July 20-23, 2006: Downtown Bay City, MI.

This was the biggest maritime event of the year in Michigan, as Bay City hosted the tall ships fleet of the American Sail Association.

The weather was great for several hundreds of thousand visitors that attended the weekend event, which took place on both shore lines of the Saginaw River. The Liberty Bridge and Veterans Memorial Bridge were jammed packed during the festivities as they provided the best over viewing of the tall ships moored between them. Those lucky enough to get a room at new Double Tree hotel also had an excellent view of the activities.

Several of the downtown streets were blocked for the safety of vistors who could room around without having worry about car traffic. The only transportation allow were a couple of horse and buggie hauling guests up and down the street. Tour buses were constantly rolling in and out of the area dropping off and picking up passengers. Parking lot shuttle buses were even more active.

Links of interest:
[Specifications] of the tall ships.
[Website] of the American Sailing Association.