Norfolk, VA (Thursday, 5/2)
One of the benefits of staying at Waterside Marina is that we are in downtown Norfolk and there is a known area for Denise to run. So in keeping with her schedule, she went for a morning run around the Waterside marina and through Town Point Park where they were setting up tents for the weekend wine festival. She also ran along the Elizabeth River Trail, taking in all the familiar sights including the mermaid statues all around town. Here are some pictures:
Old Public Library
While she was gone, Mark did some preventative maintenance on the boat. He cleaned the strainers on both the generator and the engine, as well as washed off the back deck that was full of bugs. With the warm weather we continue to be inundated with bugs and we have not yet finished our project of a screen for the back door. So we are forced to use the AC all the time, even when it cools down in the evenings.
After breakfast we saw our friends on “New Horizons” off as they were leaving, trying to get home in Rock Hall, MD as soon as possible. We hope to reconnect with them in a few weeks when we make our way to the northern part of the Chesapeake.
We then sat down and looked at our plans for the next week, and where we wanted to go from here. We have been wanting to explore Cape Charles on the eastern shore for the last two trips and thought we would do it this time. But we need a good weather window to be able to cross the bay, and return and Sunday is not looking great. So we shelved that plan and decided we would attempt one more time on our way home in the fall.
We also want to spend time in Poquoson-Newport News-Seaford areas to visit Denise’s brother John, wife Cathy, and their kids. But first we had to see if we could stay in Poquoson at Whitehouse Cove Marina where we stayed in the past. Once we had that confirmed, we laid an itinerary to stay in Norfolk through Saturday, then make our way north on the western shore of the bay to Whitehouse Cove. We plan to then stay there through the following Saturday, allowing us time with family, some time to work, and some time to relax without having to move the boat.
After lunch, we spent time working and then getting the many pictures cataloged and the last blog posting done. Mark had a late afternoon conference call that limited our time to go exploring today, so we focused our efforts on getting work done so we can go play in downtown Norfolk on Friday. We want to visit the Naval Museum and the battleship USS Wisconsin that is on permanent display here.
Nauticus & Hampton Roads Naval Museum
For dinner we went on an adventure up Grandby Street in downtown Norfolk. This area has been undergoing a revitalization and is now strewn with restaurants. We chose to eat at Luce, an Italian restaurant about a half-mile from the marina. The place is really small with maybe 10 tables and 12 or so bar-seats. We sat at the two bar seats directly in front of the chefs and got to watch them prepare all the meals. The menu is untraditional Italian fare, with a more contemporary twist. Denise got the Chicken Limon, and Mark got another chicken dish that had sausage in it – only because chicken parmesan was not on the menu. The food was very flavorful and absolutely delicious – we highly recommend it.
When we returned back to the boat, we noticed an interesting boat had come into a slip near us. “Lucy” is tug-type boat that has been in South Florida for the winter, but is headed up to Brooklyn, NY, where it hails. We stopped and talked to its captain (Jacob) and his first mate (Carlos) to learn about the vessel and its owners. It was built by Lord Nelson in 1984, with only 8 others built in this length. This is the only model that was actually hulled originally to be a working tug, but was made instead into a pleasure craft. It has 3 staterooms, 3 heads (2 with showers) and is very spacious for its 49’. However, it still only cruises at 8 knots.
“Lucy”
They also told us about a new marina in Brooklyn (1 Fifteen Brooklyn), just off the East River. We checked out the reviews on it and they were not great. Plus, it is quite expensive so I am sure we will not stay there in the fall.
After that we went back to our boat and watched a little TV, did some reading and then called it a day.
Here are some other pictures from the area around us:
Stay tuned for more of our adventures on Island Office.
Island Office 