Friday May 14, 2021.
Temp: 69/46, Humidity: 24/93%, Top Wind: NE9mph, Precip-none, Miles Traveled: about 6 in Stuart, and 4 on foot.
++++++++++++++++++++++
It was such a quiet and still night! Sooooo nice! We woke up to very bright sunshine blazing through the windows of Island Girl. It was beautiful. Our first mission today was to get up to the Glazed Doughnuts shop while there were still some donuts to be had! They have lots of big expensive donuts. 🍩😋. It was another one of these places with a little sign that you might miss if you aren’t looking for it.
Apparently with the Covid lockdowns they still don’t allow any inside seating here, so they use the tables to space out the customers. They had lots of good looking donuts! We bought six.
They are expensive, but they are big! That cinnamon roll is smashed and fried and glazed like a donut… Captain needed to get one to try.
Look! The apple fritter is a big as my face! And quite tasty!! 😋
Our next mission was at my request: to go see Fort Monroe. We could try to find a taxi or an Uber, or we could take Mr. Stuart Peezee the dinghy. It was a nice calm day, so Stuart won! We jostled Island Girl around so that we could get him off of his cradle in the back. And he didn’t even throw anybody in the water this time. 🤭 It was nice to launch him at these floating docks, that we didn’t have to worry about him bonking into oyster shells or anything that would injure him. We loaded up and away we went!
This pink line shows our dinghy route, and the yellow shows our walking route at the Fort. We weren’t sure how deep the water would be, or if we could get under the bridge, but it all worked out great. There is Old Point Comfort Marina at the Fort, and I called them about a dinghy dock. Yep, they have one and he told me where it was, so in we went.
We were told to just go to the marina building and tie up to the end of dock B. Then we realized that we had to go through a locked gate to get out, so we had to check in at the marina office to get a code so that we could get back in! The dockmaster asked how long we’d be, and we said just a couple of hours. He said OK, and gave us the gate code. I think maybe they generally charge a day-use fee, but he was having trouble with his computer, and they had a sign that said they don’t take cash. Cool! That works for us!
Our first sight was the Catholic church. It was actually on the outside of the fort walls.
The marina is the red dot at the bottom left of the island. The fort does not comprise of the whole island, but is actually separated by and surrounded by a moat inside the island!
We found the fort. We would come to discover that what is really meant by ‘Fort’ here, is a walled in-town surrounded by a moat! Yes, a for-real moat!
Besides being strategically located to guard the entrance to Hampton Roads, this fort became known as the Freedom Fortress. Thousands of escaping slaves sought sanctuary here during the Civil War era. This is quite interesting as I’ve researched it. I got confused because I thought Virginia was Confederate, so why was the Fort, being in Virginia, a safe haven for escaped slaves, as “Contriband of war”. 🤔So confused I was! Plus, being a native Washingtonian, I am not at all familiar with the specifics regarding various states‘ positions in the Civil War, because we just didn’t study it in depth. I’ve recently learned that although Virginians voted to, and did seceed from the Union (North) and join the Confederate (South) States, there were those in Virginia loyal to the Union. Fort Monroe was the only federal military installation in the Upper South to remain under United States (Union) control throughout the Civil War from 1861-1865.
We crossed the moat and entered through the south gate. Too bad there wasn’t a draw bridge like at a European castle. 😌. That would have been cool.
This is up on the top of the walls on the inside. There are big cannon turrets all along the wall. And also something strange…. there were grave headstones all along too, and many of them had dates from the 1900’s? I don’t know what that is all about. Although, the fort was just decommissioned from the U.S. Military in 2011.
This is The Chapel of the Centurion. Dedicated in 1858, it was named for the Roman Centurion Cornelius, who is believed to be the first gentile converted to Christianity. We were surprised that is is constructed of wood.
These long brick buildings are all along the walls.
“Quarters No 1” was constructed in 1819, is the oldest remaining building inside the moat. President Lincoln stayed in this house and planned his attack on Norfolk during his visit in 1862.
The Old Point Comfort Lighthouse was constructed in 1802, is the oldest continually active lighthouse along Chesapeake Bay, and is still maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Just a shot of the wall and moat, from outside the wall.
We were surprised that there isn’t a lot to the fort, other than discovering that it is a walled town with a moat! There weren’t any remaining fortification structures or interior secret squirrel hideouts or anything to explore. So….. off we went to a nearby watering station. We walked to Oozlefinch Brewing. This was a fun and active place. Not many people inside, but there were lots outside.
We checked out the menu, and they had nothing for me but beer. So I asked for the sweetest un-beery beer that they had. And I was pleasantly surprised an Imperial Saison Ale with lots of berries, and I drank the whole thing. 🤷♀️. Who knew I could do it?! I’m pretty sure that was my first whole beer in my whole life!
The Oozlefinch story is my kind of fun! There are many legends about the origins of the Oozlefinch. Most agree that the legend began in 1905 at Ft. Monroe, Virginia, then home of the Coast Artillery Corps. Captain H. M. Merriam, no doubt under the effects of alcohol, first reported seeing a large-eyed, flight-challenged bird outside the officers’ club. Soon more people reported seeing this bird, and sketches were made. Eventually, the legend of the bird would become so great that a statue was erected at the club in its honor. Today our brewery bears the name of the Oozlefinch, drawing inspiration from its legendary status, the celebration of good times with friends, and the traditions of Fort Monroe.
We bought a glass. Captain has been wanting a GLASS beer glass on board Island Girl, and I love the story and the silly looking bird. 🦤
Here is what was going on outside the brewery. They had their parking lot set up with tables and games. And then….
….there was a baseball field right there. This was so fun! There was a kickball game going on, and the gang was having so much fun! I’ve never seen a kickball game, but it was just like baseball, only you kick a big soft rubber ball (like for dodge-ball) instead of hitting a ball with a bat. Everything else was the same. We watched for a little bit, and it was hilarious and fun! Man I miss my kids!
Walking back to the boat (something like 20 miles), we saw some pretty homes.
Here’s the official skinny on the Fort. It was begun in 1819 and named for President James Monroe. Something else I recently learned; Mr. Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederate States. He was captured in the Civil War and held prisoner here at Fort Monroe from 1865-1867.
Meanwhile, back at the Old Point Comfort marina, Mr. Stuart Peezee was right where we left him. 😊. (You never know about the lil’ rascal!)
Our secret gate code worked, so we got back on the inside without a problem. The floating docks here are getting pretty old and rough. I had almost tossed a coin on whether to stay here or in town. I’m glad we went to the Downtown docks rather than here.
This is the bridge that we had to go under. It actually had plenty of water depth and plenty of air height for us in Stuart.
Woo-hoo!!! The water was pretty nice, so we cranked up the speed and let Stuart go fast.
We had an uneventful and pretty dry ride back to our nice little harbor.
We still needed to check out the Bull Island Brewing that is right here at our back door, so we went in to help contribute to the local economy. Kenny had a nice dark beer, and when I went to take his picture, he gave me a “show me your teeth” kind of smile like our granddaughter does. HA!
There were lots of people outside, so we sat inside and had some yummy good sandwiches with our drinks.
The rest of the evening was uneventful. There was no sunset to capture, because this big giant building is to the west of us. We were sort of hoping there would be some live music at the brewery, but it stayed pretty quiet. Tomorrow we will move on to another new-to-us cute little town. The weather is looking (SHHHHHH .. 🤫…AWESOME!!). 😎☀️