Over the past week, we were able to take a deep breath and reset. After one night on anchor upon crossing the Virginia state line, we continued about 10 miles north to Chesapeake, Virginia, where there are two free town docks that we took full advantage of. There is a 48-hour mooring rule, so we took that quite literally by staying two nights on the first dock, then hopping over to the second dock for another two nights. 

This was a great free dock experience as both were quiet, with a nearby community center to utilize the shower facilities. We were also able to use a local’s car to re-provision at Costco, which was much needed. Once our time was up at these docks, we entered our very first lock on the Loop! Unfortunately, we were unable to take the Dismal Swamp route (which has two locks) due to bridge construction, but we still got our lock experience going through Chesapeake. This was a quick and easy 2-foot lock that felt like a breeze!

After exiting the lock, we made our way up to Norfolk, where we stayed five nights for the America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association (AGLCA) Spring Rendezvous. It was an incredible weekend of learning, inspiration, and many, many boating stories! We met so many amazing people who all have different life backgrounds and reasons for taking on the Great Loop. It was yet another one of those experiences that remind us how wonderful the people in this community are!

While in Norfolk, we enjoyed a LARGE slice of pizza at the highly recommended Benny Damato’s on Granby Street. Just a block away, we also enjoyed dinner one evening at Grace O’Malley’s — a well-known Irish pub in the area. Evan and Josh were stoked to tour the USS Wisconsin, a battleship built for the United States Navy in the 1940s that was assigned to the Pacific Theater during World War II. The Battleship Wisconsin is one of the largest and last battleships ever built by the U.S. Navy!

I’m really glad we attended the rendezvous where we were briefed on many of the upcoming sections of the Loop. Our next big section is through the Chesapeake Bay, which is a larger body of water. If you remember from a couple of weeks ago, I did not have a great experience in the Neuse River, which makes me nervous for the Chesapeake. You can watch our time on the Neuse River in our latest YouTube video here! 

Wish us luck as we continue north into the Chesapeake for the next couple of weeks! Cheers to continuing the adventure!