Tall Ships Festival - A Dana Point Tradition

This is the second year that Eric and I have gone down to Dana Point Harbor to watch the Toshiba Tall Ships Festival. We invited Terry & Jan Johansen, friends from Garden Grove, to join us for an evening of fun. This year there were seven multi-masted ships providing entertainment and education to viewers on the shore. There were mock cannon battles out in the open sea as sails were unfurled and pirates and participants experienced life in long lost traditions. As the sun began to set, the floating parade entered the harbor led by the Spirit of Dana Point. The events continue for two days with music at Baby Beach (sea chanties & Irish tunes), food (you name it, they're serving it) and fun educational experiences at the Ocean Institute. After the flotilla settled into their berths in the harbor, we headed to Chronic Taco for dinner and then back to our place for brownies and visiting. Found out that Jan is addicted to Family History too. We swapped stories (she's traced her line back to Adam!) and I shared our photo story book of Mystery Girl and our Canadian cousins (I just found info going back two more generations!) It was a fun evening.