Coming into Norfolk is somewhat like coming into San Diego - our Navy is proudly on display! We stayed at Waterside Marina in Norfolk. It reminded me of other marinas that were front and center at a public area. Some people like the proximity to the crowds and others don’t. We have never had any issues. It is always great for people watching. While the marina has both fixed and floating docks, we unfortunately were on the fixed portion of their docks. This makes it a bit of a challenge getting Ruby on and off the boat - and Cindy as well, depending on the tides.

Norfolk gave us a great introduction to the history we would see throughout the Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately, many of the museums (Douglas McArthur, etc) were closed on the days we were there - something we did not fully appreciate as we were thinking about our schedule - so we got to see the outsides, but not the insides (Cindy did spend some time in some of the art museums while I was helping with the replacement of the injector pump). St Paul’s Episcopal Church was one of those places that you “felt” as well as “saw”. The church is from pre-revolutionary war times and is surrounded by the tombstones and burial plots from the day. It also has a cannonball lodged in the brickwork from the War of 1812! We took the water taxi over to Portsmouth where we were able to see some neat homes in “Olde Towne”, and once again ran into scheduling issues with the Naval Museum being closed. The marina provides easy access to Norfolk, and we had a great day wandering around, eating lunch, and even found a small dog park for Ruby.

Hampton provided us with the first opportunity to use our reciprocal privileges to stay at another Safe Harbor Marina (Bluewater Marina). Cindy and Ruby enjoyed the fact that it was a floating dock, making it much easier to get on and off the boat, regardless of the tides. Ruby met lots of puppies on the dock that she could play with. The Hampton Yacht Club (across the channel) was hosting a large (well over 200 boats) youth regatta and it was fun seeing all the kids sailing!

We had decided to go to Hampton as an easy way to rent a car and visit places like Williamsburg, James Town, York Town, etc. However, the weather wasn’t cooperating and we got rained out. Hopefully we can have better luck on our way back south? We did however get to dodge the rain and get in some local sight-seeing, with water taxi access provided by the Marina. We saw the old Carousel that has been restored - but was closed due to mechanical problems. The Air and Space Museum looked like it could be fun, but Ruby was with us and she was denied access. Again, we found great places to have lunch - most of which were dog friendly. We also got to see the church and cemetery that was the only structure to survive the burning of Hampton during the War of 1812. And of course Hampton University which has a prominent presence there. For me though, one of the highlights was going to Patrick & Sons Hardware Store (I guess I get this from my dad). It has been open for over 100 years, owned and operated by the same family - definitely not a Home Depot!

Like the Patrick and Sons Hardware Store, it is the people and the attitude they have with their clients that makes a Marina a good one or not so good. Cindy and I appreciate a friendly welcome, patient dockhands, and a willingness for them to do what they can to help someone “new in town”. Both of these marinas had great people that displayed all of these qualities, making them pleasant stays and places we would definitely come back to.