As you travel the waterways, there are lots of thes Osprey that build their nests in the day markers on the ICW. It's like they all got together, and said..."ok...this is how we build them, and we should all build them in the day markers. The boaters will think this is cool". They're right.
Some of the first signs of Norflok is you start seeing HUGE ships
And...lots of ship yards. Rumor has it that the USS Cole (the one the terrorists blew a hole in) in in this Norfolk getting a new bow put on it.
This is the view as we are coming off the ICW and into downtown Norfolk. Our marina is straight ahead with the light blue roof
A view of the marina from the waterfront shopping area
A view of the water front from our boat
Once upon a time there were supposed to have been 100 mermaids statues in the Norfolk area. Now they say there are 17 left
Some not as pretty as others
I think Deb has found most of them
Sitting at Hooters...you can see Headquarters in the backround
Lots of Naval "stuff" in this area
This is the USS Wisconsin that is now mothballed, but can go back into action, should there be a war
Again...the USS Wisconsin...one of the largest, and one of the last, battleships built by the US Navy. It earned 5 battle stars during WWII. It's amazing how big these ships are
Could be the last supper, with the 6 of us together...but I doubt it.
Good News (out front) and Salvage Crew leaving Norfolk this morning and heading up the York River to Yorktown
Log 137Day 372
Thursday, May 28, 2009
8:30 AM EDT
Location: Waterside Marina; Norfolk, VA.
Weather: 75 degrees with calm winds; Going to 80 and sunny today.
It is a perfect morning. Bright sun. Calm winds. Great temperature. It would be a great day for cruising, but we are planning to stay another few days in Norfolk. We just helped Good News and Salvage Crew untie their lines, and watched them head out. They are heading for Yorktown, VA, where Mary will hook up with one of her friends, for a few days. We thought this would be our last time together, but based on our schedules, we may hook up with them again, as we all head up the Chesapeake.
Getting here...from Coinjock is an fairly easy run of about 49 miles. Like so much of the ICW, it is a combination of open water, and very narrow channels. As soon as you leave Coinjock, the waterway opens up into a wide span of water, but it is very deceiving, because the channel is shallow, and very narrow. More than once we were (what we thought was) in the channel, and the depth finder told us to slow down and find deeper water. About 1/2 way to Norfolk, the ICW follows backwater rivers, that twist and turn, and you never know what is around the next bend. The closer you get to Norfolk, the narrower the waterway, but also the deeper the water. Then finally, about 3 miles from Norfolk, the waterway turns into a very commercial, and very busy place. I love the feeling of coming into the Norfolk harbor.
We arrived in Norfolk about noon on Monday, Memorial Day. We thought the waterway would be incredibly busy (because of the holiday), but it was not bad at all. The marina we chose was Waterside Marina, a place we stopped at 17 years ago, and 9 years ago. The marina is right downtown, and you have access to everything, including a grocery store; a very nice mall; and more restaurants than you can imagine. About 4 pm, Good News, and Salvage Crew made to the marina. They took the Dismal Swamp route, and while they were adamant that “everyone should take this route at least once”, everything they said about it, made us glad we chose the Virginia Cut. After a long day of cruising, no one wanted to cook on board, so we all went up to Hooters (a stones throw away from our boat) for dinner. For those of us who had the wings...we were disappointed. The burger folks (Brad and Patti) were delighted.
Tuesday...was a day of getting our bearings, and doing some odd jobs. The girls went to the grocery store, and the guys stayed on the boats to catch up on maintenance items. At lunch time, Andy; Mary; Deb; and I went back up to Hooters to try the burgers, and Brad and Patti were right...they were great. Deb and I then took a walk to the mall just to stretch our legs, and check it out. It has been 9 years since we were last here, and the mall still looks very nice. Not much shopping going on, but a great mall, none the less. The Sarver’s and the Salvage’s went to the Nauticus, and toured the Naval Museum. For dinner, we all met on Good News and had lemon chicken, that Andy cooked on the grill.
Wednesday...I took a walk around town first thing in the morning, and ended up stopping at the grocery store to check out the wine supply, that the girls had told me about. Great selection. At 10, the girls walked in to town, and to the mall. The guys jumped in the dinghy to head across the channel to Portsmouth, VA, and Tidewater Marina. We putzed around the store for a while; had a great BBQ sandwich in their restaurant; and picked up some oil and filters for Brad to do his oil change. We were back at the boat by 2. The late afternoon was spent working on cruising plans, and for dinner we met on Good News, for crab cakes that Mary and Deb made. I’m not a big lover of crab cakes...but these were good.
Today...will be spent running some more errands. Yesterday, when I was at the store they told me that if I am a senior citizen (I’m over 55...doesn’t that count?) and I buy wine on Thursday, I get an extra 5% off. Also, if I buy 6, I get an additional 5% off. If I buy 12, I get an additional 10% off. So...I’m going to buy some wine. We also need to go back to the mall to pick up my watch, that we dropped off to get repaired. After that...who knows. With such a beautiful day, you have to go and do something. What I wish we were doing was heading out, and going cruising...but Monday will come soon enough, and this is a great place to spend some time.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
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