Sleepless in Babyland: El Galeon!

I read that there was going to be replica 1654 Spanish Galleon in Port Royal! Of course we went!

On the drive down! It was such a pretty day!

It being such a pretty day, there are going to be lots of beauty shots!

We arrived right around 10 am. This turned out to be the perfect time! There was plenty of close and easy parking, and the ship was not crowded at all!
No lines to get in or pay. It was wonderful. Later in the day, that was not the case.

A bit of information about El Galeon:

17th Century Spanish Galleon Replica. During a period longer than three centuries (16th to 18th), Galleons were the boats that took the lead role in the trade and cultural routes named the Indies fl¬eets. These were the longest routes in length and also lasted longer than any other in navigation history.

El Galeon was built during 2009 to 2010 by the Nao Victoria Foundation. Designed and developed by Ignacio Fernández Vial at the Punta Umbria shipyard (Huelva, Spain), the boat was launched on November 30th, 2009 and then the masts were added at the beginning of 2010.

El Galeon has covered more than 35,000 nautical miles between 2010 to 2013 along the world’s largest seas and oceans, visiting ports in four continents and participating in many cultural projects. El Galeon has sailed across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Southern China Sea, the Aegean Sea, the Bosporus Strait and the Caribbean Sea. So far, visitors have been able to step on her decks in almost fifty ports all over the world.

The tent, you bought tickets and souvenirs here.

There she is !

The fishing boats tied up near the bow.

going aboard

love all the rigging

checking out the anchor. The weight is listed in Kilos.

Lon is having a great time exploring the ship

The mechanism that lowers and raises the masts, in case they had to do that in a storm

The cannons were never designed to roar.

but they are pretty nifty to look at

The poop deck

This was where the Captain gave his orders

this one is my favorite picture of the rigging

There were lots of history bits, in Spanish and in English on the cannon deck.

cannons

Going down into the hold to watch the movie on the building of the ship. It was amazing to see, I did get a copy of the extended version.

the cannon stamps.

Rigging and sky with the ship's bell

Our time aboard was over. It was a wonderful ship to see!

I imagine this is what the coast line looked like back then too

I am not sure why these people were there, they were buying a ticket like everyone else. It seems they just wanted to dress up in the period clothes and take the tour. I thought it was pretty cool

There was a shrimp and grits cook off festival going on in downtown Port Royal. This was an unexpected bonus!

we watched the Galleon bounce house being blown up. We thought it was pretty funny.

Port Royal Beauty

Lon got to play with some pups.

A Port Royal Street

We stopped into a little pizza place called 4 Island Pizza. It was good, we were there early and not many other people were in for lunch.
It seemed like they were just starting and trying hard to make a go of it.

Lon was not sure what to make of this public art display. It was called Amazon.

checking out the anchor in a park

The story of the anchor

I had never seen one of these before !
History Bit about the car:
The original Jeepster (VJ) was first released to the public on April 3, 1948. Offered only in rear-wheel drive, the vehicle had some trouble gaining traction with traditional Willys customers. The 1948 Jeepster was powered by the “Go Devil” 62 hp, 134 cu in straight-4 engine, with 3-speed manual transmission (with optional overdrive), drum brakes, a single transverse leaf spring suspension and rear driveline similar to what was used in the Willys Station Wagon at the time. With rear fenders like those used on the Willys Truck, the Jeepster, while appreciated by design critics, but failed to translate accolades into real sales.