Sept. 21-29, 2017 - Newport News

Instead of going back to Zimmerman Marine in the boat for the dinghy repairs, David and Jack towed the dinghy over and left it for the carburetor repair.  We ended up staying nine additional days waiting for the dinghy repair and for the hurricanes to pass through.  We alternated breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for that time.  Our time was spent running errands, taking walks, and generally hanging out on their back dock enjoying the great view. One day we took David's wooden boat (Scooter) across the James River to Capt. Chuck-a-Mucks for lunch.  The ride was fun and the lunch was delicious.  On Saturday, Jack and David left early to go lay crab lines for a big crab dinner scheduled for Sunday afternoon.  They made two trips and brought back a large bucket of crabs.  That night we headed to the Hilton Tavern to listen to a friend (John Walker) play his music with his sidekick (a former Chippendale model).  They were pretty good and it was a fun evening. Sunday was the big crab boil.  The crabs were steamed and dumped on a long table.  Everyone took turns sitting and eating their fill of crabs.  I managed to eat about 3.  They were okay but a lot of work and very messy.  I opted for some barbeque instead.  Finally on Wednesday, we learned that the carburetor had not come in when it was supposed to and, instead, was back ordered.  So Thursday, we all took a road trip back to Zimmerman's to get the dinghy and worry about the carburetor later (the dinghy still ran, it just had a leak).  We celebrated Billy's birthday Friday night.  It was starting to cool down a little so David started a fire in his big fire pit.  Since all good things must come to an end, we decided it was time to leave to start our journey south.  We had a great time with David and Linda and we'll see them in Fort Myers in January.

Billy, David and Jack

David's boat docks (you can barely see their house in the middle)

Off to lunch in Scooter

Captain Chuck-a-Mucks

Lunch was delicious

Loading the crab lines with chicken necks

Off they go

This pulls the line out of the water to catch the crabs

A pretty good catch

Then there's the clean up

Donna and Billy's dog Lucy jumping after her toy
(Linda and Donna's son, Josh, throwing her toy for her)

The crab feast

Beautiful pink sky sunset

Taking the dinghy back to the boat

A nightly ritual - standing on the dock and playing with Lucy

(Josh, Billy, David, Linda and Lucy)

The tile floor in their bar area

Linda with her under-aged bartender, Josh

Beautiful chandelier in the downstairs bathroom

Dinghy ride through Deep Creek

More of Deep Creek

Last sunset over Deep Creek

The birthday party with Billy, Donna, Billy's mother, and their 

son Josh

Happy birthday Billy!

The perfect ending to the evening and our visit

Sept. 19-20, 2017 - Newport News, Goodbye George and Mary Jane

We had high tide again this morning when we were trying to leave.  The water was up to Jack's knees as he was untying the lines.  We left Portsmouth at about 10:00 for a fairly wet, choppy ride to Newport News.  We docked at David's dock around 12:30 and spent an enjoyable afternoon on their back porch.  Billy and Donna (and their two sons) joined us for a delicious shrimp boil that evening.  Wednesday it was time to take George and Mary Jane to a hotel in Richmond for their early morning flight on Thursday back to Fort Worth.  David had found an article about this little out-of-the-way restaurant so we headed to Richmond to search it out.  It was a small restaurant and we had about an hour wait to get it, but it was well worth it.  The atmosphere was quaint and the food was delicious.  After we stuffed ourselves, David took us on a tour of the downtown area of Richmond and into some of the older housing areas.  Finally it was time to take George and Mary Jane to the Holiday Inn for the night.  We had a great time with them and it was sad to see them go.  Hopefully they'll join us again for more travels.

Stats on our travels with George and Mary Jane:  Number of miles traveled: 207.2; number of days: 12; number of ports visited: 6; hours of laughter: too many to count!

Retrieving Donna's kayak that floated off the dock during high tide

A nice afternoon on the back porch

Waiting for our table at Mama J's

A great lunch

Some of the older homes in downtown Richmond

Goodbye George and Mary Jane - we had a great time!!!

Beautiful sunset from the back porch

Sept. 17-18, 2017 - Portsmouth/Norfolk

We left Hampton for a two hour ride across the James River into the Elizabeth River to a free dock by downtown Portsmouth.   George, Jack and I took the ferry across to Norfolk, while Mary Jane stayed on the boat.  George took two guided tours around the USS Wisconsin, while Jack and I just wandered through the mall (since we had toured the Wisconsin a few months ago).  Later on we enjoyed a good chili dinner on the back deck.  On Monday, we noticed the tide was over the dock, so we had to wade out onto the dock to a concrete wall where we dried our feet and put on our walking shoes. (The higher than usual tides were caused by Jose who was sitting just east of us in the Atlantic.)  We took the ferry across to Norfolk and took a two hour narrated tour on the Victory Rover.  It was an excellent tour which took us by the Norfolk terminals and the Norfolk Navy Yard, the largest Navy yard in the world.  Monday night we walked into downtown Portsmouth where we went to the Commodore Theater for dinner and a movie (American Assassin).  The theater was originally built in 1945, but was refurbished about 12 years ago into a dinner theater - the oldest dinner theater in the U.S.  The theater was beautiful inside, the dinner was good, and the movie was good, although maybe a little gory.  All in all, it was a great evening and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  When we got back to the boat, we again were at high tide and had to wade down the dock to climb up the ladder, which was hanging straight down the side of the boat.  Just part of the adventure!

Mary Jane always ready with a line

The George H.W. Bush, Lincoln and Ford aircraft carriers
(it was a little cloudy that day so it's hard to distinguish each of the three)

A very large Naval station

The Nauticus Museum with the USS Wisconsin beside it

George aboard the USS Wisconsin

Waterside - the waterfront area in downtown Norfolk

Drying feet and putting on walking shoes for a trip back into Norfolk

The docks under water

The wall in donwtown Portsmouth - we're at the far right

There are many mermaids around downtown Norfolk

Getting ready to board our cruise boat

Large ship out of the water on drydock

One of the piers at the Navy base - it may look empty but if you look

closely on the left you'll see the top of a submarine sticking out.  There

is also one on the other side

Our ferry rides across to Norfolk and back

When was the last time you saw a public pay phone??

St. Paul's Catholic Church founded in 1804

The Commodore Theater

The inside of the theater

One of the murals on the walls

Wading back to the boat after a fun night