Stats for May 28, 2019
Origin: Norfolk-Whitewater Marina

Destination: Yorktown Anchorage

Distance: 40.5 miles

Speed: 8.5 mph

Time on the Move: 4 hours and 46 minutes

We left Norfolk for Yorktown knowing we were going to venture into the Chesapeake Bay for our first time. We were excited to check out the famed Chesapeake and also a little anxious because storms were expected off and on and we did not want to experience it on a bad travel day!!

We passed by many large military ships on our way out of town. It is amazing to see how many big boats are out there, at the ready. We even got to watch the Putuxant refueling ship come in to fill up.

We heard some chatter on the radio about a submarine somewhere in the bay so we kept our eyes open, and sure enough, it was heading our way!! The law says that you have to stay 500 yards from military vessels, and we’ve heard submarines can throw quite a wake. This guy was about a quarter of the way above water, so he was pretty easy to spot, and he had 4 police escort boats surrounding him. We were super excited to see him heading our way and stayed just at the 500 yard mark. One of the police boats contacted us to let us know the submarine was passing through and to maintain our distance, so we figured we were good. The sun passed pretty quickly but it was an experience we will always remember. The wake wasn’t too bad, I’m guessing because he was going a little slower since he was coming into a harbor.

The rest of our trip was fairly uneventful. The clouds threatened, but we avoided getting rained on and before we knew it, the sun came out and it was hot and steamy.

We chose to anchor near the Yorktown docks to save some money. It was a quiet area on the water with beaches and a Main Street nearby. We caught the FREE shuttle to the Yorktown museum after a quick lunch. Yorktown was a major turning point of the revolutionary war, as we learned. Our boat was pretty much anchored right where ships battled to hold their ground, right next to the spot where the British were finally defeated and surrendered. The museum was full of information, but it was a lot of reading and a little difficult for the younger kids to understand. I usually read the displays and then paraphrase in kid-friendly language for Tobin and Hayley, but much of the information was very detailed or specific to one person. It wasn’t our favorite museum, but we made the most of it!!

After the museum, Mike and Hayley left to pick up a rental car for the next day and the boys and I went to the beach. They had fun digging, but it was just buggy and hit and gross water so I wasn’t too comfortable. Nothing like the gorgeous beaches from the Bahamas. We went to get ice cream after a while and I can’t believe how expensive Ben and Jerry’s is!! It cost us $17 for 3 small cones! Mike and Hayley went to Golden Corral and paid about the same for all you can eat buffets, complete with a dessert bar, so they definitely came out the winners on that one!!

After a peaceful night at at anchor we started our day off with a stop at the Yorktown Battlefield. We learned more about the actual battle that took place here and walked the fields where the battle was fought. It was interesting to think about life at that time, and how the soldiers lived. It also just looked like a lot of grassy fields. The kids earned Junior Ranger badges and they were a lot of work!! For kids and parents!!

Moving on we went to the Jamestown Museum which was about a half hour away. As an awesome surprise, one of my mom’s college roommates met up with us!! Diane has been following our blogs (which makes me feel bad for being so far behind!!) our loving our adventures. When she heard we were close by, she came to check out Jamestown with us and see what life is like adventuring with us. It was a great surprise!!

Visiting the Jamestown museum was much more interesting to our crew because we got to actually walk on replicas of the ships that came over in 1607 and see what their pallisade (fort) and homes were like. There were also demonstrations about weapons, Native Americans, cooking, and games children would play. The setting made the idea of Jamestown come alive for us. We also were well prepared because we read a few kids’ novels about Jamestown and even watched Pocahontas (I know, I know, but it helped the kids make good connections!!). It felt like a boat school win to help the idea of being a pilgrim in Jamestown come alive for the kids!! (Still now, 6 weeks later I’m reading some great books about women in Jamestown, and Mike and I are watching the PBS show Jamestown. Apparently we’re hooked on Jamestown!!)

We said goodbye to Diane and she gave us all some special treats she bought for us. Thank you, Diane, for going out of your way to meet up with us and shower us with some attention and treats!!

Our plan was to continue on to the actual original Jamestown settlement, but we were historied out from all that exploring in the heat, so we opted instead to drive a loop through the area. There aren’t any remaining buildings or ruins left from the settlement anyway, so we didn’t feel like we missed out on too much.

And instead, we made some time for relaxing at the brewery!! We all played games and took advantage of their comfy couches and air conditioning to relax for a bit before returning our car.

When we arrived back at the marina our boat friends Forever Friday were tied up at the dock, so we bombarded their boat for a while before heading back to INNTW for dinner.

We had a great stop at this peaceful anchorage and loved exploring the history nearby. Thanks for reading about our adventures!!