We didn't spend any time in Norfolk on our way South so we were excited to spend some time exploring it this time around. We booked four nights at the Tidewater marina partly so we'd have lots of time to explore but also so that we could order some spare parts that we needed. Getting parts can be a big challenge when you are moving all the time.
Norfolk has a really great public transit system which made exploring it easy. We were actually staying in Portsmouth and Norfolk is on the other side of the river but that was no problem since the ferry terminal was just a few blocks away.
The first place on our list to check out the Nauticus. It's a museum centered around and huge WWII era battleship designed for a crew of 2000. Wandering around the ship was really interesting and the scale of it was hard to comprehend even being on it. The rest of the museum had displays about sailing, about the Norfolk Port and about the local waterways. Fun fact, Norfolk is one of the largest coal ports in the world.
While we were on the deck of the ship we noticed a pagoda a short walk away so when we were done in the museum we headed over to check it out. Turns out is was a beautiful building gifted to the city by China years ago and was surrounding by really beautiful gardens.
The next day we stayed on the Portsmouth side of the river. It's a really pretty town with lots of well preserved historic houses. We had dinner that night at an excellent Biergarten downtown. The food was wonderful and made us all a little homesick for Omi's cooking.
Our last day in Norfolk we took the ferry and then the streetcar to check out the Chrysler museum of art. It was really nice and had art work from all around the world.
That afternoon we finally managed to get together with another Canadian family on a small boat (Mr. Turtle). We met them in Wrightsville back in November but this was the first time since then that we were in the same place at the same time. It was really great to finally get to hangout in person.
We really loved our time in Norfolk. I think it felt extra exciting to have all the conveniences of a city after so many months of small towns and remote anchorages.
