I’ve got a bunch of unrelated photos to share –

We’ve decided there’s too much to see in the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding areas to rush through it and try to get back to Michigan by mid-October, so we’re slowing down and are going to spend the rest of the summer and early fall here. We’ll leave the boat over the winter around Baltimore or Annapolis and resume traveling up the east coast next spring.

So last Wednesday we traveled all of 15 miles to Hampton VA to a marina recommended by friends. We had our choice of slips, so we got one just 4 slips away from the parking lot. There was no wind and no current as we backed into the slip – what a pleasant change from the last few marinas! And there is a restaurant on the other side of the parking lot with excellent she crab soup – score, score, and score!🙌🏻

Enterprise picked us up Thursday morning in a very new Nissan Altima, and we were off to do some shopping. Unfortunately we couldn’t find several things we wanted, so it was Amazon to the rescue. We will have packages waiting for us at our next stop – that’s always exciting!

Friday we went to colonial Williamsburg, which is less than an hour from our marina. We were able to see about half of it and will go back tomorrow (Sunday) to see more of it. I realized as we were driving back that I took no photos! We toured the governor’s palace and learned that rooms painted green were an indication that you had money, because green paint was expensive and required repainting every couple of years. We talked with a shoe cobbler and got to handle several types of shoes, watched a woman using a spinning wheel, who explained in great detail the whole process, and talked to a cooper about the rings they used to hold barrels together. We toured the George Wythe house and learned how he was a mentor for Thomas Jefferson, as well as many other prominent figures. I could go on, but you get the idea of how much history there is to witness there.

We had lunch in an old tavern there, then headed back to the visitors’ center where we thought we could walk past an old plantation. Thirty minutes later we had made a complete circle and no sight of a plantation. We asked a docent about it and were told it wasn’t there anymore, in spite of what the brochure and map said. Needless to say, we were not happy to hear that.

Remember the bell tower and buildings I pointed out in an earlier photo? We were curious what they were so I looked at google map and discovered they are on the campus of Hampton University. Since neither of us had heard of it, we googled it and found it to be a fascinating story. It was founded in 1868 by General Samuel Chapman Armstrong as Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute for recently emancipated slaves. Booker T. Washington was one of the first students here.

We decided we needed to check out the museum and the Emancipation Oak, so this afternoon we crossed the river and explored. The bell tower is part of Memorial Chapel (1886), has 12 bells, and tolls on the hour. If we’re on the fly ridge we can hear it. The building just to the right of the bell tower is the Academy Building(1881). The museum on campus was founded at the same time as the school because Armstrong thought a good education trained the head, the hand, and the heart – he called the museum the curiosity room where students could see and touch artifacts from around the world. Today the museum is the oldest African American museum in the US, and houses 10,000 objects from traditional African art, to Native American art, to modern African American fine arts.

We’ve been discovering Portsmouth and a little bit of Norfolk in the past few days. Our marina is just a few blocks from Old Towne Portsmouth and the ferry that goes across the Elizabeth River to Norfolk, so we’ve done a lot of walking since we got here.

Old Towne has lots of houses built in the early 1800s – and of course lots of statues.

Sunday we took a 2 hour naval base cruise, followed by a visit to Nauticus, a maritime themed science center and museum, and a visit to the USS Wisconsin which is docked at Nauticus. The information about all the destroyers, battleships, and subs was so interesting – and so overwhelming!

Monday was spent doing laundry, then having dinner at a unique restaurant called “STILL”. It’s subterranean and is meant to be like an old speakeasy. The food is tapas/share and was delicious! And there were 3 pages of old time cocktails – quite tasty.

Tuesday we headed to Coinjock NC, where we spent one night. Coinjock’s claim to fame is 32 oz. prime rib at the restaurant which is at the marina. We were able to get a 16 oz. which we split – and it was one of the best prime ribs we’ve had in a long time.

Wednesday we got to Chesapeake VA, where we caught up with some friends who have finished the loop and are headed up to Maine for the summer.

Today we headed to Portsmouth VA, just 12 miles away, but it took 2 hours 15 minutes to get there. The day began with a drawbridge and a lock, followed by slow going through industrial areas and a railroad drawbridge that was down. We had to wait for the train to go across and then the bridge SLOWLY went up. We finally made it to the marina and then had to get into our slip with a 15-20 knot crosswind. Thankfully there were 2 dockhands to catch lines for us and help us get tied up.

Our second day at Dowry Creek was spent doing laundry, catching up on emails, and staying inside to keep cool. The temps have heated up again!

