Cool but sunny day traveling to Norfolk, MM 0, the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay. The route from Coinjock required that we get three bridges opened and lock through one small lock. We weren’t able to time the bridges right, even with help from the Aqua Maps, so we were delayed at all three. We arrived safely at Waterside Marina, where the AGLCA Spring Conference had just concluded. We hardly got tied up in our slip when two conference attendees came over to ask if we were really from MN because so were they. We gave them a boat tour and were welcomed by a number of other Loopers who had attended.
We launched our dinghy and went across the channel to Portsmouth, VA where fellow SCYC members, the Petersons and their boat, Lucky, Lucky were docked. They left MN the same time we did and this was the first we saw them.
Norfolk was really undersold in terms of what it has to offer. We were impressed with the museums, shopping, restaurants and the amount of history to be found here. It is so much more than just a military town. Brad was able to join us and it was fun having him share in our exploration.
We went to the Chrysler Museum, Nauticus, which is home to the USS Wisconsin, did the Naval Yard tour by water, the walking tour of Portsmouth, the MacArthur Museum, and had fun at the eateries in downtown Norfolk, it was a good thing there was so much to see and do as a weather delay kept us here an extra three days so, unfortunately, Brad wasn’t able to “crew” the next leg of the Chesapeake with us as the weather was cold, windy and rainy the entire time he was with us.
View of the Naval ships from our boat. These boats were patroled 24/7 and other vessels were not allowed to go within 200 feet of these ships.Started our time in Norfolk with docktales on Lucky, Lucky with the Petersons. Ron was serious face.Chrysler Museum and Glass studio has fifty galleries and more than 30K objects of glass, paintings and sculptures. The glass studio gives classes on glass blowing and gives demos on the glass blowing process. The day we visited there was a jewelry artist from Italy demonstrating how to make glass beads. And best of all admission is free. “Shrimp Girl” famous piece from the blown glass collectionThis painting of Minnehaha Falls dates back to the early 1880’sBeautiul back-lit stained glass piece by Tiffany.Had fun exploring the breweries and eateries of Norfolk with our son Brad.Across the harbor from Norfolk is Portsmouth, which is a $2 ferry ride across. A walking tour of this town which is another town loaded with history and historic architecture much like this nostalgic movie theatre, the Commodore. Nauticus Museum is home to battleship Wisconsin and a maritime discovery center that tells the story of the maritime environment, industry and the military in the area. The Battleship Wisconsin is the largest and last battleship built by the US Navy. You can explore all decks through a self-guided tour, you see how the sailors and officers lived, where they slept, ate and worked on the shop. On Deck of USS WisconsinMess HallLink from Anchor The Naval Yard tour takes you by boat through the world’s largest Naval Base where you see destroyers, submaries, guided missile cruisers, aircraft carriers and more while you cruise down the Elizabeth River. It was a good thing we did this tour as when we left Norfolk on our boat, we saw none of this as we were fogged in. MacArthur and his second wife are buried here in Norfolk as this was his desire, because his mother lived here.His hat, sunglasses and corncob pipe, his trademarksGeneral’s UniformThe MacArthur Museum and Memorial allows you to explore the life of one of America’s greatest and complex leaders. The museum not only highlights MacArthur and houses a great collection of his belongings but also pays tribute to all who served in WWI, WWII and the Korean War. Never liked history much in school, but the history we are seeing on the “Loop” is fascinating.Ended our time in Norfolk with Docktales and Derby on Hopwoods Boat, Vagari.
Reimanns 'round the loop in 2022 
Looks amazing! Sorry about the weather but there seemed to be a lot of things and places to visit to occupy your time. Safe travels.
Julie Sent from my iPad
>
LikeLike
You are really getting a taste for naval history in Norfolk. Did you know McArthur bought his corn-cob pipes from a factory in Washington, MO?
LikeLike