Norfolk VA (Awesome place) to Yorktown VA
Neighborhoods as a general rule are well kept and beautiful.
But first things first. Our new water heater arrived so I had to pull the old one and put in the new one. It was a pretty quick swap with three wire connections and four water connections.
Now we have hot showers again!
We walked through Old Town on our first day in town and took pictures of some of the beautiful houses. Most of the houses in this area date back to the 1800s.
We also went to the museum in the nauticus facility that isn't part of the battleship Museum. (It was free and I have to say one of the best displays I've ever seen for history. It covered all kinds of details about the Vietnam War I did not previously understand.).
In the evening we went back to the boat and the local boarding of a huge Carnival Cruise ship left for Spain.
It pulled out into the harbor and did a pirouette right in front of our boat....
Before heading off to sea. Many days at sea before reaching Portugal (their first stop).
Yesterday we said farewell to Jeff (Katie's brother) and Wende (his wife).
We had a great week+ with them traveling from Wilmington NC to Norfolk VA via the outer banks. It was certainly full of adventure.
Next we went to the General MacArthur museum.
It was very interesting to see and read about the things he (and his father before him) was responsible for. Not just wartime duties but essentially he was president of Japan to help them rebuild and change how their society was built....
Not many wartime heroes also are beloved by the countries they helped defeat. MacArthur was definitely that....
Next we went for a cruise. Yes, a couple on a 6000 mile boat trip paid another boat to take us on a boat trip....
But you can't see the Navy Base up close without taking a boat tour....
These ships are massive (1000ft+ long) and some of them hold 5500 sailors to do all of the duties aboard. The aircraft carriers have multiple nuclear reactors in them and the newest class (the Gerald Ford Class) are the biggest and most advanced yet setting us back about 12 BILLION dollars each. The first (the Gerald R Ford) is the last picture shown. Two more like it are being built across the bay at Newport News shipbuilding.
These ships are fully self contained and have everything necessary to live at sea for years. The newest carriers no longer catch and catapult aircraft with cables. They use electromagnetic forces.
The one thing I figured when looking at these is that you don't want to be on the side against them if they mean you harm...
My high school/church friend John Miller lives in VA now so we were able to go to dinner and catch up on lives that have traversed many paths over the last 25+ years since we saw each other. It was great to get together with an old friend and relive some memories (even some I had forgotten).
Today we headed out from Norfolk and traveled forty miles to Yorktown up the West side of Chesapeake Bay (just into the bay).
This is the spot Great Britain surrendered to the US and French forces ending the Revolutionary war. If you look closely behind the monument you can see our boat....
Lots of 1600 and 1700 type houses here but the majority of what is here in the Old Town is empty lots and plaques. The original houses didn't fare well against wind and rain and fire...
Still.... It's cool to read the displays. Some are now part of the National Park here and others are private residences. It's kind of an odd setup. There are also lots of grassy hilly fields that are in rows because they were trenches dug by hand to allow protection against an advancing enemy.
Perhaps we will see some more of those tomorrow (no pics today). Tomorrow we will be in the marina with the big boat and take our bikes ashore. Today we took in the dinghy and road the trolley around town.
Tonight we are at anchor.
Quite a ways away from the marina... (Which is mostly empty.).
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