How cool is it to be in my booth and watch a freighter go by? Art by the River in Amherstburg, Ontario is my favourite show because the park is so pretty. Not only did we watch the freighters this year one of the tall ships, the Pride of Baltimore was in the neighbourhood. I’ve been aboard this ship before (in Baltimore), it’s amazing to tour a tall ship and see just how tiny they are. One of my favourite parts was of course the galley. And reading about how they ate and drank is fascinating! Tapping your hardtack to knock the weevils out before eating it? Uh, no thanks.
Just looking at the spaghetti mess of rigging on these ships makes me nauseous, I can’t imagine climbing it sober let alone drunk. Oh, you do know that sailors were tipsy most of the time? Thos tankards that they’re swigging aren’t cups of refreshing ice water, it’s grog. Grog was a “delicious” mixture of rum, sour slimy water, lime and sugar all designed to make the water palatable. You know, I’ll bet they didn’t have any of those fancy little paper umbrellas to garnish their beverages. Shame about that.

Read more about grog here.