Beaufort, the Intercoastal and Norfolk

We have covered some ground since the last blog so this one will take us up to Norfolk, Va.

We sailed in the Atlantic to Beaufort, North Carolina. The trip took 16

hours, from 6pm April 25th until the next morning.

We spent 4 days in Beaufort, taking tours and checking out the shops. Beaufort has several blocks of restored older houses, a nice waterfront and, as in all good southern towns, an old cemetery with great stories. The azaleas were full bloom when we were there.

One of the best things about our trip to Beaufort was meeting Kim, Steve and Darcy on Mur Dina. They are on their way home to Canada after a year long cruise that took them as far south as Cuba. We traveled with Mur Dina up the Intercoastal Waterway, from Beaufort to Norfolk. It took 4 days, stopping each night. The sunset picture is typical of the Intercoastal. Parts of the Intercoastal are canals cut through marshes. It's very peaceful and quiet at night. There are lots of duck blinds. Al said it must be like a war zone during duck hunting season. On the last day we saw a bald eagle and that was really exciting.

Very quickly the intercoastal changes from deserted marsh to miles of massive commercial shipping ports and huge military shipyards making aircraft carriers and destroyers. Right in the middle of this is downtown Norfolk, Va. We anchored right across from Norfolk and stayed there 4 days with Mur Dina checking out the sights.

Norfolk has a battleship museum with the largest US battleship ever built. Check out the size of the winches on the ship!

We all went to Jamestown and were very impressed with that museum, too. The guides not only tell you about the settlement but also tell you where and how they got the information. This is a replica of a statue made by the Powhatan Indians who were there before the settlers.

Like a lot of other cities Norfolk is working on revitalization. They chose the Mermaid as their city mascot. There are mermaid statues all over town decorated by different artists. It's a good contrast to the seriousness of the history, shipping and military presence that surrounds Norfolk.