Hampton Virginia and Bruce comes for a visit!

We had an aggressive sail across the Chesapeake from the cement ships. We covered the 20 miles in about 2.5 hours with only the mainsail up. We had 3 foot seas with a milisecond period, and the words "Buzzards Bay South" was uttered a dozen times. In Hampton Roads we had a Navy battleship blast their horn twice to let us know he intended to pass us on his starboard side, I was going to respond with Sarah's manual airhorn, but decided they wouldn't be able to hear it. Needless to say, we stayed very close to the edge of the channel. We sailed through Hampton Roads into calmer water and then turned into Hampton, VA. When we pulled into Sunset boatyard and Marina it seemed like a different day. At $72 for two nights getting the 3rd night free (with an activecaptain membership.), we couldn't pass up the deal. They had affordable laundry, great staff and clean showers/restrooms. 

Allyson's Dad arrived that afternoon and we walked down to the end of the boatyard to eat at the Barking Dog. They had an awesome selection of canned beers and kosher hot dogs/sausages. The next couple days we spent relaxing on the boat, using the available shower multiple times a day and running errands. I was even invited for burgers and dogs with the boatyard staff and had a great dinner with some fellow sailors on their boat. This was probably our favorite stop of the trip thus far. 

Experiencing the "Cased Meat Emporium for the 21st Century" -as advertised 

We didn't know it at the time but we were about to have the most delicious pork belly ever created at the Venture Kitchen and Bar...

Milk and cookies for dessert, doesn't get no better than this.

We eventually had to leave our slip, so we anchored near downtown Norfolk. We went into town that morning, tied Tater Tot up next to the USS Wisconsin and bought a bag of the most delicious espresso of the trip. Next stop, the Dismal Swamp Canal.

Just a wiff of this stuff is enough to get you moving in the morning.