Crabbin'

Wow, so the new coolest thing we've discovered about B'Ham is that it's apparently a safehaven for pirates. No joke. Last night T and I were walking with the dogs down by the boardwalk when we noticed this ship just hanging out in the bay. We thought it was a pretty sweet boat. Maybe a hijacked Spanish galleon? A former member of the Naval Fleet? Anyway, it was nice to look at, especially with all the little sailboats around cruising around it. If Dr. Shih for any reason happens to stumble upon this blog, or if any of you know him or run into him, thank him for me. That Herman Melville Seminar I took with him gave me at least an amateur appreciation for ships, and I wish I could've rowed myself out there and had a look around. I wonder if Captain Vere already had Billy Budd swung from the yardarm. Anyway, the best part about this boat was that suddenly it started firing its cannons! Seriously! I imagine the guns were filled with blanks. I mean, come on, you can't just float around various bays whimsically firing off your canons at whatever sailboats happen to pass by. Or can you? Regardless, there was no storming of the coast or any of that hoo-ha, but it was interesting to see a ship in the bay. Apparently there's a museum in town that periodically builds these ships as part of a historical demonstration. Trust me, I'll be finding out more when I can.

EDIT: I just discovered that this very pirate ship right here is the exact ship used in Pirates of the Caribbean. I think this is the Black Pearl!

2nd EDIT: This is the Lady Washington, also know as HMS Interceptor. This is the ship that Jack Sparrow tries to steal in the first film while most of the British Navy is running around onshore. It's not the Black Pearl, but still pretty sweet nonetheless. Unfortunately, ship tours are $60 a person and end today.

Also extremely sweet: I guess crabbing season just started. Yeah. There are a bunch of people just hanging out on the boardwalk in camp chairs who have lengths of rope running down into the water. We watched a dad and his kids pull up a crab-trap and they'd caught four crabs; two monsters, a wee one, and a dead one that they threw back. Well, T and I thought this was the bee's knees, so we explained to them that we just moved from Wisconsin and absolutely HAD to take a photo of this phenomenon. I think they were pretty amused by us, but they let us snap a few photos and we were certainly grateful. It seems the best way to catch crabs is to use turkey drumsticks. This family had several pounds of regular ol' frozen drumsticks you buy at the grocery store. We might have to learn real soon how to go crabbin' so that we can take all of you when you come visit.

And, just because I have to power to do so, I've included this clip of the Amtrak that runs through town right next to the park. Talking to a few of our neighbors, we've learned the ride down through Seattle all the way to Portland is one of the most gorgeous train rides a person can take. Gives me a new idea for an upcoming blog.