John's Island: July 2015

Friday, July 31, 2015

USS Boxer Tour and More

As we posted yesterday, Seafair 2015 is underway in Seattle. Part of the celebration includes Navy vessels in port and open for public tours. The USS Boxer, LHD4, is docked right in front of our location so we took a free tour and found it fascinating.

Overview photo showing USS Boxer docked at Pier 90
Port of Seattle
Elliott Bay Marina behind.

Tour of the USS Boxer on July 30, 2015 ...

Walking up to the ship -- the size is impressive!

Interior -- Displays for Public Viewing

Chopper fits inside ... actually, SEVERAL choppers will fit!
Moving them in and out is interesting.

Interior spaces are BIG!

Builders Plate

These were described to us as "training tools"

Youngsters loved the displays. Oldsters did too!

Cargo on yet another deck lower.

Flight Deck
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey can take off vertically.

Pilot briefs the tour group.

Perfect blue sky summer day in Puget Sound

Can't help but be impressed with flight deck size!

Back home, later in the afternoon, the Boxer casts a big shadow and
the glare of the sun reflects off Puget Sound.

Other recent photos around the Sound ...

CMA CGM FAUST arrives in port July 30th.

Evergreen EVER EXCEL departing for the Pacific on
July 30th.

Nearly full moon about to set ... reddish sky
above is from sunrise in the east.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

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Thursday, July 30, 2015

Seafair 2015

The annual event known as Seafair is getting underway in Seattle, Washington, USA. From our old postcard collection ...

Cover of a vintage postcard foldout

Seattle's Harbor
Seafair includes Fleet Week
and Parade of Ships

Railway Stations and Southern Business District

Famous Totem Pole in Pioneer Square Area
still there today!

Lake Washington Floating Bridge ...
A little more traffic today!

Annual event before Seafair was called
Golden Potlach which started in 1911
Seafair began in 1950

Blue Angels Arrival

The US Navy Blue Angels will perform an air show on Saturday and Sunday over Lake Washington.

First flyover Sunday evening July 26, 2015

Closer Look

Fleet Week is a part of this week's celebration ...

Vintage Card showing traditional Parade of Ships

A few of our photos of the ships in harbor for this year's celebration ...

Our photo of USS Boxer. This ship is LHD4 and arrived Tuesday
at Pier 90.

USS Boxer docking at Pier 90
Cruise ship behind is the Carnival Legend
Note sailors standing around edge of Boxer.

Close up of #4 through spotting scope

U S Coast Guard 726

Another Coast Guard Cutter

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Travel Posters on Postcards - Rail America [Part 2]

From our postcard collection ...

Introduction ...

In our last post, July 16th, we introduced you to travel posters on postcards. For those of you who missed that post, we are repeating our explanation before showing you ten more posters on postcards.

One of the most desirable things to add to a collection of train and/or railroad memorabilia is a vintage travel poster published by one of the major railroad companies back in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. The posters, which are rare and hard to find in good condition today, were designed to draw attention to travel by rail. The art on many of the posters is very appealing. Someone came up with the idea of going to the Library of Congress, where hundreds of these posters are preserved, scan a few and put the images on postcards. While the original prints are usually about 30" x 40" and may be valued in the thousands of dollars, the postcards are like a thumbnail view at an affordable price. We added several of the postcards to our collection and thought you might enjoy seeing a few. If you have an original in your collection we would like to know about it.

[Note: The back of the cards are all the same with the exception of the poster description and location in the Library of Congress, which we are showing you below each poster.]