Courtesy Moshulu
Moshulu, the largest four-masted sailing ship in the world still afloat, has traded the high seas for fine dining. The ship now serves as a floating restaurant in Philadelphia.
By Chris Rodell, msnbc.com contributor
In a world where restaurants fabricate elaborate themes and motifs to bestow illusory charms, diners aboard the Moshulu are to be forgiven if they suspect fraud.
?We still have guests who ask why the floors are all tilted from the center to the sides,? says Jake Wade, general manager of one of Philadelphia?s pre-eminent restaurants and the only one capable of raising anchor and vamoosing to sunnier ports.
?I explain to them they?re tilted because when giant waves used to splash water on and below the decks on board, it had to drain off the sides or else the ship would sink.?
So carelessly spilled drinks are a day at the beach for Moshulu (pronounced: mosh-U-lu), the world?s toughest restaurant.
Moshulu has been around the world and 54 times survived the treacherous passage through Cape Horn at the tip of South America, home to some of the world?s most fearsome sailing conditions.
It?has hauled supplies to Central American copper mines, lumber to Australia, grain to Europe, nitrates to Chile and coal to Mexico.
It was confiscated by Germans in one war and Americans in another.
It?s seen on film going toe-to-toe with Rocky Balboa in a training scene in the 1976 film "Rocky," and the Moshulu brought one of America?s most beloved cinematic gangsters, young Vito Corleone, to America in ?The Godfather II.?
Launched one year after the Wright brothers made their 1903 mark, it has survived fire and neglect and it could be argued Moshulu ? a Seneca Indian tribal word for ?fearless? ? didn?t really take off until it had been in the water for nearly 90 years.
It was in 1994 when HMS Ventures Inc. in Philadelphia purchased the decaying ship and restored it. Another sale and another re-opening in 2003, and today Moshulu?is regularly an?AAA Four Diamond Award winner.
It's the?world?s largest and last remaining four-masted sailing vessel still on the water.
Donna Schorr of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation says?Moshulu has evolved into a destination all its own.
"This lovingly restored, historic ship on the Delaware River is now an upscale restaurant that offers diners a chance to eat like a king and wander the decks like a ship captain,? she says. ?It?s a perfect fit for Philadelphia because it reminds people that we?re a port city... It?s a family-friendly destination restaurant that is also is a favorite spot for grown-ups to enjoy a deckside cocktail.?
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Chris Rodell is a Latrobe, Pa., contributor who blogs at?www.EightDaysToAmish.com.?
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