a vest but resisted), up to a couple of small sailing ships.

Quite a few people were in costume. A couple of guys clearly were looking to Jack Sparrow, and some of the costumes were more steampunk than piratical, but nobody ever said they have to be strictly historical; it's a chance to wear some fun clothes that you don't get to wear to the office, so why not?

I stayed an hour or so and saw all the area by the waterfront; there were also supposed to be some skirmishes in the street, between pirates and militia, although I didn't stay long enough to see any. Plenty of people but not overly crowded, and I accomplished "getting out of the house".