Entering the Intracoastal Waterway

We’ve been on the move, making good progress on our southbound migration.  Crossing Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk is always interesting, there is so much going on.  The CG Cutter, Forward, cruised alongside the main channel announcing their intention to come about between the Bay Tunnel/Bridge and just off Hampton, VA the entire time we were crossing the bay.  We’d see container ships far off in the distance and then all of sudden they were big as can be coming in behind us.  Passing the military fleet is very impressive, whether they are in port short term or longer in dry dock for maintenance.

Ever Dainty - Singapore

BAE Systems Dry Dock

 The Dismal Swamp Canal is one of two routes from Norfolk VA to Albermarle Sound and is “the one less traveled by” so which did we choose?  It is rich in history and lore, and dates back over 200 years.  Today it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is used for recreational boats but in the past it was a route for barges laden with goods and passengers.  The Halfway House hotel (guess where) is said to be where Edgar Allen Poe wrote “The Raven” during one of his stays there.  Robert Frost was not born yet.

Mile Marker

Blimp Hanger & Blimps - Elizabeth City NC

After the two routes rejoin, the waterway opens up into various rivers and sounds and the miles pass by a little more quickly.  The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway or ICW is marked every mile from Norfolk VA (mile 0) to Miami FL (mile 1089).  In many places there are physical mile marker signs that are fun to watch for.  Places along the route are identified by their mile marker.  As I write this, we are at a marina in Belhaven NC, mile 136.  Only 881 more to go until we cross to the Bahamas!

The loaner golf cart in Belhaven came in handy for a grocery run