Day 239: Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Port to Port: Portsmouth, Virginia
Underway: 0:00 am Motor Off: 0:00 pm Miles Traveled: Stayed At: Free Dock
First Things First: First battleship tour.
Mile 0 to Mile 0: Even though it was rainy and windy this morning, we decided today was the day to take in the sights in Norfolk, Virginia. We hopped on the Elizabeth River Ferry just across the channel from us and less than 10 minutes later we were docking at the waterfront in Norfolk.
We wandered across town aiming for a McDonalds to get breakfast and use the internet for a little while. Norfolk is a very only city dating from the 1600’s. There is a nice mix of old building and new downtown. We passed through a cemetery at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church with grave stones from the late 1700’s and 1800’s. There was even a cannonball lodged in the brick wall of the church from 1776 and the War of Independence. After drying off and warming up a little, we wandered through a large mall in the middle of town waiting for the Nauticus Museum to open. While there, I noticed a poster promoting a glassblowing demonstration at the Glass House – part of the Chrysler Museum – at noon. Change of plans. We decided to take in one of the historic houses in the area- the Moses Myers House nearby while waiting for the demonstration to begin. The Myers House has more than 70% of its original furnishings intact which helps give you a good idea of how life was lived in that era. It was especially interesting to see how active the family was in the community for decades and how many different businesses they were involved in at this time. Our business challenges today pale in comparison to then – massive fires (destroying whole towns), war, disease, more war, depressions, backruptcy, shipwrecks and normal competition were part of everyday life. Mr. Myers outlived most of his 12 children. We have nothing to complain about today.
We got to the glass blowing demonstration early and Bob, a TV personality from WCEV in Norfolk, was filming a piece for his Joe’s Job’s segment on glassblowing. (We might be on TV next week since he filmed the audience in the background several times). The glass blowing demonstration was amazing. The artist started out with a glob of hot molten glass and 30 stressful minutes later he (with the help or several assistants) had produce a beautiful glass vase with decorative curved black handles. And the whole demonstration was free. I certainly didn’t know this morning that I would be watching a glass blowing demonstration this afternoon.
We saved the best for last. We wandered across town to the Nauticus Museum and the Battleship Wisconsin. We were tired but the rain had stopped and we were excited to learn more about the history of this area. These are both must see stops on the Great Loop. Norfolk has been a navy town since we first had a navy. This is the deepest and largest natural port in the world – the perfect place for the biggest navy in the world to call home. The history of this place is closely intertwined with the military and war. The Nauticus Museum is huge – next time I would set aside a lot more time to really absorb all the displays. I have a real appreciation for the sacrifices all those in the military have made to get this country where it is today.
The Wisconsin was an amazing sight docked right next to the building housing the Nauticus Museum. The scale of this ship is hard to capture in words or pictures. This was the largest and last battleship built in the US. It was launched in 1943 and served the country for almost 50 years even seeing action in the Persian Gulf War. I can’t imagine what it sounded like when the huge guns on this ship were firing away – the shells they used weighed more than a Volkswagon Beetle. (Can you imagine viewing these big guns just outside the window of your condo -
People always wonder about us doing the Loop on a boat we can’t stand up in. Well, surprisingly, I wouldn’t have made a good sailor on the USS Wisconsin – I couldn’t stand up straight in most of the areas on this massive ship either.
After our intensive tour of Norfolk we returned to our little home exhausted and overwhelmed. We were too tired to cook so we snacked a little, read and were sound asleep in minutes.