In a first for us this morning, we came up into the salon and spotted a squirrel walking down our caprail. He didn't stay around for long and neither did we. We untied from the free dock and crossed over to Atlantic Yacht Basin to pick up fuel and get a pumpout. At that point, the math exercises began. The fuel pump will do 14 gallons a minute, we have 50 minutes for the next bridge opening, and we have two tanks that we need to keep at similar levels. How many gallons go in the each tank? We agreed to go with 250 and it worked out perfectly. 500 gallons and we were off. The bridge opened as we approached and the lock was ready as well. Our 103rd and final lock of our Great Loop journey gently lowered us about three inches. Not quite as dramatic as the 94-foot Wilson Lock in Alabama, but that was OK.
We entered the Elizabeth River and worked our way into Norfolk (east bank) and Portsmouth (west bank). Water traffic was heavy and the Naval presence is everywhere. At the Norfolk Naval Shipyard the supercarrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is currently in dry dock undergoing a 28-month overhaul. Across the way, eight Naval vessels were in various stages of overhaul. The USS Carney (DDG-64) provided the best opportunity for a photo. We anchored off Hospital Point and were greeted by the cutest watercraft of the day. This little mallard and his mom spent quite a while swimming just off our swim platform. We pulled the dinghy down and headed into Portsmouth. The pool at Tidewater Marina is noteworthy because it is a floating pool and one of only four on the east coast. The platform floats on the river's surface.
A quick stop at the visitor's center hooked us up with a map and we went up and down the streets. We had hopes of touring the Lightship Portsmouth and the Naval Shipyard Museum but they were closed (who closes on a Tuesday?). A stroll down High Street led us past the historic Commodore Theater, a statue of Portsmouth founder William Crawford, and dozens of restaurants. We stopped in at The Bier Garden, a German tavern, and enjoyed a hot pretzel (and delicious hot mustard) with a few beverages. Their grapefruit radler was a nice substitute for the Pink Sands I frequently enjoyed in the Bahamas. Once sufficiently hydrated, we headed over to Olde Towne, one of the oldest National Historic Places in America with history dating to 1620. The actual street layout dates to 1752. We loosely followed the Path of History Walking Tour and just went up and down the street grid.
Interesting architecture was on every corner and several informative signboards were very helpful. Most houses had nice curbside landscaping and pink hydrangeas were well represented.
This stretch of houses was one of my favorites of the day. We finished up in Old Towne then took the water taxi across the river to Norfolk. We have visited here many times and wanted to hit a few of our favorite spots. By the time we got back to the dinghy, the daylight was dwindling and it had gotten cool. Our inflatable tubes were a bit softer than when we left it in the full-sun warmth of the afternoon. It was a chilly and damp ride back to the mothership.
We will pull the anchor up in the morning and scoot across the Chesapeake Bay to Cape Charles, another of our favorite spots.
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