Tall Ships

The Compadre and I went to see the tall ships that were at the Duluth harbor this weekend. We agreed beforehand that we would keep our good humor even if we had to wait in long long lines - it's a good thing we did because the lines were incredible! We waited for 2 1/2 hours in the line for the first boat and 3 hours for the other two boats. Were we crazy? You bet!

But we had fun even in line. The people around us in both of the lines were friendly and we enjoyed chatting with them. And you can't find a better place to wait in line than along Lake Superior! Everyone was polite and patient and there was only one person that somehow cut in line with her 3 unruly kids. That was at the end of the long day and even though I usually have enough patience with little kids, hers really annoyed me. I suppose I should have been annoyed at her and not at the kids though - she was at fault both for her nonparenting and her rudeness. Ah, well, we had a marvelous time and we were both exhausted at the end - standing in line is hard work!

I was impressed by how small they were! I took a picture as I was coming onto the biggest ship - The Niagara - and you can get an idea of the scale. I tried to imagine what it would have been like to come across the ocean as an immigrant in a ship like this. We were able to go underneath the deck in the Niagara and you can see how the Compadre had to stoop to walk around. He's holding onto a hammock that looks like it's right up against the ceiling! I hope there were more comfortable ships for the immigrants but I'm guessing not. By the way. There is no way on earth you could get me to climb up that rope ladder to the top of the mast. The Compadre contends that if my life or my fellow sailors depended on it I would climb it. That takes a lot of imagination on his part!