Upon our departure from Solomons Island it took us a couple days to get down the Chesapeake bay to Hampton, VA. While in Hampton we visited the Air and Space museum as well as caught a flick at the IMAX theatre. The kids as well as the adults had a great time doing both. After spending a couple days in Hampton we were excited about starting our trip down the Inter Coaster Waterway (ICW). For those who do not know the ICW starts in Norfolk and runs inside all the way to Miami for a distance of about 1100 miles. We plan on taking the ICW for the first half and than running outside the second half, weather permitting. The first part of the ICW is a canal named the Dismal Swamp, which is about 22 miles and has 2 locks. It was our first trip through a lock and it was pretty cool. Robert the lockmaster showed us southern hospitality by serving doughnuts while we waited for the lock to open. He also blew on one of his many conch shells that cruisers bring him from all over the world. It was pretty amazing to see all the boats traveling in a row down the canal, and to be part of a huge migration of all these cruisers heading south. It was like stepping into a postcard. There are moments in life you will never forget and this was one of them. That evening we stayed with four other boats in the canal waiting for the second lock at 8:30 the next morning. We had professional musicians on two of the boats and they put on quite a show that night. Guitars, mandolins, spoons and great voices! We were lucky to be in such talented company.
Luckily, we were given bottles of champagne from our good friends for special occasions. So we popped open one to celebrate our entry to the ICW. Thank you Alex! Today we are sitting in Elizabeth City, NC waiting for a good weather window. I think we will leave tomorrow. Luckily, EC has a courtesy van that took us to the grocery store. SWEET. We are all set for a while now. DJ and Nicole have made friends with two boats from Quebec. They are French speaking and the children are working through the language barrier. I guess we should have taken French lessons from Nana and Pepere before we left. I know a few French words, but I don't think they are appropriate for kids. We are headed out with three other Catamarans tomorrow.