DAY 33

Pete and Pete spent the day in Norfolk waiting for the storm to blow over so it was cold, wet, and miserable and they were cold, wet, and miserable. They had seen all they wanted to see within walking distance, so they didn't have much to do. They mostly wandered around and did their own thing.

It was the first Saturday of the month and a few of the little local museums were free so, they went to some of them! Hung out in the laundry room in the marina and wrote some letters.



From Peter Ver Ploeg:

The marina where Pete and I stayed was actually on the opposite side of the harbor from Norfolk, in the town of Portsmouth, VA, a nice place, lots of old buildings, but in need of some downtown revitalization. Our slip was right next to the marina pool so Pete decided to go for a swim.





We had a fun couple days in the area, despite the weather. Strong gusting wind, freezing rain, and snow made for unpleasant sightseeing, but it could have been worse. This same storm system dumped nearly twenty inches of snow in Washington D.C. and just under thirty inches in Annapolis, MD.



Friday, we took the water taxi across the harbor to see Norfolk and tour the USS Wisconsin. The Iowa class battleship was closed to tours on account of the storm. "Aren't battleships waterproof?" I asked. We then learned the ship had been closed since a storm had come through the week before. A long silence followed as Pete and I tried to reason this one out. We couldn't. Fortunately, there was a small naval history museum that went with the ship tour and we could see that for free. A more blatantly biased museum I have never seen. This is, after all, the home of the largest navy base in the world so I suppose some leeway must be granted. A quick walk through and Pete and I were ready to enlist, but on leaving the museum, we came across a whole foods store first, so went grocery shopping instead.



The wind was hitting us on our stern all night and Strolla, always a little leaky, was allowing the rain water to drip in at a rate that was rather alarming. I set out as many pots and buckets as I could but everything around the companionway still got soaked.


Saturday, we stayed in Portsmouth. The rain had turned to heavy snow with no diminishing of wind. Pete and I visited a little museum on the history of Norfolk harbor and then toured a USCG Lighthouse ship. These ships, with big, tall light masts, are just floating lighthouses that are anchored where ever a lighthouse is needed. The ship we saw was in service for 48 years and only changed its position three times. What amazed me was that these ships were kept fully manned by a crew of eight! Talk about slow service.