Wednesday May 25: Norfolk, VA

We made it to Norfolk (Virginia!) about 2:30 yesterday – temperature in the high 80's (in the shade) so we immediately plugged in to a marina and turned on the air conditioner – it's just too hot to even be outside. About an hour and a half later, the storm arrived. A long story but the bottom line was the window over the computer was open and the wind and rain, of course, was pounding that side of the boat. Result? Once again, a wet computer (have we seen this before? Yep.). Removed the battery and let it dry out – lucky again as it seems fine. The storm that left as quickly as it came was one crazy wind and rain. The Irish Rover – a tour boat that leaves from the dock just in front of us – was on it's way to the dock. The captain decided against trying to dock which was a good idea. In trying to turn into the wind though it looked like the ship could just be rolled right over. Luckily it didn't and they were able to ride out the storm and get back to the dock. A great memory for the tourists to take home!

On the way here from Elizabeth City, we passed through the Dismal Swamp (for info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dismal_Swamp )– now a national wildlife preserve. It was really interesting – for the first 10 miles or so. Total length: about 22 miles! Here's a couple of pictures of us going through the swamp. We also have been seeing Canadian geese again. Funny that they aren't in the more southern states.

The picture at left: how do you know when the piling you are seeing might not be the best place to which to tie? When you see a small tree beginning to grow out of it!

There was a visitor's center but not open on Mondays, of course. We still spend a very pleasant afternoon at the rest area dock (the rest area is really for the nearby highway but they provide a dock for boater free of charge). It was very nice in the shade so I took advantage of it and finally took the time to read the Fort Sumtner brochure we had picked up in Charleston. Yesteday we then passed the “Welcome to Virginia” sign in the waterway!

While it was still cool this morning, we took a ride around the downtown area. Norfolk's art thing is mermaids. We think the one in the fountain was likely the inspiration for all of the ones we saw around town. Steve was particularly fond of the one below :-) There was also a Welcome Center designed and paid for by the Taiwanese government. Sister city or something. It was pretty fun – koi pond and fountain to boot.

The naval presence is HUGE – very similar to San Diego. I'm not sure which is bigger. We passed many navy ships on the way to the downtown area including an aircraft carrier. The information on the USS Wisconsin was very interesting (see plaque – double click) and the ship itself of course was huge. From the front though it was the skinniest thing! third picture is the ship taken from the front. Really shocking to see!

We leave tomorrow morning and head up the Chesapeake Bay. Not sure where we are staying yet but I'm sure we'll figure it out!