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	A ride on the Pieces of Eight boat, which includes its own gift store, is part of the fun at Salty Sam’s Waterfront Adventure. This interactive experience offers a history lesson too.

he swashbuckling life of pirates continues to fascinate us. Real pirates like Blackbeard and fictional characters like Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, provide adults and children with tales of adventure. With pirates now part of our culture, merchandise relating to the pirate themes has become a staple in retail stores throughout North America.

As buyer for Salty Sam’s Waterfront Adventure in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., Beth Garcia oversees the purchasing for two restaurants, a marina and gift shop and Pieces of Eight, a pirate boat cruise with another gift shop on board. Pieces of Eight is a 90-minute interactive cruise where passengers participate in pirate adventures including sword fighting and pirate skits. The ship’s 900-square-foot gift shop features a variety of pirate merchandise.

“We do three cruises per day and each cruise holds between 90 and 120 people,” said Garcia. “Our guests love the pirate theme and they want to be able to take part of their adventure home with them.”

In addition to the on-board gift shop, the marina also has a small shop, which also offers pirate merchandise as well as sundries guests might need such as sunscreen and sun glasses. The most popular pirate items in both stores include pirate swords, eye patches, T-shirts, water pistols and educational books on real pirate history. More...