Legal Pirates and a Roman God

My day at the Tall Ships Festival in Dana Point Harbor was filled with fond memories of the brig Pilgrim, fabulous tall ships, and scallywag pirates, which I wrote about in my last two blogs. But there was more to see and enjoy that day, including some privateers and a Roman god.

Remember the cute rat pirate I wrote about in my last blog? Well, as I was talking to his "daddy," I learned that he wasn't really a pirate, but rather a privateer. "There's a difference," he told me. Pirates plundered for their own gain, but a privateer plundered for the queen or king depending on the country he was working for.

If the privateer was a "sea dog," which meant he was working for Queen Elizabeth I of England, it meant that he had a legal right to attack enemy ships and plunder their gold for the crown. The ship would be licensed and carry a letter with the queen's seal permitting attacks without fear of punishment. In exchange, the queen received a share of all plunder and increased the size of her navy without having to pay the crew, maintain, or supply them.The best known privateer is Sir Francis Drake who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I. What a fascinating bit of history!

I have a question for you: How often have you gone out to enjoy the day and you just happened to run into a Roman god? Well, I did and he was amazing! His name in real life is Lou, but for that day he was the Roman god Neptune, god of the sea in Roman mythology. He was 8 feet tall (okay, not really, but it sure felt that way standing next to him) and he had put together a frothy green costume that really looked like he had just walked out of the sea with sea shells growing out of his head.

The kids looked up at him as if he touched the sky and had magic spilling out of his trident! And, of course, they all had to have their pictures taken with him. Can you imagine what their friends and teachers said when they went back to school and told them they had met Neptune!

Well, I can't finish my blogging about the Tall Ships Festival without sharing a photo of a gorgeous exotic bird. There were several on display just outside the Institute. This one was my favorite, because he had such spunk. Every time I tried to take his picture, he would try to eat my camera lens! What a guy. There are more photos of the other birds I saw as well as all the splendid things I saw that day. Please stop by my website and enjoy looking at them, and while you're there, please sign my guestbook.

Next time train robbers and the cavalry. It's a another fun step back into history. Until then. . .

Go forth and make it a day to learn something fascinating!

Pirates Arrrrrrrr!

Arrrrrrr! I heard it again and again at the Tall Ships Festival in Dana Point. Young and old alike. Kids with plastic swords and eye patches. Dad's acting like kids Arrrrrrring with their children. Unsuspecting demure ladies blushing when caught Arrrrrrring by a stranger who returned their Arrrrrrr with a grin (that stranger would be me!). But that was part of what made the day so much fun in Dana Point - Pirates! They were everywhere delighting kids and adults alike, including me. Their costumes were so intricate and the makeup (for those who wore it) was incredible. One would have thought he had just walked onto the set of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. With the tall ships as a back drop, the pirates fit in perfectly.

Some pirates had come from Pirate's Dinner Adventure in Buena Park while others simply enjoyed being at the festival in costume. There's something about putting on a costume that brings out the kid in everyone. We do and say things we would never do and say otherwise. It's license for adults to play legitimately without being thought of as being silly. And it's fun for those who get to hang out with them and partake in a bit of silliness that takes us back to our childhoods.

Most of the pirates had their acts down perfectly. On cue they would put on the pirate face - lift the chin, squint one eye almost shut, and look like a scallywag. And every other person moving along an impossibly crowded walkway wanted to stop and have a picture taken with each pirate. I can't blame them, of course, but I was more concerned with taking photos than being in the photos. The cutest photos, of course, were the children who had dressed up in their own pirate costumes and stood with twinkling eyes with their grown up counterparts.

So I saved the best for last. I think it's possibly the cutest little pirate I've ever seen. I was walking through the tent area when I saw a great looking pirate. After snapping a photo, he said, "Look down." I looked down, and inside a leather pouch tied to his waist sash was a beautiful blond rat with a tiny pink nose and beady black eyes. I'm used to handling pet rats, since I know several teachers who keep them as classroom pets. They have wonderful personalities and are quite wonderful to hold. Their little noses and wiskers tickle when they nuzzle into your hand.

I asked the pirate if he would take him out of the pouch so I could take a photo of the cute little guy. "Would you like to see him in his pirate hat?" Of course I would!!! "YES!" I said almost too enthusiatically and he proceded to pull out the tiniest little pirate hat you've ever seen. On it went and I snapped away. Here's a photo of the littlest pirate. Too cute!

Come back again and read about about the privateers and Neptune - yes, he was there too - in my next blog entry. In the meantime you can check out all my pirate photos on my website elizabethheathphotography. Don't forget to sign my guestbook while you're there.

Now go forth and make it a day to have some fun and be a kid again!

Elizabeth - Arrrrrrr!

Remembering A Good Time!

Last weekend Dana Point's Marine Institute played host to the Tall Ships Festival and I was there! There was no way I was going to miss that shindig. It only took an hour to reach the harbor on an overcast Sunday morning, but I had high hopes that the sky would clear and bring a glorious blue to replace the morning gray.

As I drove down, I couldn't help but remember my only other visit to the Marine Institute roughly fifteen years ago. I was teaching fifth grade at the time (yes, I teach school when I'm not working as a photographer) and my students were just about bursting with excitement. They were headed to Dana Point Harbor and the brig 'Pilgrim' where they would be spending the night. They would exit the bus and enter the year 1834 as lowly sailors swabbing the decks, polishing brass, hauling water, and cooking (yes, cooking!).

I had read them the book Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana recounting his journey on the Pilgrim. Dana had an attack of the measles which affected his vision. Thinking it might help his sight, Dana left Harvard to enlist as a common sailor on a voyage around Cape Horn. He kept a diary throughout the voyage, and, after returning, he wrote Two Years Before the Mast.

His ship was on a voyage to trade goods from the east for cow hides. Interestingly, the bluffs near Mission San Juan Capistrano presented an obstacle to taking the cow hides to the beach for subsequent loading onto the ship. So, Dana, along with others of the Pilgrim's crew, tossed the hides from the bluffs. Some hides got stuck part way down the cliff and Dana was lowered with ropes to retrieve them. Since that day, that point where the bluffs were located, took on Dana's name, and is today the city of Dana Point.

So here I was again, but for a much different reason - tall ships! It was not hard to imagine life in the mid-1800's looking at the sheer cliffs that enclose the harbor. Today houses sit precariously at the top and the sea wall makes the harbor calm and appealing to visitors in the 21st Century. The visiting tall ships rocked in happy tandem all except the Pilgrim sitting in her place of honor as she welcomed young and old alike to explore a little bit of history.

And explore is exactly what I intended to do. There were the tall ships, of course, but there were also pirates, and exotic birds, and the Ocean Institute, and the ocean, and the art festival, and cute dogs, well, you get the idea. There was a lot to do too much to write about in one blog entry. So in my next few entries, I'll write more about my adventures at the Tall Ships Festival. You can enjoy all my photos from my day at Dana Point Harbor in the gallery on my website, elizabethheathphotography.com. Until next time. . .

Go out and make it a day to enjoy a little bit of history.