Harborfest Day 1

Harborfest began more than a quarter century ago when the Norwegian Tall Ship Christian Radich came to call on Norfolk, a waterfront community that had no city-owned property on which to dock a ship. The ship was docked three blocks from Town Point at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and 13,000 people crossed her gangway in just one and a half days. Over the next two years, City planners and leaders created berthing to accommodate more ships, and a waterfront public park was planned. Norfolk Harborfest® was born. Today, tall ships from all over the world frequently call on the City of Norfolk and nearly half a million visitors gather on the downtown waterfront each year for this annual celebration of our region’s rich nautical heritage. The traditions of the East Coast’s Premier Waterfront Festival are celebrated with nautical history, maritime events, visiting vessels, children’s activities, local, regional and national entertainment. Festivities stretch from The Waterside Festival Marketplace to the Historic Freemason Harbor. 

USS Wisconsin

So now you have the history.  Every year this happens and I'm ashamed to admit that I've not gone.  I haven't even watched the tall ships sail into port.  My neighbor was just telling me how he was going with friends and they were going to have rum infused slushies while there.  What?  How did I not know about this?  Because I live in this area and just have ignored it.


Well no more!


We decided to check things out on Saturday morning.  The weather was nice and we figured we'd avoid a majority of the crowds if we went early enough.  Harborfest had been going on since Wednesday.  They had most of the area closed down to traffic and it was fairly easy to find parking.  We started out at the USS Wisconsin and headed in the Fort Norfolk direction.


They did provide shuttles, but the weather was nice and we wanted to walk.  I'm pleased that they did offer this free service, because I'm sure it was a tremendous help to the foreign sailors.  And their were numerous foreign ships there.  Things were well organized.  There were people dressed in period costumes from 1812.  This is the bicentennial of the War of 1812, which explains the re-en actors.  We were able to see some re-en actors in their camps and they shot off their cannon.  

One of each please

Since we hadn't expected to stop by Harborfest, I forgot my camera so all the photos here are provided by my trusty little iPhone 4S.  Much better photos than my old phone could provide, but I'm still kicking myself for forgetting my camera.  

Another wonderful thing about the Harborfest is that you can actually tour most of the ships.  Their were military ships as well as tall ships.  Today we just checked out the military ships.  We were lucky enough to tour the Fort McHenry.  At this point Jim took over with the photo taking.  We were more interested in the equipment the ship could carry than anything else.  


There were loads of photos to choose from but I only chose a handful.


I just had to have this photo so you could see how big most of this equipment is.


The  diver on the Search and Rescue helicopter gave us a talk about this.  Being the smarty pants that I am I had to ask if the pilot could speak.  He smirked and said yes, but he was there for decoration.  LOL


We were also able to see a PC (patrol craft) which brought back good memories for Jim.  Lots of remember whens sort of thing. This ship pictured is from the Naval Academy.  

While walking back we saw this sign and had to chuckle.  


Lessons learned on this trip?  Besides bring the camera?  Be sure to have plenty of sunscreen.  Wear a hat.  And PLENTY of water!  The heat and all the walking we did made us feel a bit dehydrated.


It was still a fantastic day though.


And I just couldn't end this without a shot of one of the mermaids that we came across during our journey.