Day 53-From Swamp to Civilization

Tuesday May 11, 2021.
Temp: 68/55, Humidity: 38/87%, Top Wind: NE 7mph YES!!! Under 10mph!!!, Precip – some rain, Miles Traveled: 20

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What a peaceful night! This little free dock was a gem. The night was calm and quiet, with no wind or waves bouncing us around, no traffic noises, and no critters on the boat. I thought we might have racoons or something, but the garbage cans up by the bathrooms didn’t have covers on them, so I guess rascally critters aren’t even a problem here. I’m so glad we stopped here! We were up and pulling our lines to leave by 6:45. The view of the canal as the sun started to peek over the tree tops was serene.

As we set out on our final day in the Swamp, we had this big blue heron bird play leap frog with us. He’d fly ahead and land, then as we approached, he would do it again. That kept us entertained for a bit. It was cool temperatures this morning, so we had our long pants and sweatshirts on. Captain’s hand still got really cold just from our breathtaking 5.6 mph speed. 😉

Here is a good reason why we’re glad we didn’t do this in the dark. Every once in awhile, there is a lazy tree that is bent over taking a drink from the canal.

After just a few miles we were back to paralleling Hwy 17. So much for the remote Swamp! There are houses along here, and cars zooming by.

We made it to the north bridge by 8:15. Here was the little sailboat that we followed yesterday. He was the only one at this wall, so there might have been room for us if we had come this far yesterday. There wasn’t any visible life on the sailboat. We called the lockmaster on the radio to let him know we were here and waiting for the 8:30 lock opening. He replied that he did not currently have any southbound traffic. He needed to stay at the lock until 8:30 and if nobody came, he’d come by about 8:40 to open our bridge. We inched forward to see if we could tuck in front of the sailboat on the wall. Perhaps if there was someone else to spot us, we could do it, but it would have been in inches to fit between the pilings and the sailboat’s nose. So we backed off and floated around. There was no wind and no current to speak of, so it wasn’t a difficult job to tread water. But WOW! This bridge is NOISY! Every car that goes across creates a metal grate thump, thump. And a dog at the house just to our starboard side barks non-stop. No wonder the sailboat guy isn’t up yet! He still has a pillow over his head! I’m soooooo glad we stayed where we did!

Our guy showed up as promised at 8:40 and opened the bridge. We did finally see a noggin poke up in the sailboat for a moment, but not enough life to indicate that he was coming with us through the bridge.

It’s about a half mile from the bridge to the lock. Inside here is another free wall on the left side. Our sailboat buddy Monarch from yesterday was here and ready to lock through with us. (This is where he came when he peeled out to get away from the mob of boats.). This is kind of a tricky spot to get to, because you have to come to the bridge at one of the four lock times as if you’re going to lock through, and then bail out to the wall. But, it is walking distance to a grocery store and a WAFFLE HOUSE from here, so sometimes people stop for the night, then lock through at 8:30 in the morning.

It started to sprinkle rain a little bit, but at least it wasn’t a thunderstorm! We idled into the lock, and this lockmaster was very nice and friendly.

We got our lines around the bollards, and were ready to be lowered down.

Here we go! When we’re in a lock like this, I put my phone in a waterproof neck lanyard thing, so I can’t lose it. But then I can only get it about a foot from my face! 🤪

Out of the lock, and out of the Swamp, the waterway opened up a bit, and you could see signs of civilization on the horizon.

It was just about three miles until we came to the junction with the Virginia Cut route where we joined the Elizabeth River to take us to Norfolk. But instead of turning north, we took a right turn and went down the river about a mile to Top Rack Marina. They are known for having the best fuel prices in Virginia, and we needed about 200 gallons. We were the only ones there, and they have pretty fast pumps, so we weren’t there long before we were fully pumped full of fuel, and pumped empty of poop.

Now headed north, we passed this ‘Seahawk’ barge right at the junction back to the Dismal Swamp. Welcome to industrialized city traffic!

We approached this set of bridges, and could finally see that yes – there are two lift bridges, and the black one in front needs to be opened for us. We called the Norfolk Southern #7 bridge, and the nice southern lady told us there was a train acomin’, and as soon as it cleared, she would get that #7 bridge open for us. So we treaded water for awhile, and again, were thankful that it was a nice calm day! The train came and went, and the bridge opened soooooo veerrryyyy sloooooowly. And you can’t just scoot and go. Being the mariner law abiding boaters that we are, we waited for the green light. Then we could go. There was a tow coming behind us, but he needed the big green lift bridge opened too, so we were able to stay ahead of him and out of his way.

