Uh-oh, I spoke too soon. That one boat is looking rather lubberly. Are we out of green paint?
The other day I asked Bud how his Boston trip went, and to my embarrassment, he responded:
I sent you an email with photos. I guess you didn’t see it (or it got lost). Great trip but we needed more time.
Well, I can certainly identify with the “needed more time” part, and… I’m sorry about the email thing. I get way behind on it sometimes, but I think I’ve achieved a record at this point. I’m close to 8,000 unread at the moment.
I’m not going to get through all that today, but I did immediately go search for Bud’s missive, and found two emails, each with two photos. He sent them on Oct. 28, so no wonder I hadn’t seen them! I haven’t cleaned out my personal email account since… hang on… um, Sept. 13. No, to quote fellow Knight Ridder survivor Dave Barry, “I am not making this up.” I’m really that much of a slacker. (With my personal email, anyway. I keep up with my work one.)
Boston Bud
But I really enjoyed Bud’s pics, and I thought I’d share a couple with you. It was good to see Bud again, and I’m sure everyone in that bar knew his name. (When I was there, I rode by the place, but no one yelled out “Brad!” as we passed, or even “Norm!,” so I didn’t stop.)
And I was very pleased to see “Old Ironsides.” She must have a new first lieutenant now, the old one having been broken down to foremast jack for having let the larboard side get into a disgraceful condition when I was there. When I shared my trip with y’all, I was careful to show you only the starboard side, lest I reflect shame upon the Service. Port side looked like it hadn’t been painted in a lifetime.
But she’s looking fresh and presentable now, with everything shipshape and Bristol-fashion, so I’m proud to share her with you.
May we all visit Beantown again soon, and have all the time we wish!
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As I say, I’m not going to display a photo that would shame the Service, but just in case anyone suspects me of exaggeration, you can click here to see a photo of the disgraceful condition of the port side of Constitution when we visited.
Yes, perhaps she looks that way because she’s just been scraped, in preparation for a fresh coat. In fact, I can’t imagine any other way she would look like that. But if that’s the case, visitors should not have been allowed into the yard until the job was done. Just think — they were letting landsmen see her like this! And on the first day I visited — as was the case when Bud visited — they were letting the visitors board on that side!
When I came back a couple of days later, they were only letting folk use the gangway to starboard, and no wonder…
Harrumph!
Wait! Is that a loose sail hanging in a slovenly fashion down the length of the mizzen, practically to the quarterdeck? Or is that someone’s washing? Does this ship even HAVE a first lieutenant?!?
I’ll just have to stop looking so closely, and enjoy the fact that she’s still afloat…
Thanks for posting. We went to a LOT of places on that trip but didn’t spend a huge amount of time at any of them. 14 states plus Canada (for my first time). So many bucket list places to visit. But this was a start.
And did you stay at the B&B where we stayed? At 69 Columbus St. in Newton? If so, how was Claudia? She was a very nice when we were there…