Saturday morning Ben, Jac, and I ventured to downtown Norfolk to visit the USS Wisconsin which is berthed right in downtown which makes for an interesting juxtaposition. It was cold and very windy but thankfully sunny so we occassionally caught some warm spots while walking around the battleship. We couldn't go below deck as the ship is still commissioned in the reserves in case the Navy ever needs to place it in active duty. We spoke with a couple of the docents on board who served on the ship during WWII and they enjoyed talking to Jac about her role as communications engineer on the current ships. We also visited the adjacent naval mueseum next door which was interesting; we all learned some new stuff and even saw a 'ghost'.
After the ship we headed back to Jac's place to eat leftovers from the night before for lunch and pick up Missy. We then picked up GJ and headed to the Virginia Marine Science Museum. I think we all enjoyed the museum where we learned how to talk to birds and saw Jac and Missy get eaten by a giant shark. After the museum they asked if I wanted to see the beach so I said yes and we headed east a few blocks. It turns out that was a fortuitous choice as we saw a whale watching boat right off the beach with a giant flock of birds surrounding it. Thanks to some tourist on their hotel balcony they pointed out that we should watch for some whales. This was pretty cool because I had suggested going whale watching but we got to see them for free! It was also cool that they were so close to shore, maybe 1/4 mile out, not much farther than the pier. Given the size of the bird flock I'd say the baitfish school they were chasing must have been huge.
After becoming 'old people' from watching the whales we ate dinner at Max & Ermas and then went back to Jac and Missy's to watch the Tech vs. UNC game. Unfortunately Tech lost for the 11th time in a row at UNC and I think Ben and I both fell asleep at different times during the game.
As most of you know I like to sightsee and take the opportunity to take side trips to see new places if I'm not on a schedule so today I detoured to Elizabeth City, NC. The downtown was in fairly good shape and there is a nice river walk and public dockage as well. Since it was Sunday morning there wasn't much going on other than church services so the stores and restaurants were all closed too. If you're in search of a big old house that's a place to find them. Quite a few have been fixed up and are in good shape but there's still a good stock of houses that could be featured on This Old House. After Elizabeth City and I stopped in historic downtown Edenton since it was on the way. If this sounds familiar it's because I've been there before (I was going to put a link to the post about my visit in May 2005 but apparently I didn't write or it got deleted somehow, I think probably the latter) since several professors at UNC said to visit before leaving NC as it was the colonial capital. Edenton is a neat little town too, take the time to visit if you're on the way to the Outer Banks.
I returned to Raleigh a little after 1 avoiding most of the rain and freezing rain. I built a fire and am still hoping for snow but it's still cold and raining and doesn't look promissing...at least I got to see some on Thursday.
Here are some pics and a video clip from the weekend. You can view the rest of the pictures here.
Ben at the stern of the USS Wisconsin. The flag is still at half mast for President Ford.
The Bow
A Livestrong dolphin outside the Virginia Marine Science Museum
A seagull in Elizabeth City, NC
Here fishy, fishy, fishy!
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