What a day!
First off, in the interest of full disclosure I have to confess that
I am not a devout Catholic.
But... with the Pope coming to visit our home boating turf in
Philly how could we not visit and watch the circus. Bridges and roadways were all being closed
down so that pilgrims could walk
into Philly from Camden.
All mass transportation tickets had to be purchased in advance
with designated loading times and only lottery winners were actually
granted admission to major events.
Practically every ambulance and police crew from surrounding
counties had been dispatched to handle the faithful throngs that
were expected to be walking and crawling across bridges for miles
and passing out from heatstroke and exertion.
Again, I'm not much of a Christian, (In fact I'm Jewish) but who wouldn't want to see this
freak show from the water?
So..... Met up with Chuck and knarloid and their families in
Burlington at 11:30 for the 15-20 mile cruise downriver.
Chuck was already in the water as I launched...
And off we go.
knarloid is always taking pictures. Often he's taking pictures of me taking pictures.
Water was pretty choppy. 20 mph gusts. 2 footers. Sometimes more.
Chuck was carrying 8 passengers. 4 of them under the age of 10. Definitely cramped his usual
flamboyant flying style. You know, the "Don't kill the children" thing.
And there it appeared in the distance.....like the land of Oz.
Philadelphia. Same as always but with a special glow today...Dare I say..
a holiness?
So we proceeded....
And there we saw the most amazing sight... Was it Him?
Looks like the Holy Father out for a float.
Wow. He likes being on the water. His Gondoliers seemed really pooped.
He called us over. "Is that a Checkmate, my son"?, he inquired.
"Indeed, Your Holiness, it is".
"Bucyrus"?, he asked further.
"Yes, your Holiness".
It's not every day that the Pontiff of Rome hitches a ride in your boat.
He was so nice, so humble.
Chuck was already at capacity so the Swiss Guard had to ride in the cabin.
It was very cramped and I still can't get the smell out.
O.K.- I'm lying. Here's what really happened. We get to the first bridge in Philly and the sector is closed off. Cops tell us to go away- "no proceeding
south of this way".
They look like they mean it.
Chuck tries to negotiate. They mean it.
So we cruise back upriver and go to lunch.
The End.
First off, in the interest of full disclosure I have to confess that
I am not a devout Catholic.
But... with the Pope coming to visit our home boating turf in
Philly how could we not visit and watch the circus. Bridges and roadways were all being closed
down so that pilgrims could walk
into Philly from Camden.
All mass transportation tickets had to be purchased in advance
with designated loading times and only lottery winners were actually
granted admission to major events.
Practically every ambulance and police crew from surrounding
counties had been dispatched to handle the faithful throngs that
were expected to be walking and crawling across bridges for miles
and passing out from heatstroke and exertion.
Again, I'm not much of a Christian, (In fact I'm Jewish) but who wouldn't want to see this
freak show from the water?
So..... Met up with Chuck and knarloid and their families in
Burlington at 11:30 for the 15-20 mile cruise downriver.
Chuck was already in the water as I launched...
And off we go.
knarloid is always taking pictures. Often he's taking pictures of me taking pictures.
Water was pretty choppy. 20 mph gusts. 2 footers. Sometimes more.
Chuck was carrying 8 passengers. 4 of them under the age of 10. Definitely cramped his usual
flamboyant flying style. You know, the "Don't kill the children" thing.
And there it appeared in the distance.....like the land of Oz.
Philadelphia. Same as always but with a special glow today...Dare I say..
a holiness?
So we proceeded....
And there we saw the most amazing sight... Was it Him?
Looks like the Holy Father out for a float.
Wow. He likes being on the water. His Gondoliers seemed really pooped.
He called us over. "Is that a Checkmate, my son"?, he inquired.
"Indeed, Your Holiness, it is".
"Bucyrus"?, he asked further.
"Yes, your Holiness".
It's not every day that the Pontiff of Rome hitches a ride in your boat.
He was so nice, so humble.
Chuck was already at capacity so the Swiss Guard had to ride in the cabin.
It was very cramped and I still can't get the smell out.
O.K.- I'm lying. Here's what really happened. We get to the first bridge in Philly and the sector is closed off. Cops tell us to go away- "no proceeding
south of this way".
They look like they mean it.
Chuck tries to negotiate. They mean it.
So we cruise back upriver and go to lunch.
The End.
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I was so into the driving that I only got a few of you getting ready. Two photos of the big guns coming out as we got ready to run the gauntlet with the waves.
