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Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Honoring the Onset of Fleet Week (Wednesday's Wisdom)


The image atop this entry is from a tweet that I noticed in my Twitter feed. As you can see it pays homage to the fact that Fleet Week kicks off in NYC today, Wednesday May 24th, 2017.

According to a web-page (silive) "the Parade of Ships moving up the Narrows and into New York Harbor beginning at about 8:15 (in the morning.)"

A Wiki page explains that "The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It has long been considered to be the maritime "gateway" to New York City and historically has been one of the most important entrances into the harbors of the Port of New York and New Jersey." 

The aforementioned Wiki page also proclaims "in 1964 the Narrows was spanned by the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time, and still the longest suspension bridge in the United States (by length of the main span). "

I have been across The Verrazano–Narrows Bridge as a passenger in a car. However, in the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, I crossed it as a tandem cyclist.

The occasion for all of those cycling experiences is due to my participation in an annual event known as The Five Boro Bike Tour (TFBBT). During the last year of my participating in the tour, I took the following picture of The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.


You may recognize this image (which was taken on the Staten Island side of the bridge), dear reader, as I included in in a prior entry here on Blogger. I have another photo of the bridge (which was taken by an unknown cyclist at a rest-stop in 2011's TFBBT).
The image is from the vantage point of the Brooklyn side of the bridge. It can seen directly below.


But getting back to this year's Fleet Week, Silive explains "This year, Fleet Week New York -- which runs through May 30 -- will feature five U.S. Navy ships; four U.S. Naval Academy yard patrol boats; two U.S. Coast Guard cutters, and one Royal Canadian Navy ship. It is anticipated that about 3,700 Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen will participate this year."

Silive also says "The Fort Wadsworth Fleet Week and National Park Centennial Celebration is scheduled to take place Wednesday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. This event, hosted by the National Park Service, is free and open to the public."

I have been to Fort Wadsworth on five occasions, as Fort Wadsworth is where TFBBT ends. There is aways a celebration held at that location upon the conclusion of the tour. The next picture was taken at the festivity; and it features a woman who greeted me after my last participation in TFBBT.


The photo directly above was featured in a prior post and it is included with the next set of images which were also taken at Fort Wadsworth.



As you can see, these two scenes show a view of Manhattan from Fort Wadsworth.

In any event, Silive states "Beginning Thursday, ship tours will be conducted daily throughout the week in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island. Two ships will be docked on Staten Island at the USS The Sullivans Homeport Pier in Stapleton: The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Lassen and the Keeper-class cutter USCGC Katherine Walker. The ships will be open for tours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m."

Participating in the events of Fleet Week sound like a great way to honor our soldier sailors, marines, airmen, coastguard, and veterans. But I confess that due to the massive crowds that are anticipated and tight security, I doubt I will be involved in the festivities. But I do honor our soldier sailors, marines, airmen, coastguard, and veterans, by placing figurines (seen below) in my home as a reminder.


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