Chesapeake Trip Day 6 - to Hampton, Va

Short post today! We had to wait at the Smithfield anchorage for the tide to come in. One area would be too shallow for us on the route out at low tide. While waiting, we did some boat chores - and I spied this little duck family. So cute going from here to there....

Destination today is Hampton, Virginia - home of the Cousteau Society and the Virginia Air and Space Museum. On the way, a warship kept calling warning boats to stay away. We must have looked harmless because he didn't bother us. Cool to see up close. There were actually men at the guns.....


Very nice anchorage at the Hampton Public docks. Right across from the Air & Space museum (we'll do that tour tomorrow).


OK, this is definitely vacation material - we had a little oops while doing some of those boat chores. A port window was left in the open position whilst someone washed off the deck. This is easy to do because the screens make it difficult to see whether the window is open or not.....so, some soapy river water got splashed onto our berth immediately below the window.... needless to say, the sheets needed to be washed. I asked at the dock and was told that there was a laundry "about a 1/4 mile" from the marina. So, we stuffed the sheets and some other laundry into a bag and set out on foot armed with directions (just two turns, sounded simple enough).

Well, I have now google-mapped the location and it is 1.4 miles from the marina!! We walked thru what appeared to be the Hampton, Va housing project - then thru a strip of junky auto repair/tire places. Even stopped to ask a mechanic if we were going in the correct direction. He said, yes, just beyond the next red-light. About 6 city blocks later we found: Spin Queen!!

Actually one of the nicest laundrymats I've ever been in. Haven't actually been in one in years. Most marinas have a washer and dryer. The Hampton Public docks apparently do not... so, laundry was accomplished in a speedy fashion. Back to the boat - it was almost dark and threatening to rain. Wouldn't that have been ironic if we'd gotten our clean laundry wet carrying it "home"??


And rain it did!! Getting ready to dinghy back to the marina.



This is cool - "it's a small world" - we needed 80' of a particular line to replace one of the lines on the boat. I had called the local West Marine store in Hampton and sure enough, they had the line we needed. I inquired how far away the store was - and the fellow said that it was several miles away - but that he would be glad to drop the line by after work at the marina for us! How cool is that? Plus, it turns out - he's from Siler City!!! Bill Northington - if I caught his name correctly. What a country!


After a dinner of Grilled Mahi Mahi fish tacos with Chipolte sauce (double yum, by the way) we went over to the Air and Space museum for an IMAX showing of the new Star Trek movie. Nice movie - and really neat on that huge screen. OK- when I started writing this, I didn't think we'd done much to write about. Tour Air and Space and Cousteau tomorrow - then on to Yorktown to pick up Sharon and Buddy!!!!