This post is waaaay late, but I've been busy. Going back to work after a three-month maternity leave, adjusting to daycare and taking care of a sick baby keep a person busy and doesn't leave much time for blogging.

St. Patrick's Day was so much fun this year! The Sandbar construction crew built a ginormous pirate ship. This float was bigger than any we've built before.

Check out the LJWorld's coverage of the parade here, along with a fabulous photo of our ship. We might buy a copy of that one and frame it for the bar. The LJWorld talkbackers seem to think we build boats every year, but that's not true. We haven't built a boat since 2007, when we danced on a double decker riverboat, and before that it was 2004's Love Boat. Our last pirate ship was back in 2002.

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Here's a picture from atop the float as it made its way down Mass Street:

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The float had several decks for dancing pirates. The ladies on the middle deck improvised their dance moves and created a circle dance during the Drunken Sailor song. It looked so good that Dave the DJ kept playing that song over and over…and apparently it wore them out. Sorry, girls!

Our floats always have secret touches or inside jokes, and this year was no exception. In keeping with recent tradition, the pirate ship had his and hers bathrooms. And this year, two of our chief float builders decided to go on a cruise on a real ship instead of dancing on ours. Dave made sure they were still represented though:

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These Justin and Michelle heads rode on the highest point of the float, up in the crow's nests. After the parade, we had a lot of fun posing for pictures with them.

As a thank you for missing the parade, Dave played a prank on them. He left a life-size statue of a pirate we call "Shaky" in the bathroom in their house. It scared the crap out of them when they got home. They'll never miss another parade again!

See more parade pictures on our Facebook page. Got pictures of our float? We'd love to see them! Email them to us at sandbar@thesandbar.com.