Fun at Chelsea House and Merlin Guesthouse during Fantasy Fest 2008

Waiting for the March at the Chelsea House

One of our favorite events of the week of Fantasy Fest is the Masquerade March which happened on Friday. The March is a walking parade for anyone who wants to join, either in costume or not. The parade starts at the cemetery and takes two different routes to Duval Street. Luckily, we have hotels on both routes! The southern route goes past Chelsea House and the northern one goes past the Merlin Guesthouse. At both hotels we set up a bar that served our coveted rum punch. At Chelsea House, Andy made his version with a British twist and at Merlin Guesthouse Abby made hers with Jamaican spices. We tell them both “theirs is best”.   We also hired D.J.’s to get everyone dancing. Our guests joined in the fun too and joined the parade as it continued down to Duval.  Some Chelsea House guests cooled off in the pool after the parade.  We were very impressed with their concern for their costumes….. noting the neat piles of clothing left by the pool steps.

Here comes the March at Chelsea House	Entrance of the Merlin Guesthouse
Fun-loving creature couple at Merlin Guesthouse	Dancing at Merlin Guesthouse at the outdoor bar
Abby's Jamaican rum punch is going fast at Merlin Guesthouse	Aggy dancing while serving rum punch at Chelsea House
Amelia the piratetress at Chelsea House	A flamingo and bellydancer at the Merlin Guesthouse
A 'political pair' at Merlin Guesthouse	Having fun posing for pics at the Merlin Guesthouse