The End is Nigh

   Wow. Apocalyptic title or what? I guess I could have said "The End Is Nye" and proceeded to riff on Bill Nye and what a cool Science Guy he is. But I didn't. I could have said "The End Is Guy" and gone on about how there are two (yes, two) Guy Fieri restaurants in Norfolk. As if anyone cares. But I didn't. I'm, of course, referring to the end of our time here in Virginia. We're only here until Tuesday when we'll drive off for a night on Chincoteague Island, home of wild ponies, then on to Baltimore for a few days of baseball games, eating soft shell crabs and touring around Washington before returning to Newmarket's sunny climes.

  As the weather here has been less than ideal it's been difficult for us to enjoy our surroundings to the fullest. The kayaks the homeowners have graciously left for us to use are only ten footers so are very unstable if the water exhibits any kind of chop. With a lot of windy days here that's kind of been off the table as the water is still frigid so we don't want to land in it. The forecast says next week will be beautiful... but we'll be gone. That's why we've spent so much time touring around the area trying to find anything interesting.

  Remember, we're in the heart of US history and military power here in Virginia. It's really hard to go anywhere without being reminded of it. That's why my posts have such an American bent to them. There's little else of interest around here so we're immersed in it and it's getting to be a bit much. We had planned to see the Army Transportation Museum but I had a brilliant idea about taking a boat tour of the Norfolk navy base instead, so off we went. Trouble was, the cruise was sold out. We did manage to glimpse the retired USS Wisconsin, the largest battleship every built:

So we went home. The next day the weather was decent so we managed to play a little golf:

  Based on our scores, I'd say we played as little as possible. We did excavate, scar some trees, make ripples in the ponds and I even broke a club. I know what you're thinking. Mike got angry and wrapped his 7 iron around a tree. Don't be silly. Mike would never do that. There's so many other things he would do, but not that. Anyway, the shaft literally snapped in the middle of my backswing. I think something heavy must have been dropped on it in the trunk of the car as there was a visible dent in it. If anyone has a decent 7 iron they're not using hit me up.

  The course we played is unusual in that the clubhouse is historic.

  One of the founders of the Planters Peanut company owned it in the early 1900's. Yes, that's Mr. Peanut in front. Apparently, at the time, Virginia peanuts were considered to be the best in the country so Suffolk, where the golf course is located, became the Peanut Capital of America (yes, capitalized). End of history lesson.

  Yesterday we organized a full day around Norfolk. The weather forecast called for a warm, sunny day, perfect for what we had planned. We were going to start at Virginia Beach, walk on the sand, look for shells, have lunch overlooking the waves. Like that. Then we'd be off to take the boat cruise we'd missed earlier. The 22C temp would be perfect for the two hours on the water. We would complete our day in the sun watching a minor league ball game. What a great plan. I went online and bought tickets for the cruise and ball game. All set.

  Ok. The first thing I need to say is the weather forecast lied. When they were figuring out what the day was going to look like they missed "sunny and warm" on the weather office dartboard and, instead, hit "cool and rainy". Their second attempt landed on "generally shitty". They had one more shot at it and got a bullseye... on "stay home".

  When I re-checked the forecast before leaving home they had changed it to a cloudy and rainy morning followed by a spectacular afternoon. That's ok, we thought. We'll skip the beach as we've seen some pretty wonderful beaches and this one won't be any different. No problem. We'll leave later and just do the cruise and baseball game. And so we did.

  You know that cloudy, rainy, cool thing they said would be gone after the morning? Wrong again. We got on the boat at 2:00. It had just finished raining and there was a cold wind blowing. The cabin was full so we had to sit up top, in the open which, I think I might have just mentioned, was cool and windy. For two hours. We did see some pretty cool stuff, so the excursion was well worth the price and discomfort... mostly.

  Norfolk is home to the largest naval base in the world. Fittingly, the US has the largest navy in the world so what better place to put it? We saw every type of seagoing hardware they could dream up, from re-supply ships to submarines to destroyers to aircraft carriers. Here are two of the biggest, and the camera doesn't do them justice. First, the 30 year-old Nimitz-class USS George Washington:

And the USS Gerald Ford, the newest member of the fleet:

  It's important to note these pics were taken from about a quarter mile away so it's hard to understand how huge these ships are. The Ford has a twelve hundred foot long deck. That's almost a quarter mile! And this thing not only floats but can cruise at up to fifty knots. Don't get these guys mad at you.

  As I said earlier, we were up top and it was cool and windy. When we arrived back at the dock after two hours both of us were just a bit chilled. Ok, shivering. It was starting to warm up but, when I say "warm up" it was still windy with temps in the mid-teens. Since we had a couple of hours to blow before the ball game we decided to take the twenty minute drive to Virginia Beach, grab a cup of coffee, see the sand and the waves and drive back in time for first pitch. And that's exactly what we did.

  Back in Norfolk we headed to Harbor Park, the home of the Tides, Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Everything I'd read said this was a stacked team. The Orioles' farm system is loaded with major league prospects and this team was the cream of the crop, rated as the best team in all the minor leagues. We were expecting a slugfest with so much talent crammed into one roster.

  It's a beautiful ballpark, one of the nicest we've been to. It's situated right on the Elizabeth River so you can see the shipyards and two iconic railway drawbridges rising from the outfield.

  The bridges are in use and we saw one of them go up and down during the game. Pretty cool. Now, I said something about a slugfest. Wrong again. The Tides were playing the Gwinnett Stripers, affiliate of the Atlanta Braves who also have a very productive farm system. Apparently, the Braves' farm system places more of a priority on pitching as they didn't give the Tides much to hit and they beat them 4-3. Nevertheless it was fun although the food was not particularly good and fairly expensive.

  The highlight of the night was the purchase of a Tides t-shirt Jen had asked us to get for her. Yes. You see, Penny saw two shirts she thought Jen would like but wasn't sure which one she'd prefer. One was a grey V-neck and the other a green crew neck. Penny asked me which one I thought Jen would like and, when she gave me the choices, I heard "gravyneck". Yeah. You know where this is going. While Penny was laughing uncontrollably she texted Jen and asked if she wanted the "gravyneck" or the green crew neck. Since she's a Himelfarb she replied, "Gravyneck?", followed by, "you know that's the one I want"... or words to that effect. It was a great way to end the day.

  As I said earlier, we're heading out of here in a few days so I'm unlikely to post again until we're in Baltimore. Before then I have a favour to ask. There are about fifty of you who, Google tells me, are, as Stephen King would say, "Constant Readers" and I'd like your opinions. There's a comments section on these posts and I'd like to hear from all of you.

  Tell me what you enjoy and what you don't. Tell me what you'd like to see more of. Tell me what you're tired of. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say "American history" is on the "less" list, but I want to hear it from you. I'm sixty episodes into this and, although I don't intend to stop, maybe you've seen and heard enough and I should stop. This is your opportunity to editorialize.

  Because Google doesn't give me any info on who is commenting I'd appreciate it if you could identify yourself when you respond. Also note, for the same reason, I can't reply. If the comments are interesting and/or entertaining I may include them in a future post. There, favour asked.

  Until then, I remain, your Faithful Adventurer.