and spent gun cartridges. For decades, many members of YMKG walked the parade route armed with six-shooters or other handguns loaded with blanks which they frequently fired in the air. The empty shells were tossed aside as the pirate reloaded, sending children scrambling for the unique souvenirs. This tradition was restricted in the interest of safety in 1992 and ended entirely several years later. However, while pirates on foot are no longer allowed to use firearms during the parade, trained members of YMKG still fire loud mini-canons from several specialized floats and during the cross-bay voyage of the Jose Gasparilla II. Prelude and departure Several semi-theatrical events around Gaspar's "pirate invasion" have become traditional: About two weeks before the Parade of Pirates, a US Navy ship volunteers to be "attacked" by small boats of the "Ybor City Navy" armed with stale Cuban bread and water hoses. The US Navy returns "fire" with their own water hoses but eventually surrenders to the Alcalde of Ybor City, who, as the story goes, has been hired by Jose Gaspar to clear resistance to his impending pirate attack. After the "battle", the navy sailors are treated to an evening on the town. This event began in 1956, and while it was temporarily discontinued after the September 11, 2001 attacks, it has been held most years since, with the museum ship SS American Victory usually standing in for the US Navy. A few days before the Parade of Pirates, members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla in full pirate regalia "kidnap" the mayor of Tampa at city hall, take them to a downtown park before assembled local media and onlookers, and demand that the city surrender to Jose Gaspar or suffer the consequences. The mayor playfully refuses, and the pirates declare that Gaspar will arrive with an "invasion force" on the following Saturday to steal the key to the city. The Outward Voyage Home is the culminating event of the Gasparilla season which was revived in 2008 after being discontinued in 1964. During this ceremony, the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla's pirates return the key of the city to the mayor, then climb aboard the Jose Gasparilla and "sail away" across Tampa Bay while festivities continue along the Tampa Riverwalk. The Outward Voyage usually takes place on the first Saturday in March. Children's Parade The Children's Gasparilla Extravaganza is held on the Saturday prior to