Tony M Trawler: Norfolk, VA--What a great surprise!

Sailor called to sea

The Dismal Swamp didn't get its name because of its cheerful ambiance so being used to that environment we were pleasantly surprised by all the upscale atmosphere Norfolk had to offer. The Waterside Marina is located right in downtown Norfolk so we had the everything within reach. There was the Cannonball Trail marked for us to walk through the historic Freemason section, the waterfront and down Granby Street-the happening section of town.

Hula hoop revisited on Granby Street along with other entertainment

Boomers singing those Guthrie tunes

There are thought provoking sculptures, mainly with a naval military theme since there is a huge Navy influence here.

This large sculpture has letters to family, lovers and friends written by soldiers killed in WWII-very moving

Norfolk's symbol is The Mermaid and mermaid sculptures are all over the place. The over 130 mermaids are all designed and decorated by local artists and many of them represent a theme related to their location. There are now mermaid trails, books, jewelry sculptures and art. They're really fun to spot around the city!

To General MacArthur

We spent a couple of hours exploring Nauticus, a waterfront maritime science museum that has a shark lab, a movie The Living Sea, and Hampton Roads Naval Museum. Right next door was the Battleship Wisconsin (887 feet long) which served in WWII, the Korean War and Desert Storm. We climbed all over the four acres of teak decks and were very tired by the time we were done. To see the power that these battleships possessed made us think about what capabilities they have. We saw many of these battleships lined up outside of Norfolk on our way to Hampton and understood better the strength of our military. We were even stopped by the Coast Guard who told us to hurry up and get out of the way of a battleship coming back into Norfolk. Pete kicked up the throttle a notch and we did what they asked without an argument.

Battleship Wisconsin

Battleship we moved out of the way for

There were many more interesting places in Norfolk to visit but we decided to move on to Hampton, VA but were disappointed with that small town. Only one restaurant was opened on a Monday night and it was ho-hum and many other businesses were gone-not even a T-shirt place!

More military presence on the way to Hampton

After Hampton we traveled to Deltaville, VA, home of Dozier's - the people who write and publish the Waterway Guides- a "bible" for many cruisers. The Marina is lovely but to make it even better they have a courtesy car available to cruisers. We took advantage of it and went into town to West Marine (this small town has TWO West Marine stores! Go figure!) and picked up a couple of items at their grocery store. While driving through Deltaville, we witnessed the remains of a church and house that were hit by the April tornado that raced through the South. The path was devastating. The town is cleaning up and beginning their rebuilding plans. To hear about it on the news and then to see it in person brings the horror of it home.