Recently, I noticed that the Visit Alexandria website was advertising the arrival of the ship “Hermione” to the Alexandria harbor. The event included various activities and the ship looked beautiful from the picture. The Hermione was supposed to be there for 10 days, but it was almost over by the week-end. After Alexandria, the ship was planned to visit several historical ports, one of them was Baltimore next week-end.
Early Sunday morning Dave and I arrived at the Baltimore Inner Harbor to explore the Hermione, visit the National Aquarium and enjoy a beautiful sunny day on the Harbor. Isn’t she beautiful?
What is special about this ship? According to L’Hermione official site, Hermione is an exact replica of the ship that brought the Marquis de Lafayette to George Washington with news of full French aid in 1780, turning the tide of the American Revolution. To commemorate Lafayette’s historic voyage, the reconstructed French tall ship sailed from Port des Barques in France to make landfall in Yorktown, Virginia visiting 12 iconic stops on its tour.
It was an early morning, but a long line had already formed. The visit was free, and that may partly explain the crowd. Having coffee while standing in line to get on board of the ship.
The Hermione Voyage 2015 is accompanied by a range of pier side activities. L’Hermione was docked at Baltimore Harbor, Constellation Pier 1, moored next to the USS Constellation and Museum for 3 days June 19-21. It arrived on the morning of June 19th and had opening ceremonies and reenactment activities including salute. Public tours and heritage and crafts displays were scheduled to take place throughout the day on all three days.
The visit was fascinating, the sailors would pose with the visitors if they asked, and it felt very welcome. We appreciated the fact that French volunteers built L’Hermione to replicate La Fayette’s original frigate, and volunteers and the public financed this ambitious endeavor. The tour of the ship started here.
Touring the Hermione. I had to take a shot of Dave next to a cannon. 🙂
Here is a nice view of The National Aquarium and USS Torsk submarine next to it from L’Hermione.
A different view of L’Hermione – from the Aquarium side.
Here is the USS Constellation Museum right next to the l’Hermione.
Dave and I decided to visit the museum as well, but while walking to the ticket counter, we noticed the following advertisement for the 4th of July celebration on board the USS Constellation. This idea sounded great, so a decision was made quickly to buy the tickets. Complimentary tours of 4 Historic Ships were included in the tickets. We will definitely visit them before the July 4th Celebration begins.
Historic Ships in Baltimore represent one of the most impressive collections of military vessels in the world. Located within easy walking distance of each other, the US Sloop-of-War Constellation, the US Submarine Torsk, the US Coast Guard Cutter Taney, and the Lightship Chesapeake exhibit life at sea from the mid-19th century to the mid-1980’s. Here is the USS Constellation.
The Lightship Chesapeake.
The US Submarine Torsk.
The USCGC Taney.
Then we had an early dinner on the patio of the Tir na nÓg Irish Bar & Grill, from where we could enjoy the view of L’Hermione and the Inner Harbor.
