Depart: Chesapeake Free Dock 8:10
Arrive: Norfolk Waterside Marina 11:10
Distance: 10 nm
At 8:00 this morning, the Great Bridge bridge opened and sailboats that had been on the far side of the bridge sailed through. Clark and I quickly realized that if we did not pull in our lines and join the parade, we would miss transiting the Great Bridge lock with the crowd. I do not think we have pulled in our lines that fast ever before. The last to arrive, we followed five boats into the lock and set up our lines for locking through.
We exited the lock at 8:30 and made our way a short distance down the river to Top Rack Marina where we took on over 300 gallons of diesel fuel. The friendly and talkative dock hand, Ryan, worked two boats at the same time - ours and a catamaran sailboat named 5th Quarter. It took a while to pump that much fuel. We left the fuel dock just around 9:45.
Looking at my watch, I hoped that we would make the Norfolk docks by 11:00, but those hopes were dashed when we heard a security message over the VHF radio that the Southern Bridge #7 would be closing shortly. That bridge was directly in front of us. Had we been there two minutes sooner, we would have been through. Instead, we had a 30-minute wait while the bridge closed, a train passed, and the bridge reopened. I have never seen a bridge close so slowly ever before!
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| Waiting for the Southern Bridge #7 to open |
Immediately after passing through the bridge, we got our first views of Norfolk's waterway.
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| This ship-loading equipment reminded me of an elephant with tusks or something out of "Star Wars" |
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| Naval ship in dry dock repair station |
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| Busy Norfolk Waters |
We had a harder time tying the boat to the wall at the Norfolk Waterside Marina than we did the rough wall of the free dock last night. With a combination of lines, fenders, and fender boards, we finally declared ourselves done securing the vessel twenty minutes after we started docking.
Our original plans for today did not include a stop in Norfolk; however, when we heard from Jim and Joann on Namaste that they had not left the marina yet, we quickly made a reservation for the night to meet up with them. Only a few boats away from each other, Jo came out to wave hello when we were struggling with our line setup.
Once settled with the lines, Clark walked up to register, and I went over to Namaste to say hello. Sammy, the dog, gave both Clark and I a very warm welcome. Sammy must have been happy to see me as she curled up on my coat to make herself comfortable and settled down for a nap.
Joann and I had arranged via email that we would visit the Chrysler Museum together, so after a quick bite for lunch, we got together and took a scenic route to walk there.
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| Norfolk Virginia Mural Postcard |
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| Battleship at Nauticus |
From there, we visited the Pagoda Tea House and Oriental Garden.
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| Pagoda and Oriental Garden |
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| Waterfall at Oriental Garden |
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| Azalea in Bloom in Oriental Garden |
The weather did not cooperate for a pleasant stroll through Norfolk. We had a chill in the air and a fine mist that turned into a light rain as we walked. Our attire reflected the nasty weather.
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| Jim and Joann from Namaste in the Oriental Garden |
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| Ev & Clark in front of the Pagoda Tea House |
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| Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, VA |
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| "Glass" Piano |
We checked out their exhibits showing examples of glass styles. A glass-blowing demo happened at noon, but we missed that, and the next demo would not occur until almost an hour later at 3:00. Given that, we decided to move to the main art museum building where we saw some beautiful stained glass works of art.
The museum displays art in many forms including European, American, and Modern & Contemporary Paintings, Photography, and Sculpture. Every time I thought we must have seen everything, we found another room to explore. Examples of the art we experienced ...
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| Glass Objects |
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| "Great Dismal Swamp" Tiles Medium: Kiln-formed, engraved, mirrored, and painted glass and paper |
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| Paintings |
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| Sculptures |
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| "Undine Rising from the Waters" Marble 1882 |
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| Chrystal Chandelier |
We decided to take a break from the art, so Jim could get coffee and I could sit down to rest my aching feet. The museum has an on-site cafe and tables in the courtyard where we sat to rest and talk, talk, talk.
Having decided to go for an early dinner, we left the museum and headed to a restaurant that Clark and I know from prior visits to Norfolk.
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| 1873 - Presbyterian Church 1989 - Freemason Abbey Restaurant |
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| Joann & Jim - Namaste Ev & Clark - Sunset Delight Dinner at Freemason's Abbey in Norfolk, VA |
We thoroughly enjoyed being with Jo and Jim. All too soon, our time together was over. When we arrived back at the docks, we said our farewells. Both Namaste and Sunset Delight plan to leave Norfolk tomorrow to travel Chesapeake Bay.
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