May 28-29, 2017 - James River, Chickahominy River

David recommended an anchorage in the Chickahominy River, so we went up the James River to the Chickahominy River and anchored about four hours later in a great area.  As we traveled up the James River, we thought about the first settlers 400 years ago that traveled up this same river.  I hope it was as beautiful then as it is now (except for the stately homes and lush green lawns that extend down to the river).  When we pulled into the anchorage, another boat was already there.  It didn't have a looper flag so we didn't pay much attention to it.  A little later, we heard someone calling to us from a dinghy outside our boat.  Turns out, the other boat was a looper boat and we had actually seen them at our stop at Coinjock.  Dan and Donna (Syzygy) came aboard for a quick docktail.  They never imagined they would run into loopers that far up.  We woke up Monday to a beautiful, sunny day.  We took the dinghy down and took a nice trip further up the Chickahominy River.  The area was really beautiful.  We saw a few eagles flying around.  The only problem was since it was Memorial Day, there were a lot of pleasure boats nearby and they seemed to delight in going close to the boat and kicking up a wake.  We were having a few problems with the generator, so we left the anchorage in the afternoon and went about 20 miles back to the James River, where we had been on Saturday.  This got us a little closer for a run to a marina on Tuesday.  This anchorage was not as pretty, but it was very quiet. 

Donna and Dan (Syzygy)

Scenes along the Chickahominy River

There's an eagle's nest toward the top of the wrecked crane

We celebrated Memorial Day by buying a new flag for the boat

The view from our anchorage

Another view

The beach area starting to fill up with boaters

Passing Jamestown - you can barely see the ships in the background

  

The original Jamestown settlement

This is a boat graveyard along the James River

May 25-28, 2017 - Newport News (David and Linda Hall)

We left our anchorage by Smithfield for a quick one hour trip to David and Linda Hall's home with a dock.  They were a few slips down from us at Fort Myers, and David made the mistake of saying "come on by when you're in the Chesapeake."  So we did!  We had planned to stay one night, but ended up staying 3.  They were excellent hosts and we had a great time.  After we were docked, we drove to Yorktown for lunch at the York Pub.  We then spent the day relaxing at their beautiful home.  Our entertainment while we were there was Teach, their son's Chesapeake Bay Retriever.  Teach is 2-1/2 years old and full of energy.  Later that night, their neighbors Billie and Donna came over, as well as several of their other friends.  The weather turned cold, so David built a fire in his big fire pit.  Friday night we had another feast of hot dogs and hamburgers with more of their friends.  Saturday was a beautiful day so we took David, Linda, Billie, Donna and their son, Josh, for a boat ride.  We went about an hour up the James River, dropped the anchor, and enjoyed a nice feast.  Donna and Josh braved the water and went for a swim.  We enjoyed pizza on the back deck when we got back.  After a delicious breakfast Sunday, we untied our lines and took off.  Billie said he would meet us in Baltimore in July for an Orioles-Rangers game.  We're going to hold him to that.

Our boat at their boat dock

Working the bar - there is also a juke box in the downstairs area

Nice fire in the big fire pit

A view of their beautiful house

Beautiful sunset

Low tide --

High tide - quite a difference

Our lunch cruise -- Donna, Billie, David

Linda and David with Josh at the helm

And they're off!

A great feast for our lunch

Breakfast - Donna, Josh, Noah (their other son) and Teach

Jack, David, Billie and Linda

Teach loves to jump into the water after his toy - he'll do this for hours

May 24, 2017 - Smithfield, Virginia

We left Portsmouth around 9:00.  The weather was cloudy and cool, but no rain.  We passed the Norfolk International Terminal and the Naval Air Station with large ships and barges parked everywhere.  Soon we were in the beautiful Virginia countryside as we headed up the James River, then the Pagan River to the town of Smithfield.  This is a little gem of a town which dates back to 1750 and is known largely today for its Smithfield Ham.  We found a nice anchorage just around the corner from the town, took the dinghy to the dock at Smithfield Station (a relatively new marina/restaurant/shopping area), and explored the town.  We ate ham sandwiches (of course) at the Taste of Smithfield and then walked the streets looking at all the beautiful historic homes.  We stopped at the courthouse which was built around 1751.  The woman inside, Florine Moore, talked to us about the history of the courthouse and the proceedings.  There were no law schools back then.  Young lawyers were tutored by the older ones, and when they were sufficiently trained, they were allowed to "cross the bar" which was the gate that separated the official proceedings from the citizens. We later learned, in reading a brochure about the historic homes, that Florine Moore was also the first woman mayor of Smithfield.

Norfolk Naval Air Station

From left: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Eisenhower

docked at the Naval Air Station

Smithfield Station (from our anchorage)

Built in 1875 and is currently the home of Florine Moore, our

courthouse historian

Built about 1795

Christ Episcopal Church built in 1830

(contains original Tiffany windows)

Built in 1889 is now the Mansion on Main Bed and Breakfast

Built in 1886

Inside the Taste of Smithfield

It's all about the ham here

Little Piggy decoration

Inside the courthouse - the justices sat against the back wall,

the jury sat on the benches in front, and the clerk sat

at the table in the middle (our clerk for the day was Florine Moore)

A view of our anchorage from in town (we're the little tiny dot in the middle)

May 22-23, 2017 - Portsmouth/Norfolk

We left Coinjock around 7:45 for a cloudy, cool day on the water.  When we hit Norfolk, the scenery completely changed.  There is a large Navy base here (where Jack was stationed) and the waterway is lined with huge Navy ships and many industrial barges.  It's quite intimidating from our boat.  We arrived at Tidewater Marina around 2:00 and just got settled in when a thunderstorm hit.  It was the most rain we had seen in a long time.  Late in the afternoon, after the rain stopped, Kim and David (Skinnydipper), who were anchored outside the marina, dinghied over for some docktails.  After that we had a nice quiet dinner on the boat.  We got up Tuesday and walked around the historic district of Portsmouth (in a light rain) and then later took a water taxi to the new Waterside area across the river in Norfolk, which turned out to just be a bunch of restaurants.  We met Ed and Joan (Dolce Vita) and toured the Nauticus Museum which housed the Battleship Wisconsin.  The museum and the battleship were very interesting.  Since we are now in the area of historic museums, this was the first of many that we will visit along the way.  The Wisconsin was commissioned in 1944 and served in WWII, the Korean war, and Desert Storm.  The flight deck is 3 football fields in length.  It was very interesting walking around the flight deck, touring the crew quarters, and all the other types of personnel stationed on a large battleship.  This was quite a day for walking -- my fitbit measured 17,300 steps and 6.9 miles (and most of that was in the cold with a light rain).  We said goodbye to Ed and Joan and got back to the boat just before a heavy rain started.

Large tankers and Navy ships everywhere

(we look very tiny compared to them)

Part of the historic district of Portsmouth - this courthouse was built in 1846

A street with historic homes

Baptist church with what looked like Tiffany windows

More historic homes in Portsmouth

The Waterside district of Norfolk

Entrance to the museum

The Battleship Wisconsin

Getting ready for the tour

Very large chains

Looking at the large guns from the bow of the ship

The crew quarters

What a ship - an ice cream machine!!

Looking across the river to our marina in Portsmouth

Our water taxi