The July 4th holiday reminded me of our country's Bicentennial Year celebration back in 1976 and of the tall ships that visited to Baltimore. The visit by these seven tall sailing ships and several smaller craft proved to be the biggest tourist attraction in Baltimore's history. Between July 10 and July 18 the harbor area was a sea of timbers and humanity.

Operation Sail, or OpSail for short, inaugurated public use of the new promenade and athletic field on southern side of the Inner Harbor and helped reawken Baltimore to its potential. This drew many people not just from the Baltimore metropolitan area but from Washington, DC, Virgina and states to the north.

The tall ships were very majestic and brought you back to an earlier time in our history when Baltimore's harbor was filled with all kinds of masted ships. OpSail also brought crews from all over the world who mixed well with Baltimore's many different ethnic groups and who also could spread the word about Baltimore after they left.

We are lucky to have the USS Constellation, The Pride of Baltimore II, Lady Maryland and other nautical treasures. Tall ships and other vessels still visit our city each year thanks to Sail Baltimore.

The Suns' photographers chronicled this event with many shots of the ships, crews and crowds they attracted.

I hope you enjoy the photos and feel free to send me comments and ideas for future posts.