Grays Harbor Historical Seaport – Aberdeen, Washington

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

My RVing lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at VFW Post #224 in Aberdeen, Washington. I’ll depart here next Wednesday. Happy July 4th!

A local told me that during World War II, only two places were off-limits to military personnel, San Francisco, California and Aberdeen, Washington.

To read the interesting history about Aberdeen, click this link…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen,_Washington

Aberdeen is located at the eastern end of Grays Harbor as seen in the below Google earth image. The V marks the VFW…my current location.

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Aberdeen is also home to the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport, home to two tall ships…the Hawaiian Chieftan and the Lady Washington which is the closest vessel. I went there yesterday…

To see the other 76 photos I took, click the below photo…

 

 

 

Grays Harbor Historical Seaport – Aberdeen, Washington

 

To see their website, click this link…

http://historicalseaport.org/

I hope you enjoyed the photos!

 Yesterday was mostly sunny and 67 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly cloudy with a shower and 64 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet 2016

PORTUGUESE TO THE END

Sunday, the last day of the Portuguese Festival, we visted the Gazela, a tall ship built in 1881 in Portugal. In port giving tours during the Festival, we visited this survivor from the golden age of sail. Surprised that it wasn’t bigger, we walked the decks, talked with the preservation crew, and learned that this ship made its last yearly voyage from Portugal to New Bedford in 1969.

It was still working, along with the faster, newer boats in my lifetime! That blew me away.

The rich fishing area around New Bedford is what brought Portuguese immigrants here in great numbers over the years. The ship carried small working dories stacked like tea cups on the decks. They baited long lines with many hooks.

They also maintained the ship, hand pumped the bilge, kept her clean, salt dried the cod for the long journey back to Portugal, and made sense out of the dizzying number of lines, and canvas that it takes to brave the relentless heavy seas and winds. In the 1950’s drag nets on motor-powered trawlers made long lines obsolete and the ship went into retirement. William Wikoff Smith bought it and donated it to the Philadelphia Preservation Society, the oldest wooden square-rigger in the U.S. still sailing. The volunteers who maintain her are so proud of this ship. They learn valuable skills and have life changing experiences.
We then attended Sunday’s Festival Parade.

There were bands…

…Dancers…

Jugglers…

Historic old vehicles…

Politicians…

And kids scrambling in the streets for thrown candy. I’m part kid when it comes to a parade.
We are soon to leave New Bedford/Dartmouth and we celebrated with our hosts, Donna and Bob Parker at New Bedford’s Antonios Cafe, a wonderful restaurant with Portuguese food. Seafood Paella for me, broiled scrod for Jim. Donna and Bob shared a pork stew. My paella had a lobster tail, claw and one leg, plus multiple small neck clams, mussels, chicken pieces, shrimp, scallops and beef chunks. And, low prices. We looked around and every dish could serve two, or more, rather than one. The Parkers don’t know how Martha Stewart got wind of this place, but she popped in with her entourage one night,  unexpectedly,  and crowed about its virtues on her show. The food was marvelous.  Shrimp and meat appetizers-ditto. I’m feeling quite spoiled and fat by now, as you can imagine.

The pork stew has roasted potatoes on top. The sangria comes in a water glass. Jim was fulfilled by finally having broiled scrod, something he looks  for every time he visits New England.
For a slug of pictures check my album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/8110FestaParadeGazelaDiPaola#

TO CAPE COD BY FERRY

Arriving on  Marthas Vineyard by ferry a week ago, locked in the dark behind a huge truck, we were unable to open the door, get out, and walk around.  I wasn’t looking forward to the ride back. We got there early and Jim asked if we could take an earlier ferry and his request was granted. Leaving for Cape Cod by ferry proved to be a very different event. As we entered, first in line, its difficult to imagine that this ferry can take five lanes of traffic. Placed up front, no cars blocked our exit from the motor home and we gladly went up on deck to enjoy the ride.

The tall ships anchor on one side of the harbor…

the small boats on the other side.

A boat, just out of the picture, looked like it was going to run into the ferry. By the time I turned on my camera and aimed, he disappeared behind it.

It was cool and beautiful on deck as we watched boaters play, and the Island disappear.

A bell buoy is no big deal to people who live here, but hearing them toll in the wind, and being a New England Newbie, I finally got a good look at one.

We pulled into the landing with a front seat view. The new crew was waiting on deck for the old crew to get off. We found out the ferry we were supposed to take was held up for mechanical problems and we luckily missed that frustrating experience.

It didn’t take long for “reality” to sink in. A short drive from the ferry landing and we met our first stop light. (It turned green just as I snapped the picture.)
And, I have an amendment to make. Though we were refused  alcohol with our meals twice, and told we were in a dry county, we saw ads and signs that indicate that some places on the island allow you to have beer or wine in an eating establishment. And, we saw a discount liquor store where you could  buy spirits. Its a mystery to me. Years ago, in Kansas, we ran into a dry county. You could not buy anything alcoholic. If you brought it in your car from another county, and were caught, you could be ticketed. Dry county means different things in different states.