We left Harbour Village Marina Thursday morning and headed to Beaufort NC. As I mentioned earlier, we passed by Camp Lejuene on our way there. I called early that morning to see if there would be live fire – they close the ICW when there is live fire! Fortunately there was nothing scheduled for that day.

We arrived at Homer Smith Marina in Beaufort in the early afternoon. The marina is just 3 blocks from the main street with lots of restaurants and shops. The whole area is an historic district with houses dating back to the early 1800s – really cool area! The main street reminded us of Saugatuck. I realized after we got back to the boat that I didn’t take any photos ☹️

We left Beaufort at 7:30 this morning to take advantage of high tide, traveled 70 miles and arrived at Dowry Creek Marina 6 hours later. Most of the trip was on wide open water – what a nice change from narrow channels!

We finally left Charleston Tuesday, June 4, and made it to Georgetown SC for one night (more about Georgetown in photos). As we were getting back on the ICW from the Georgetown marina Wednesday morning we were stopped by a Coast Guard boat. Two men boarded our boat to do a routine safety check. We have been very diligent about making sure we have all the safety equipment and documentation needed, so they were done in 10 minutes and we passed with flying colors. They even said our engine room was cleaner than theirs!

Then it was on to a marina on the south end of Myrtle Beach for one night with not much there except a great goodie bag when we checked in. There WAS an alligator behind a boat along the channel wall the next morning, but I wasn’t able to get a photo of it, so you’ll have to take my word for it😊

We then spent two nights at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, which is actually in Little River SC. We were given a pass to the Officers Club, a private restaurant above the marina office, and had great wings there. We have been eating so much seafood that wings were a real treat. A man came in while we were there and asked how much membership cost. Our server said it was 35. He asked 35 hundred? She said no, $35. He asked per month? She said no, for a year. There’s obviously some reason they have to have a membership fee, but it is just a token amount.

It was on to two nights in Southport NC then. Southport is a very interesting town – a cross between an old town with great old houses and a fishing town. Several movies, as well as the TV series Dawson’s Creek, have used Southport for shooting locales.

We have spent the last three days at Harbour Village Marina in Hampstead NC because of weather. No restaurants here, but we got pizza delivered last night from a local pizza place – New York style cut into big wedges you could fold in half to eat. Tomorrow we head to Beaufort NC, passing Camp Lejuene on the way. We’ve seen military helicopters and jets flying over the marina the past three days.

It’s so easy to take good cell service and fast WiFi for granted when you have a permanent “dirt” home in a city. Unfortunately those things can be hard to find in a marina, even when it’s in a large city. All the marinas say free WiFi, but they neglect to tell you it’s dialup speed. And ATT doesn’t seem to have much of a presence along the Georgia and Carolinas coast. Thus, I haven’t been able to post anything for a couple of weeks. Amazingly, we’re in a marina with no goods or services nearby, but their WiFi is fast and I have 4 bars for cell service!

We arrived in Charleston May 28 and intended to stay 3 nights, but ended up there 7 nights. Soon after we arrived there we found out that the head of the urology program when Rich was in residency had died and his funeral was going to be in Richmond VA on June 1. We were able to leave our boat at the marina for a longer time, so we rented a car and drove to Richmond on Friday, went to the funeral on Saturday, and drove back to Charleston on Sunday. 800 miles in 3 days by car vs. an average of 50 miles per day by boat- what a difference!

Wednesday morning we headed to a marina just south of Savannah. We had stayed overnight in Savannah when we drove back to Marathon, so we decided to skip Savannah and stay in Thunderbolt GA.

Thursday we traveled all of 18 miles to get to Harbour Town Yacht Basin at Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head, South Carolina.

We did a trolley tour of St. Augustine – very touristy, but we got to see the old historical part of the city without having to rent a car and figure out how to get to various sites.

From St. Augustine we went to Jacksonville for two nights. I spent the time catching up on laundry (some things need to be done no matter where you’re living.) There was a very good restaurant next door to the marina, so we had dinner there both nights – cooking is one thing I do less of on the boat 😊

From Jacksonville we headed to Jekyll Island for two nights. They had golf carts that you could borrow for 90 minutes, which didn’t seem like it would be long enough to see or do much, but we were wrong. The island is not quite 7 miles long and only 1 1/2 miles wide at the widest part, so we visited a beach and drove around half the island in less than 90 minutes.

From Jekyll we went to a marina in rural Georgia – no internet, no cell phone service. Restaurant was closed on Tuesdays, handle was missing on the water connection so we used the water in our boat’s tanks, and the electric went out for half an hour this morning. But we didn’t hear any dueling banjos and the dockage fee was cheap. The docks were floating docks, which was good because the tide goes up many feet.