The Providence in Old Towne Alexandria

You could say it is in my blood. My dad loved the water and was in the Coast Guard for twenty one years, including WWII. He would love be to take us aboard docked ships. When I visited my cousin in Boston after graduating high school we spent a day sketching “Old Ironsides.” My family lived near water in New England and Florida, and thereafter I lived near Lake Michigan and the Potomac River. I’m not in to sailing or boating or even swimming. But I spent a lot of time on the gulf coast growing up. I even had a job one summer in college making boat molds out of fiber glass. It was hot and disgusting work! Seeing boats and ships and docks and smelling sea or river water seems so familiar, but it is not something I really know much about. When I read about The Providence tall ship being docked in Old Towne Alexandria we thought it might be a nice ride to check her out. She is a replica of John Paul Jones first command during the revolutionary war and will soon be open for tours and such. I have to say she seemed quite small, but her sails weren’t up and she was sitting at the end of the dock surrounded by modern water craft. I’m not sure I would have been so inclined to make passage on one of these things back in the day. And I admire anyone be who did and still does today.