I don’t know how people navigate through here without a guide book. Thank you Captain Alan Lloyd for your book, Waterway Guide, and Active Captain. How else would you know that this is bridge #7? And you make the call on VHF 13, which is where ALL of the bridge calls are made by all of the boat and ship traffic. Welcome to civiliazation!

Norfolk has a huge ship yard, so there are all kinds of docks and dry docks along here.

And all sorts of ships.

Even a pirate ship!

We finally made it to the Norfolk Waterside Marina, and got instructions on how to enter and where to go. We were delighted to see that we’re docked right next to Hallelujah! 😊. And here is our view for the next couple of days.

This shows our route today. You can see where we took the right turn to go get fuel, than came north.

We had our tastebuds all set for pork nachos at Guy Fieri’s restaurant right here at Waterside. But then we learned that all the restaurants in here at the wharf are closed Monday & Tuesday. Darn! So off to find a taphouse. Along the way we found a mermaid, which are the Norfolk mascot. They are everywhere.

We found the Brick Anchor taphouse and had some lunch, a beer, and a pineapple cider.

Hmmm… Captain needs a beer glass on board. These would be good. I wonder if they sell their glasses?

After lunch, Kenny headed back to the boat, and I went exploring. I know this looks like me, but I confess – it actually is not a selfie. 😏🧜‍♀️

Huh! I found the Zero Mile Stone placed in this spot in 1929. 🤷‍♀️

My real goal was to go explore the MacArthur Memorial. Someone recently told me that it was free and quite interesting.

General Douglas MacArthur and his wife are entombed here, and there is an excellent museum about his life and service to our country.,

He was a 1903 graduate of West Point Military Academy, and served our country in the military until 1951. He was an amazing man who served in command through WWI, WWII, and the Korean Wars . He officially accepted the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945 aboard theUSS Missouri, which was anchored in Tokyo Bay, and he oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951. As the effective ruler of Japan, he oversaw sweeping economic, political and social changes.
He has a contested legacy – some love him, some don’t. He is highly respected and remembered to the present day in the Philippines and Japan. When asked about MacArthur, Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey once said, “The best and the worst things you hear about him are both true.” He was a mighty soldier, and did much to shape our country, and truly, the entire world. It was really interesting learning about his life.

Nearby is St Paul’s Episcopal Church. I went there and wandered around the grounds. There are lots of headstones and graves from the 1700’s and you can still read the inscriptions! It is not a huge grandios building, but it has been here since 1739!! The church was struck and partially burned by the British on January 1, 1776 when the borough of Norfolk was bombarded and destroyed.

I saw a sign that said “Cannon Ball ↖️“, so I looked up, and sure enough, there is a cannon ball lodged in the brick up on the corner of the building just a couple of feet from the top. Hmmm?🤔

I continued my walk-about. These little green scooters are scattered all around town. Can you imagine the damage I could do to my uncoordinated body if I got on one of these bad boys? 🤦‍♀️

Here is today’s flower portrait. There are sweet pansies planted all around town, and they have such pretty colorful cheerful faces!

Down on the waterfront there is a sign about the Bonbardment of Norfolk 1776. Sure enough. It says that right here, in retaliation for Norfolk’s refusal to supply provision for the British ships, British Royal Governor Lord Dunmore ordered his fleet to fire on the town on 1/1/1776. The entire waterfront was under siege, and one of his cannonballs remains lodged in the wall of St. Paul’s church three block north. There’s the story about the cannonball! The British came ashore to burn buildings. Then to prevent the British from occupying the borough, the Virginia and Carolina militiamen burned their own buildings! Once Colonel Woodford and General Howe regained control of their patriot troops, about 2/3 of Norfolk had been destroyed. (But the British didn’t take control of it.)

Oh look! Another selfie! 😁

Meanwhile, back at the marina, Island Girl and Hallelujah! are happily floating side by side. Hey – Why doesn’t Hallelujah! have a swampy moostache like Island Girl? 🤔

And yet another beautiful mermaid!

In the evening, we got out the chairs and beverages and enjoyed visiting with Ann and Steve. We are on the very end of the dock, so we could block the whole thing. They are such nice fun people, we really enjoy hanging out with them.

I captured a quick sunset with Old Glory, and we retired to our abode for the evening. But then I realized that it was 8:00!! YIKES! We better fix some kind of dinner real quick. The days are most certainly getting longer – earlier sunrise, and later sunset. We have a full 14 hours in between right now.

We’ll stay here for two nights since some things were closed today. We want to go see a couple of things around town tomorrow. And get that garbage can of pork nachos! 😋