OtherGoose: Thursay Nov 13

Thursday Nov 13

Well, I thought today would be boring but it was a great day.

We walked about a mile to pick up the car and in the process walked through the Monticello Arcade and the D’Art building ...two huge ground floor mall spaces with nothing but art galleries and studios...glass blowing, sculpting, painting, stained glass. They were awesome! Downtown Norfolk is very old and very elegant. There are mostly old buildings or new buildings built in the old fashioned style...narrow streets and street cars!

We drove the 68 miles to Deltaville, not a straight run by any means: major 8 lane split highway to country roads. We went through the tunnel that goes under the narrows at Old Point Comfort [the entrance from Chesapeake Bay to Hampton Roads]. The towns in Virginia have quaint names and it would be interesting to find out the origins: we went through Hampton Roads, Newport News, Poquoson.

Oh! There is convenience store / donut shop. It’s called WAWA and its logo is the goose!!! As soon as we get the chance w are going to stop and check i out. We’ve seen the ads on TV and passed two today that were on the wrong side of the highway.

Today I met the Superwomen who run The Waterway Guide Office: Joan, Sandy, Heather and Jani, the managing editor. It would be a lot of fun to work in that office! They all seem to love what they are doing and have lots of experience! I am all set with the info we need [Rick is now officially part of the team] and we can start planning our trip to the Turks and Caicos!

When we got back to the boat this afternoon there was an immense SAILING SHIP tied up at the dock. 200 feet! It’s registered out of Bergen. It is white and beautiful. We will take a picture in daylight and post it tomorrow if it is still here in the morning.

There is also a catamaran parked in front of us – a Gemini and three other Canadian sailboats here.

Today was a miserable rainy day so it was a good day to go by car. We had lunch in Deltaville in a smoky bar [we ate in the non-smoking room]Rick had a flounder sandwich with a baked potato, and I had a salad and a baked potato. I’m getting a lot better at eating GF without whining. I just have to be more open minded when I look at a menu [or stay home and cook!]

I have a Walgreen’s discount card now! So, Liz, you can keep the Shopper’s Optimum card.J

Not much else to tell... tomorrow is laundry day and then we head over to the other side of the bay for fuel. This is a for-show marina. It looks great form the water but the amenities are all off site. There is no fuel; the showers are a block away; the docks are all on the water side so you have to walk all the way around the marina to get to shore. It’s very inconvenient. And the only place to eat is called “EAT AT JOE’S Crab Shack”. The huge glass emporium along the water front is virtually empty. There are no washrooms for the public although it is a park area. Oh yeah, “HOOTER’S” is at the other end, but both places were dead last night and tonight.

Tomorrow we head down river...not in a rush and we don’t care where we end up because we will be doing a lot more anchoring now. The heater is not needed.

I am really sorry you guys are all getting snow. Sometimes I feel guilty and think we should turn around and come back, how Christmas won’t be the same without snow...but then I think, “Are you nuts!??! Not going to happen!” So...sorry.