Norfolk VA and my 1st LOCK!

When you leave Chesapeake VA heading North on the ICW, you get to wait for a swing bridge and then go through the NORTH LOCK!  Thank goodness for Joe, the Lock Master - who helped me secure the lines and told me I did great for my 1st time.  I think that was because I didn't swear - he said lots of other boaters do!  

From there it was easy sailing to Norfolk, where you pass hundreds of Naval vessels.  Norfolk is the largest Naval yard in the world.  Glad to see our tax dollars at work!

We docked at the Waterside Marina which is right in downtown Norfolk.  There were having a wings cookoff that day, so it was a noisy night!  

On Monday, April 29th, we rented a car, through TURO (a new app for us).  It was a red Lincoln from our new friend Richard!  We traveled South back into North Carolina so I could actually say I'd been to the Outer Banks.  First stop, the Wright Brothers National Memorial - a bucket list item for me!  You get the full story of the Wright Brothers, a full-scale reproduction of the 1903 flyer, the First Flight Boulder and markers, the airstrip, reconstructed hangars and a great bronze and stainless-steel life-sized sculpture of the flyer!  What an Aeronautical feat by these two brothers!

From there we went to the Bodie Island and Cape Hatteras lighthouses.  The Cape Hatteras lighthouse is under construction and has been moved to a new location. The Cape Hatteras National Seashore stretches north to south over 70 miles of beach.  Parts of the road are covered with sand, and water when the weather is inclement.  It is at the ocean's edge - with no well-defined boundary where sea ends and land begins.

And what's the beach, without walking on the sand!  A bit windy but a beautiful day on the Cape Hatteras beach.  Surfers were having some good waves too!  Don wishes he was 40 years younger, so he could hit those waves like he used too.  It's one of his favorite surf spots.  Ended the day, by stopping at the Blue Moon Beach Grill in Nags Head. 

Tuesday, April 30th we had the mundane task of grocery shopping first and then walked to the Chrysler Museum of Art. It has more than 30,000 pieces of art, including an amazing collection of glass and ceramic works.  The museum was founded in 1933 as the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, but the name changed when Walter P Chrysler, son of the founder of the Chrysler Corporation, brought his collection of more than 10,000 works of art to Norfolk in 1971.

During our time in Norfolk, we watched a Carnival cruise liner pulli a 180 degree turn in the harbor without tug assist. WOW!

Ended the day and our time in Norfolk with Happy Hour and pizza!


                    Lock Queen    

The lock
The Waterside
Yikes, it's a cruise ship

                                                               Wright Airplane model
Wright airplane sculpture

                                                            Bodie Island Lighthouse



                         Chrysler Museum
                                                                                The Mermaid

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