Day 26 - 27 - Exploring Norfolk, VA

No surprise, there is a huge military influence and presence in Norfolk. A 5 minute walk from our marina was the Naval Museum - revolutionary/civil war history plus NOAAs exhibit and a chance to tour the battleship, USS Wisconsin. There is a nice park right at the marina sponsored by one of the local banks - happy hour on Friday's.

Here's a pic of the park and some of the battleship, USS Wisconsin...

Norfolk is a nice, small city but I suspect that most people live outside so it lacks energy. We did find a place for a great dinner - the best crab cake yet.

They have a great pre-marked walking tour called the Cannonball Trail that denotes special historical places with plaques. The sidewalk has small granite squares to let you know which way to go. One of the more moving items on the trail is the armed forces memorial - actual letters from soldiers to back home blowing in the wind. You don't realize until the end of the letter that they died a day or so after writing it.....bring kleenex.

Taking a run along this trail allowed me to find a great little market with beautiful fresh fruit - the best of which was local Blackberries picked the day before. I also discovered a rather nice neighborhood...here is one home.

Also, along this trail is the Taiwanese friendship garden. They sent the pagoda piece by piece around 1990 to be constructed here. It has a great pond with koi and special waterlillies PLUS the pagoda is quite a good restaurant.

Tomorrow, we are off for Hampton Roads, VA. After staying at the marina the first night, we will leave the boat, rent a car, and head off to discover the Historic Triangle - Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg - and stay in a hotel...woo!! woo!!

Day 25 - Norfolk, VA

It was great to leave Coinjock,NC and make our way to Mile Marker 0 of the ICW and Norfolk, VA.

As we are a rather small boat, we have not had to wait for bridges along the route so far. But, Virginia changed that and it was quite neat.

We have 4 different bridges open up for us - okay not really for us - more like on the hour and half hour - And, one lock....that went up exactly 1 foot...still exciting though.

Here are the bridges (my favorite was the last - Great Bridge - the counter weights were just enormous)....

And the Great Bridge Lock - The boats tie up to the cleats on the walls to hold in place while the water flows in. But, you need to man the tie-ups in case they need to be adjusted while water is rising. There was just one other boat with us this day. But during peak times, the lock would be full on both sides. The lock operates once an hour by a very friendly crew that wished us a good summer.

Here is the lock....

As we entered into the Norfolk basin/Elizabeth River area, the amount of activity was amazing...barges everywhere, huge port projects, loads of tugs pushing machinery and supplies along the river, and gigantic military vessels being re-fitted/worked on. Serene does not come to mind here....

A few scenes......

In Norfolk, we will stay one night at the Waterside Marina dock and then one at The Waterside Sheraton. There has got to be good fruit here!!!

Day 24 - Coinjock, NC and.....YEAH BRUINS! YEAH BRUINS!

The weather people keep threatening that afternoon thunderstorms are coming to NC. It seemed like an early start to Coinjock was best. So, Cass and I took a walk to the local Bakery (O'Neal's - of course) hoping it really opened at 630am as posted. Not only was it open but, I think, half the town was already in there. Cass and I proudly returned to the boat after foraging for some nice pastries.

Our ride from Belhaven to Coinjock took us through the Pungo River and Alligator River....quite pretty and nice and flat.

There have been fires in NC for the last couple weeks and we heard the conditions could get pretty bad along this route. It was actually so bad that one of the bridges (Alligator River Bridge) was not opening until the visability inproved. Luckily, we could slip under the bridge without an opening. You could feel the smoke in your throat and eyes...thankfully, it only lasted for about an hour.

The Coinjock area of the ICW is a straight skinny river with one marina on either side and one restaurant at each marina....that is it. And, the marina store that was supposed to be so well stocked - no fruit! The restaurant was quite okay and it was laundry day so a productive day. Here is a view of Coinjock with the beautiful vessel, America, passing by. (We have seen this vessel off and on since Beaufort, SC.)

Tomorrow, Norfolk, VA and mile marker ZERO on the ICW. We may have to wake Cassie up for this arrival...that is, if we can find her.

Day 23 - Belhaven, NC

Before leaving Beaufort, NC for Belhaven, NC, I took an early stroll around the docks to take some photos of these amazingly well-rigged sportfishing boats.

Here's a little view of downtown Beaufort.

There are a few more confederate flags to be seen along the rivers in NC.... Here's a tasteful confederate scene.


We arrived Belhaven with big hopes of grocery shopping as this is supposed to be a great boaters stop with fun restaurants and such friendly people that many boaters arrived via the ICW and never left. Can I say....NOT!!!

This town is so quiet that we were the big entertainment with everyone giving us the big wave as we walked along the main road. We did find a nice little bakery (O'Neal's Bakery/Cafe) which is right next to O'Neal's five and dime and O'Neal's Pharmacy.

The Marina in Belhaven is quite nice and our little marina neighbors are adorable.

We are off to Coinjock, NC tomorrow still hoping to find some nice fruit within walking distance from the boat. Bob has been to Coinjock and tells me to not get to hopeful.

Day 22 - Beaufort, NC

The journey from Southport to Beaufort, NC included loads of Osprey nests, Camp LeJeune, and a very tiny private island.

Beaufort, NC has quite the pirate past with Blackbeard being based out of here and the discovery of his vessel, Queen Anne's Revenge, just off the coast of town. Beaufort is also the location that the Federal Government chose - in 1899, just after Woodshole, MA was chosen - to carry out fisheries research. There are some sweet old homes and an interesting old cemetary.

In addition to all this, there is a $1.5 million Bill Fish tournament going on in a neighboring town. As all 135 huge sportfishing vessels could not fit there, Beaufort enjoyed the overflow. Lastly, Cass met her male twin-Wesley-while out at lunch.

Here are the pics....

Oh, and did I mention Bob and Cass getting caught napping when they were supposed to be planning our next day's journey.

Tomorrow, short jump to Belhaven, NC and hopefully a grocery store for fruit.

Day 21 - Southport, NC

Hello! 3 weeks living in 50 sqft of space....are you proud of us or what!!

The trip from Georgetown to Southport, NC took us along the Waccamaw River...very green and worthy of a painting (Melissa?). The neatest thing was that we saw loads of Osprey nesting.

Some scenes from the river.


Southport has a nice mix of old, historic charm (with nearly every home along the water having a plaque dated in the late 1800's) and an active fishing industry. Plus, it is along Cape Fear River where harbor pilots are a must for large vessels manuevering through this tight span of water.

Tomorrow, we make our way to Beaufort, NC.

Day 20 - Georgetown, SC

On June 12th, we left Charleston and headed on our way to Georgetown. Being a Sunday, there were a fair number of boaters out but it was an easy trip.

We had a great view of Fort Sumter as we left Charleston.

Along our journey, there were some pretty scenes and a nice pelican showing us the way.

We arrived in Georgetown and immediately headed into town to find a spot for lunch. Alas, on Sundays in Georgetown you have exactly 2 choices. Luckily, one of the choices was so accomodating they let us all eat inside and Cassie now loves a certain Mahi Mahi for sharing the nice, cool floor with her.

A view of downtown Georgetown and our little boatside visitors.

Tomorrow, we cross into North Carolina...likely stop Southport.