Saint Patrick's Day

Living in a port city is always an adventure. Our fair city is beautiful, and one of many people's favorite historic cities. Many weddings are held here and I just saw an article that listed us very high on America's List of Most Charming Cities.

However, the month of March in the Hostess City is different. EVERYONE falls into one of three distinct categories. To some, the city is one big party. (This group is tourists who came to party and a lot of locals) We host the second largest Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the country, which sounds like a great big good time until you factor in all the drunken revelers. This brings us to the second group. myself included, who avoid the downtown area at all costs this time of year. Hotels are booked a year in advance. Parking, which is always a challenge downtown, is even worse. Unsuspecting tourists who don't understand one way streets are just the reason for locals to throw up the one finger salute, and don't EVEN get me started on the perils of parallel parking. The third group, while small, still very much exists and contains unsuspecting folks who don't know about our festivities and come expecting a romantic trip full of azalea blossoms, dogwood trees, cool breezes, historic homes and horse drawn carriage rides. Boy are they surprised!

Anyway, whether you love St. Patrick's Day or can't wait for it to be over......there is always something going on. Even in tugboat world.

Today I bring you pictures courtesy of my hubby and his captain, of one of the ships the escorted in this weekend. Meet the USS Hue City.

 Thanks to my hubby Butch for this photo, which he posted on Facebook and titles "Lock up your daughters"!

Here you see the bow of Tug Florida as she follows the USS Hue City upriver.

This photo is courtesy of Cap'n Schaaf. :)

Even though I was a US Navy wife for 10 years, I was unfamiliar with the USS Hue City. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can educate myself (and you!)

USS Hué City (CG-66) is a Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser serving in the United States Navy. She is named for the Battle of Hue, fought in the city during the Tet Offensive 1968 by the 1st Marine Regiment (composed of 1st Battalion/1st Marines, 1st Battalion/5th Marines, 2nd Battalion/5th Marines and attached units) during the Vietnam War. The three battalion commanders were the honored guests at her 1991 commissioning.
Hué City is the only U.S. Navy ship named for a Vietnam War battle, although it had been planned to name LHA-5 as USS Khe Sanh after the Battle of Khe Sanh, but that ship was commissioned in 1976 as the USS Peleliu. As the only US warship named for a battle that took place during the Vietnam War, the USS Hué City has had the opportunity to reach out to the veterans of the battle for which she is named. She has done so frequently by holding a Memorial for the Battle of Hué annually every year the ship's schedule permits. The Memorial has served as a great opportunity for veterans to re-unite, meet the crew, and honor their fallen comrades.
The warship took part in the Sixth International Naval Review in New York City in July 2000, attended by President Bill Clinton.
Recently, she successfully completed consecutive deployments to the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea.


Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone!