October 31, 2007 - Norfolk, VA

Our trip this morning was a chance to view the US Navy up close. As we turned south on the Elizabeth River we passed along the Norfolk Naval Base. Do these aircraft carriers ever make us feel small. It was interesting to hear the radio communications - 'This is Warship 74 ........'.








As we headed past all of these ships, we also found out that the portion of the ICW through the Dismal Swamp had closed yesterday due to low water from the drought in this area. We were disappointed as the write ups on the Dismal Swamp sounded anything but dismal!

This meant we had to replan this portion of our trip to take the Virginia Cut, deeper but potentially not as interesting.




When we decided to regroup, we also decided to make it a short day and we headed into the Norfolk Yacht Club. Here Monarch sits at the end of the dock enjoying a beautiful view of the Lafayette River.

We took the chance to really give the boat a good scrubbing and got rid of all that salt that had accumulated over the past weeks. Even though we had tried to rinse the boat with fresh water as often as possible, it does not match a soap and water bath.


From what we have been able to learn so far, the clubhouse here has just undergone a large renovation effort. The main clubhouse (pictured) holds the Main Dining Room, Grille and Deck restaurants and many meeting rooms. We plan to try out their dining room and have dinner ashore tonight.

Adjacent to this building is the Fitness Center with excercise facilities, squash courts and both an indoor and outdoor pool. Nearby are the tennis courts.


Now this is a Junior Sailing program! We counted over 30 Flying Juniors and ....











.....0ver 40 Optomists. As we write this, the junior sailors are out on the water.

After washing the boat, we decided to go for a long, brisk walk to get the blood pumping. We toured the adjacent waterfront neighborhood, with homes and yards in a style reminiscent of our old neighborhood of Grosse Pointe. There is also the Hermitage museum and garden, which had been the Sloane (the GM founder) mansion, noted for its beautiful grounds and art collection. It reminded us of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford home on Lake St. Clair.