Blue Crab Country

We enjoyed 4 days in Hampton VA, just north of Norfolk.  Lots of marinas along the Hampton River, but we stayed at the City Piers where I was pleasantly surprised how much they welcomed boaters.  We stayed right across the dock from the local charter fishing boat (a “head” boat where you pay $40 per head to go fishing for 4 hours), which was a bit noisy at 6:30 in the morning, but we could see what was biting out in Hampton Roads.

Just north of the city is Langley Air Force Base, which was the location where NASA began.  The original astronauts (the Mercury Program, for you wet-behind-the-ear young kids) conducted most of their training here, since most of the aerospace technology was originally developed here, except for the rocket propulsion technology, which was developed in Huntsville AL. (Now, students, you have completed your history lesson for today.)  Hampton has a large impressive museum sponsored by Langley showcasing the history of space flight, where we spent a lazy afternoon.

The marina loaned bicycles for free, so we took advantage of this to further explore the city.  We rode several miles to Fort Monroe at the southern-most tip of the peninsula, and wore ourselves out.   It was built just after the War of 1812, and remained an active military base until 2011.  It guarded the mouth of Hampton Roads, and is close to the location where the Monitor and the “Merrimac” (actually the C.S.S. Virginia) had their ironclad duel.  Robert E. Lee was one of the construction engineers for the fort.  Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederacy, for you wet-behind-the-ears) was imprisoned here after the Civil War (which actually wasn’t very civil).  Throughout the Civil War, it remained in control of the northern troops, which didn’t sit too well with the rest of Virginia.  The size of the fort was impressive, being the largest stone fort ever built on US soil.

Wolf Trap Light near the Western Shore. Some lonely
lighthouse keeper used to live here!

On Monday June 23 we left on a 2-day cruise for Crisfield MD on the eastern shore of the Bay.  The wind & waves were kind of “iffy”, and we were taking sea spray all over the boat.  We planned to anchor for the night, then cross the Bay to the east, in spite of a forecast wind shift and more 2-3’ waves on our beam.  But as we motored along, we decided not to chance deteriorating weather, and changed course to Crisfield.  The Somers Cove Marina was charging only 50 cents per foot, which was actually cheaper than us anchoring all night & running the generator.  By the time we arrived at Crisfield, the entire boat was covered with salt, and needed a fresh water wash down.

Sue with her pile of blue crabs

As we left Hampton that Monday morning, we heard on the radio that traffic was backed up for 3 miles trying to cross the bridge-tunnel into Norfolk.  Funny, but we didn’t see any traffic out on the water!  We did decide to “rock and roll” that morning, but that is the kind of stuff that sea stories are made of!

On our second night in Crisfield, we met another boater who had gone to Purdue Univ the same time period that I was there (yes, we both have grey hair).  Also, they knew the same friends in Daytona Beach & had kept their boat at the same marina.  They led us to the local restaurant where Sue & I split a dozen large blue crabs for dinner.  Sue thought she had died & gone to heaven.

We have our other restaurants picked out to eat crab every day we’re here.  To paraphrase John Paul Jones: “I’ve just begun to eat!”