Monday, September 2, 2013

In fourteen hundred ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Today the kids and I went to see replicas of The Nina and The Pinta at Green Turtle Bay Resort in Grand Rivers, KY.  It was only about an hours drive from home and what a great discovery!!  The resort itself seems fantastic - lots of beautiful cottages and houses to rent!!  I think a trip back for a long weekend is in order!!

The boats themselves were very interesting too!  I was really surprised by how small they are.  To think that a crew of 25 or so men and boys lived on those boats and sailed all the way across the Atlantic is pretty amazing.  The most interesting thing was that the crew lived on the deck - not below decks.  The animals, food, ballast and other stores were below decks so the crew worked, slept, cooked and ate on the deck itself.  Not fun!  The crew members that were on deck were really helpful and showed us all sorts of interesting things! 

The kids thought it was pretty cool but were disappointed that we couldn't go below decks - the crew lives down there!  Like I said - the boats are small so it didn't take long to see both - although I could have stayed much longer.  Everyone was hungry so we went to the grill at the Marina to have lunch but ended up having breakfast again because it was so early!  It was just fine with everyone - pancakes for lunch is ALWAYS fine!  We drove around a little after lunch and looked at the rental houses and then headed home.  We were home by 12:30 - just in time for Declan's nap!!

The Pinta:
 A green turtle at Green Turtle Bay Resort!
 A crew member showing the kids how to weigh anchor - she said it would have taken 2-3 hours!
 The girls giving it a shot!
 Compass:
 The girls checking out the rudder:
 Us in front of the Nina
 It was bright and sunny!
 Up onto the Pinta
 This boat was a little bigger and there was more stuff to look at:

 A map of where the boats have gone!
 Aidan being rescued
 Emmy being rescued - she was a little easier to lift!
 knotted bumper
 the Nina
 Info about the ships

 Aidan trying out the new camera
 Aidan at lunch
 Aoife at lunch
 Emmy at lunch
 Leaving
 Arm ink
 Declan at lunch - he made a big impression on the whole restaurant!


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

SO AWESOME!!! What a fun and exciting outing! Wish we were there to join you!!!