Friday, Day 14: Dancing, A Ship, and (gasp) More Swimming

Dancing With Waves
A chilly day. Cloudy, windy and cool. No ocean swimming today.

After breakfast, I took a strenuous Oceanside walk down toward the boardwalk. Disappointed to learn that it costs to even go out on the pier. Oh well, I will enjoy the water from the sandy beach.

On the way back, couldn’t resist the urge to run. Danced with the waves…staying as close as possible to the water without getting wet. In the waves came, out they went. I went back and forth, trying to let my senses protect me from anything quickly overtaking me from behind.

Back in the room, the baby was napping (already, at only 9:30 a.m. We have worn him out!). The children watched Monsters, Inc. on the laptop. Dena went for a walk (sans walking cast, on the beach), joined by Dakota. When Little Man wakes up we’ll head to the Navy Museum, housed in downtown Norfolk.

The Ship
We drove for about twenty minutes after lunch and found ourselves feeling mighty patriotic when we arrived at our destination. The tour was of the USS Wisconsin. A very fine tour of an historic destroyer. The tour was free, and the ship was quite impressive.

The docents were all WWII vets, and the first we spoke with had served on the USS Benjamin Franklin, for which the Wisconsin provided security at one point in the war. What stories he told! A fast ship, Iowa class, suffered no casualties in combat, enjoyed quite a service record in three active tours.

Later, I thought that this would ship and these men would make for a great documentary.

The Navy Museum, adjoining the ship, was fascinating. We were a bit tired, though, so did not stay as long as we might have earlier in the trip.

The Swimming
What could top off an arduous field trip to see a naval vessel? More swimming in the pool, of course! Then we ate…and then they went swimming again. Hooray! Some day we’ll have a vacation at a local hotel, and order out for the meals – or microwave something – and they’ll think it just a fine way to live…

After some reading, all will be in bed soon. Tomorrow, we pack up and head toward Charlottesville, VA to see Monticello.

Now at the two-thirds mark. I suspect this final week will fly by. Drink it in, JF, drink it all in.