Voyages of Simpatico: #36 May 3rd to May 7th

May 3rd

This am we are up and underway at o847. and yes, yet AnotherBeautifulDay! Today was really fairly uneventful. No photo ops, just more of the same. Especially the 22 mile long Pongo-Alligator Canal --- straight as an arrow. Then into the Alligator River the wind picked up a bit and I was concerned about entering the Albamarel Sound (15 miles) but we were fortunate to have the wind on our quarter and the passage to the Virginia Cut water way was relatively easy and comfortable. 9 hours later we anchor in the first Anchorage at Broad Creek after crossing the Sound. Horatio while underway insists on being on the pilot seat with me. but once settled - - - -

- - - this is where Mr. Prince positions himself!!

April 4th

Today was far from "same old, same old". We had I think, 8 bridges, 6 of which we needed to have opened for us, a barge and tug to pass, several huge power boats with no manners pass us, and following 9 sailboats and 5 power boats to pass through bridges. We were last! Then the pic below put us in first place as we could power under it while the others had to wait. Making an unobstructed view of our entry into the Norfolk, VA area.

Very industrialized.

Well engineered Bridge.

You own a piece of this fellow!

Welcome to Norfolk!

We were docked right at the downtown Waterside District! We arrived on the first opening of the newly renovated waterfront that had been closed for five plus years. Stage set up, busy activitiy everywhere; a running race and then the Band started!

There were people everywhere, inside the pavilion has been renovated into a huge, food court of sorts. Nothing like you see at Malls. This is by well known area chefs and popular novelty items. The Fudgery, Guy Fieri's Smokehouse, Blue Moon Tap House, you get the idea. Bernie and I walked through the entire venue. It is very obvious the city of Norfolk has been awaiting the reopening of this venue. There were at least 1000 people listening to the band at 10pm, we were concerned we wouldnt get any sleep. But at 11, the band stopped and the people disappeared like magic!!

Whoa! a check on the weather proves to be a bit startling! Warnings, high winds, possible tornadoes, hail, thunder and rain. So, it's batten down the hatches. Again we are glad to be inside a harbor.

April 5th

The storm started in the middle of night and raged til around 10am. Just a light rain was falling so we made our way to the Nauticus Museum and Battleship Wisconsin. I was disappointed in the huge Nauticus museum but enjoyed the Hampton Roads Museum within that building. The battleship Wisconsin was the best preserved of all the different ships I have seen before. Very interesting.

Hampton Roads, I thought was a single particular town across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. Not so, Hampton Roads refers to this entire area, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Jamestown, Hampton, Elizabeth River, James River, entrance to Chesapeake Bay, East side of Chesapeake. Lots of history here and naval battles fought; such as the Monitor and the Merrimack ironclads.

Today is daughter Terri's Birthday and she is spending the weekend in Virgina Beach so she came over to Norfolk to meet us and I was able to treat her to dinner. We jostled through the crowd at the water front and we decided to each get our own thing. I got BBQ, Terri got "The Fixins" (gourmet salad), and Bernie disappeared! When he finally surfaced he had a hilarious story to tell of how the 8 people behind the counter preparing the "Local Fare". Couldn't seem to get anything served. He was behind about 30 people waiting for their orders, already paid for. Nothing is happening!! one person picked up an item, set it back down, looked at something else, turned around came back to the basket, picked it up, carried it down the way set it down - - all the people behind the counter had no idea what their job was. Finally Bernie, broke line and went to cashier and said I've been waiting 18 minutes and there are 30 people ahead, my friends are ready to go so please give me my money back.
Oh Dear! I have to get the manager!. Manager comes, says What did you order!--- a meatball sandwich --- oh, Ill get that for you right away --- 10 min later - - - he got his meatball sandwich! And as far as Bernie could tell no one else was served anything. Unbelievable! We finished our meal and made our way for some Birthday Ice Cream and passed that line and Bernie said he recognized some same people still waiting . This was only the second night all these places were operating. Very inexperienced personnel. Even our own waitress was befuddled. All in all it was an entertaining evening.

As we were walking back to the boat, Charlie, Terri's little dog was anxiously watching for her.

Birthday libations!

Baxter, Terri, Charlie, Horatio and Me

April 6th

Its Saturday today and we have to leave as the marina is reserved for the night. Winds have subsided a little and we have decided to go about 12 miles out the Elizabeth River to Old Point Comfort Marina very near Fort Monroe. This shortens our day on Monday. We crossed over to Tidewater marine for fuel then headed out.

The two photos above show just a smidgen of the "Government Assets" that you and I rely on protecting our nation. It is impressive. (tax $'s at work)

Our passage was fairly short, but the wind was quite strong and docking was a bit testy but we were secured and ready to settle down for a couple nights awaiting calmer seas from the storm til we head up the Chesapeake for Deltaville. Actually, it was kind of nice to be in a quiet place!

My daughter, Kelly Jo, texted "It's Derby Day"! So the antenna got connected and we had excellent reception to watch the pre-show and the Derby. That event never ceases to excite me!!

Later in the evening we broke out the cards and had a battle playing Rummy! The Captain prevailed!

April 7th

Sunday morning! ABD! The winds are subsiding and we are sticking to our plan of leaving for Deltaville tomorrow. On the agenda today is a visit to Fort Monroe. I must say, it is the most well preserved of any of the forts I have seen. Even has water in it's moat. It's beginning build was in 1819. The reason it is so well preserved; it was used for training as late as 1991. Some of the buildings are now leased to the public for homes and offices.