Our next day in Elizabeth City was pretty, and hot! We got a text from one of the Coasties we met the previous night offering to sponsor us on a tour of the station! Mike and I walked into town and walked past a beautiful little park with American flags strewn about. Figured it was in preparation of Memorial Day. On our way back to the boat, we came across a ceremony the city put on to honor one of their Purple Cross recipients. Was beautiful.

It was in the mid to upper 90s. I, stupidly, walked a few miles to a small, local organic grocer which did not have what I needed. That said, I got to see a lot of the town, which was very pretty.

I was pretty overheated, so my very sweaty self Ubered the next 1.5 miles to a Food Lion to provision. Ubered back to the boat, quickly put the groceries away, picked up Mike and went to the USCG field.

Lt. Zach Hunter, whom we had met the night before, gave us a tour of the base, and of the planes he flies, C-130 Hercules, which are specifically modified for search and rescue missions. They were SO cool! Lt. Hunter could not have been more gracious. He gave us a good deal of his time, and answered a ton of questions from us.

Afterward, we had our Uber drop us at the Abermarle Museum which was very interesting, and air conditioned. Continued our walks to a couple pubs, then a fabulous dinner at Hoppin’ Johnz. The two gentlemen sitting next to us were Coasties (there are many of them in the town) and we found out one of them was the Commanding Officer of Air Station Elizabeth City. We told them about our tour and how wonderful Zach was.

John, the owner of the restaurant, came to our table and advised he watched us as we came into port on our boat. He apparently lives on the waterway. We told him we would sound our horn the following morning upon our departure.

The trip from Elizabeth City to the Dismal Swamp entrance was beautiful.

Water was as calm as possible, and the scenery was beautiful. That said, the trip was stressful as the water was quite shallow in parts. At one point (while I was at the helm, of course), we showed nothing below our keel and the course line was taking us into the trees. I HATE skinny water. During this time, I did NOT run aground, but I did hit something. Thankfully, I was going pretty slowly.

We reached the entrance to the first lock entering the Dismal Swamp just before its scheduled 11:00 opening. We locked through without incident with 2 other boats.

The Great Dismal Swamp Canal was completed in 1805 and essentially links the Albermarle and Cheasapeake, in North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. It was built mostly by slaves. Many escaped slaves lived in the swamp trying to seek safety and liberty. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp discusses this. Today, the Swamp is an ecological wonder, and home to many animals and fauna.

We tied up to a free dock at Deep Creek at the North end of the Swamp and spent the night there. It was lovely.

The following morning, we got through the scheduled 8:30am lock down and went the short 8 miles to Portsmouth, through Norfolk. We had heard Norfolk was a huge Navy city, but had no idea. The shipyards there house every conceivable type of warship and support vessel. It was something to behold. We sailed past the USS Cole which was bombed by al-Qaeda in Yemen in 2000, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39 others. Cole returned to her homeport of Norfolk on May 27, 2004. Locals articulated how emotional it was to watch her return.

We pulled into Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth, VA Saturday morning. Plugged in the boat and turned on the AC! We came into the lovely state of Virginia during their first heat stroke. Yea us! Put on our walking shoes and walked into Historic Portsmouth, which is lovely.

Had a beautiful day trekking around Portsmouth. The marina had a floating pool into which I dove to try to stave off some of the heat! The next day, Mike and I took the ferry across the water to Norfolk. Found a really cool rooftop bar at a Hilton property.

Grain had an excellent selection of draft beer, and a pool table. <Inserted by Mike when Mary wasn’t looking…she beat me handily in the first two games of pool–then I manned-up and laid her low for three games in a row. Final score: Mary 2, Mike 3….hehehe> Not surprisingly, we stayed for a spell. The hotel had some very cool art.

Monday was Memorial Day. I did 3 loads of laundry and a bunch of chores. The marina held a BBQ where we met a bunch of locals. Did some more walking through the historical district. Hosted our boat neighbor, Chris (on a beautiful 37′ Pacific Seacraft) back to our boat for cocktails. Stayed up a bit too late, and might have had too many Old Fashioneds.

Had coffee on Chris’ boat the next morning, then got our rental car and drove to Fort Monroe. Super cool museum! (I didn’t take pictures.) Drove from there to Colonial Williamsburg, which was the capital of the Virginia Colony from 1699 to 1780. This is a living history museum where actors in period costume depict daily Colonial life all around. Many of the original buildings still stand. It was fascinating.

Historic Williamsburg was amazing. Unfortunately, the weather was suffocatingly hot. We still walked around for hours. After, we went to the current town of Williamsburg and walked to the College of William and Mary. Wow! (For those who don’t know, Mike’s given first name is William.) School was founded in 1693, and is the second oldest college in the US behind Harvard. Some students include: Thomas Jefferson; James Monroe; John Tyler; John Marshall; and a little known dude, George Washington. The campus was beautiful.

We drove from Williamsburg to Jamestown, but arrived after the museum had closed, so could not see much. That said, the drive was beautiful.

The next morning, we had to return the rental car and await some packages we had sent to the marina. We departed Portsmouth at noon and sailed into the Chesapeake! We found her, gloriously, asleep. For a couple hours. Then, the wind picked up from the West a bit and we had some mild beam seas.

Did about a 40 mile run to Yorktown and tucked into Riverfront Landing Marina just before 6:00 (we stopped for fuel, and were bucking a current). As I previously mentioned, we came into Virginia during a heatwave. We were melting this trip! We were damn happy to plug in and turn on our AC! Made dinner on the boat, read a bit and went to bed.

This morning, ventured out in still sweltering heat. Walked up to the Yorktown Battlefield and museum, which was fantastic. Walked to the Victory Monument.

Yorktown is the site of the siege and subsequent surrender of Charles Cornwallis to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War in 1781. The defeat at Yorktown was essentially the straw that broke the Brittish camel’s back. It is a beautiful town, full of history and wonderful museums. The museum at the battlefield was fantastic. The American Revolution Museum is one where you could spend days. I was embarrassed by how much history I have forgotten, and thankful to be reeducated.

Yorktown is absolutely charming.

Came back to the boat pretty tuckered after walking miles in the heat. A bunch of Coasties docked right by us, which is always cool.

Incredible week in this historic part of our country. Departing tomorrow morning for ports unknown…weather depending. The Chesapeake can dictate where, and how far, you travel. As I write this there is lightning & thunder over the bay…one wonders what tomorrow will hold!

<Inserted by Mike: Within 2 or 3 minutes of seeing/hearing lightning & thunder, the wind went from 0 to 50 mph–gusting to 60 mph in about a minute…so glad to be tied up at the dock…as soon as we get a brief respite I will go outside and double up our dock lines….crazy stuff!>

Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day. We are so thankful and humbled to all who serve, and beyond grateful to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, particularly as we re-learn so much of our nation’s history.

So, although this was written on May 30, it will post May 31 which is my mom’s 80th birthday. My mom is the most generous, brilliant and loving person I’ve ever known. Happy birthday mom! Love and miss you so much.

Happy Weekend! Cheers! M&M