Hampton Roads Harborfest

WHEN: June 11-13, 2010 WHERE: Norfolk, VA Last weekend was the 34th Annual Harborfest, held in downtown Norfolk. I have been waiting for this past weekend since I first heard about its festivities four months ago. While our floor was out in the trailers this winter during renovations, one of the boat captains from our district sat 3 feet behind me, literally - space was limited to say the least. I had never seen or met this guy until our move yet got to know him quite well during our 7-week stay in the trailers. Yes, we had a "Trailer Trash" party at the end of our 7-week confinement, in case you were wondering :) He informed me of the annual festival and all that it entailed. I came to learn that this is an internationally recognized event, noted for bringing tall ships (masted, "old-looking" ships) from all over the world. The down side, as the captain explained, was that because of the current world economy, this year would be lacking the grandeur and presence of years past. What may usually draw dozens of large vessels from around the world, this year's festival saw only a handful of smaller, domestic ships. Even still, from that day in February until this past weekend, I made it clear I would be doing little to no work on Friday, June 11...the Parade of Sails! The Parade of Sails is an exhibition of the participating vessels (mostly sailboats) that runs approximately 5 miles through Norfolk Harbor, from the Naval Station to downtown Norfolk. And how fortunate for me that this route runs directly in front of my office building. For about an hour during and after our lunch outside on the water, we watched as all the vessels floated by. I managed to take 82 pictures in 45 minutes. No demanding task for this trigger-happy nut. I'll provide you with the abbreviated version.

The Parade of Sails

Gazela - built in 1901 and home ported in Philadelphia Kalmar Nyckel (right), Delaware's state ship, has a history like that of the Mayflower but one that is rarely told. Built in 1997 as an exact replica of the original built in 1625, this ship brought Swedish settlers to the colonies in 1638, where the current city of Wilmington, Delware was established. Delaware would become the nation's first state.

The Godspeed, part of the Jamestown Settlement Museum in Jamestown, Virginia. I had just seen this ship up in Jamestown the previous weekend.

One of Norfolk's Army Corps of Engineers boats in the parade

Numerous vessels firing off their water cannons A navy riverine command boat, with machine guns on the ready! The guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon (DDG-58)

Saturday, Stace & I headed down to Waterside Park for the Harborfest festivities. One lucky sailor! And bid bon voyage to the last visit from a cruise ship this summer :( That's muh lady! Kalmar Nyckel Stace standing next to the 160ft. Kanaloa yacht from Georgetown, Cayman Islands. You can rent her (the yacht, not my wife) for $240,000/week! Caught some of the Dock Dogs in action So many great places to get some artery-clogging grub! But our plan was to take Stace to a Thai restaurant that I had been to a couple times with coworkers that she wanted to try. We settled for lemonade, at least to keep the heat stroke at bay in the 100° heat-index The Asphalt Orchestra - very good! One last shot of the ticket to tropical paradise! She's a beaut, Clark! Beautiful boardwalk babe! She finally got her Thai food (and air conditioning)! Sunday we finally bought a new grill at Lowe's. To make a looong (vexing) story short, we haven't been able to grill since last August and it has stretched my patience/integrity to new limits. Thankfully, we picked this grill up for $85 (was $130) and called it my birthday present. Maybe a pickup truck for my next birthday so I can actually transport my grill? All set up and ready to sizzle!

And as if all these harbor/birthday festivities were not enough, I found out today that a few of us from work will be going on a coworker's sailboat this Friday (just for fun), through Norfolk Harbor and along the same path taken by the Parade of Sails! It will be my first time on a sailboat and my first time anywhere on the open water in Hampton Roads. I am liking the pattern of Fridays so far this June! Pictures to come...!