Author: Pat D

We decided to watch the Parade of Sails from a vantage point at Stage Fort Park. Just as the schooners were starting to make their appearance, I noticed the Tree of Life adjacent to the sailboats from the GHS Sailing Club and I thought it looked like a mama duck and her ducklings out on the water. Lucky enough, a couple stopped by to chat and noted their daughter Emily was out in one of those sailing club boats. Cheers Emily and her parents! Thanks for stopping by to chat. What a great weekend!

These are just a few of the pictures I was able to get and more will be shared at Pat D’s Photos and Adventures Facebook page, so if you aren’t tired of schooner pictures yet, feel free to view more there.

We decided to give the Thomas E. Lannon a try for the fireworks sail this year and what a good decision that was! We saw the fantastic boat parade of lights from the water as well as a terrific fireworks show. I was enjoying the entire atmosphere too much to concentrate on camera settings, but I think these tell the story. If you get a chance for such an experience, take it! The Schooner Festival has made a memorable return this year! Kudos to Maritime Heritage Center and the City of Gloucester!

GMG Jim and I had the opportunity to volunteer at the docks for the Schooner Viewing and Deck Tours during the Maritime Heritage Day activities yesterday. It was a beautiful morning down at the harbor greeting guests coming to view Alert, Columbia and Frith dockside. In addition, there was a fair amount of schooner activity out on the water including the American Eagle, Ardelle, Sycamore and Fritha. The Roseway and Tree of Life were across the harbor at the Paint Factory Ocean Alliance. What fun we had watching the morning develop and meeting friends. Special thanks to all the GMG followers who stopped to introduce themselves and say hello. We love hearing from you. Shout out also to the hardworking Maritime Heritage Board members and staff. They did yeoman’s duty putting all this together and helping out! If you know one, say thanks. There’s more Schooner Festival activities to come today, the Big Day! The schedule is available here. See you out there!

Friday was a picture perfect start to the Labor Day weekend and festivities (Block Party and Schooner Festival especially) and no where more so than at Wingaersheek Beach under stunning blue skies. I was a little surprised it wasn’t busier when I got there, but then I remembered the pleasantly cooler air from earlier in the morning. Regardless, lots of people and gulls were thoroughly enjoying summer as it winds down. Enjoy the weekend!

It was a beautiful night on the harbor for the Schooner Challenge 2021. This friendly competition is an obstacle course to challenge the crews (including guests) in their skills. Here we see the Lewis H. Story, Redbird, Thomas E. Lannon, Ardelle and Tyrone. Gorgeous in the harbor with a calm sea and setting sun.

The skies seemed especially welcoming for the schooners, their crews and captains as Maritime Gloucester prepares for the Schooner Festival! As we prepared to livestream from Maritime Gloucester, I took a minute to take some shots of the view from the upstairs room. Details on the schedule available here.

From our friends at Cape Ann Veterans Services comes the news that the Vietnam Moving Wall is coming to Newbury today Sept 2 and will be available for viewing throughout the weekend.

From Vee Chipperini’s Facebook page:

The Vietnam Moving Wall is in Newbury, MA for the long weekend if anyone is interested in visiting. Opening ceremonies begin this evening as follows:

5pm- Ceremonial Escort from Amesbury to the Plum Island Airport

6pm- Opening ceremony, Speakers, and wreath laying

7pm FlyoverThe wall will be open to the public around the clock beginning today thru Monday.

Additional information available here.

We finally got ourselves to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge after a long hiatus and were treated to the antics of a couple of egrets hunting at high tide. I find it difficult to get decent shots of these pretty white birds especially in bright sunlight (so kudos to all of you that do this so very well!) but I am not too displeased with these and thought you might enjoy them too. More photos and details available at Pat D’s Photos and Adventures Facebook page if you are interested. Please feel free to give it a follow.

The Tree of Life has arrived and seems to be ready to start the Schooner Fest 2021 party! Welcome! We are looking forward to the weekend’s events and hope to see you all there. Further details available from Maritime Gloucester.

Thought this might interest some of you boaters out there. Can you imagine? Also, I highly recommend a follow on this Twitter account if you need a little smile every day.

A new take out window has been installed at Little Red Rooster on Rogers Street! Yeah!

This site surprised me a bit. I haven’t seen a duck group gathered on power wires too often. It was like a Cormorant Convention meet and greet.

During the summer, we like to celebrate Margarita Monday at different establishments around town. The idea is to try new margarita recipes in local places. Last week we went to the Topside Grill on Rogers Street for a late lunch. It was Monday, so………Margarita Monday with the Topside traditional margarita. I had the meatball app and GMG Jim tried the bacon wrapped scallops. Relaxing and delicious. Perfect for a Monday afternoon. Cheers!

What a delight these recent summertime skies have been! Maybe I should republish these as a reminder during some of those darker gloomier winter days that are coming up soon!

I chuckled to see this gull taking a bath in a boat recently at the dock. Cleanliness is next to gull-ness, I suppose.

We have had the chance to entertain several visitors over the summer and each visit presents an opportunity to show off Gloucester and its many fine restaurants. We took Jim’s brother and sister in law to the Azorean on Washington Street for a farewell dinner and it hit all the right notes. Drinks were delicious, the food wonderfully tasty and satisfying and the atmosphere relaxed and friendly. We had the fish cataplanas, a seafood casserole and the salmon special. I also had my favorite beef and it was cooked TO PERFECTION. It’s a great spot for a relaxed meal with or without company.

Classic harbor shots taken in fog. Just a couple of additional shots from our recent post storm fogginess.

I am very happy to see this eagle in Magnolia this week! It didn’t stick around long and we are hoping for another sighting soon.