In the meantime Alison had made enquiries about bus services that would take us to Downtown Norfolk or Virginia Beach. Apparently, there are two buses that can take us to Downtown Norfolk but we need to change 4 times to go to the beach. Obviously the choice for today is to go Downtown as there is no way I was going to take four different buses just to get myself to the beach, especially when none of us have swimsuits!!! If we had trunks we could have made use of the pool in any case.

The ride to town took us over an hour to a place called Cedar Grove, a cemetery, and that’s where all the buses go. Initially, we got help from a he/she, but thereafter the driver was kind enough to direct us where to go. At Cedar Grove, we were told to get the 310 bus which will take us to the water front. According to the magazine on Norfolk, this is where all the happenings are!!!

When we got to the water front, it seemed so quiet, as we walked the streets. Even when we got to Nauticus, the National Maritime Center, there seemed to be hardly anyone about. I don’t know if it was the vastness of the place or just that no one hanging around there!!! Regardless, there were some activities going on as there was the cruise ship Grandeur of the Seas berthed alongside the Nauticus, which is headed for Bermuda later in the evening, so I was told.

After a quick expensive burger, we headed for the battleship Wisconsin also known as BB-64. She is one of the Iowa-class ships which had seen active service and the last being in the Persian Gulf in 1990 for Operation Desert Storm where she made active use of the Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles in addition to her 16” guns. The Wisconsin is 887’ 3” long with a beam of 108’ 2”. She has a displacement of 57,000 tons at a draft of 37’ 9”. Pretty big ship!! She is now lying next to Nauticus in the Inactive Fleet, reserved for national emergencies.

Coming off from the Wisconsin we went into the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, and how I wished we had more time there. The museum is full of historical facts dated back to the American Spanish War and the American Civil War. Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend too much time at the museum as Adrian was getting bored and started to get naughty!

Alison had been reading the magazines about Norfolk and was looking forward to the seafood they rave about. We decided to walk to the restaurant areas by the water front and all there was is a crab place and besides that the usual fast food including a Mongolian BBQ takeaway! The disappointment showed in Alison’s face but then what could anyone do? After feeding Adrian with Norfolk style pretzel we thought it was best we headed for the hotel. We didn’t have to wait too long for the shuttle bus to Cedar Grove but the back to the hotel was a long time coming!! We only found out that the bus runs every hour and one must have just gone when we got there!! The sun was out and there was hardly any shade, and everyone was getting grumpy including me! I doubt if we’ll be going out tomorrow not with the bus running every hour!