We had one concern about our run north up the ICW - docking fees! The abundance of recreational boating on the east coast creates a high demand for marina transient slips. It was a financial reality that we would have to swallow. The crazy thing is, we have also been scoring a lot of free docking scenarios. For example, over the last 2 weeks we have stayed free for 11 nights. Generally, these are municipal public docks, but we are always on the lookout for waterfront restaurants as well, offering free dockage if you dine at their establishment. So now we are on the hunt for more free docks until we get home!
Today we left the Great Bridge Battle Park public dock in the town of Chesapeake, VA (side note: the Great Bridge battle is the location of the first American Revolution battle defeating the British in December of 1775). We boated 2 hours north to Portsmouth, where we ducked into another free dock, waiting for better weather to head out onto the Chesapeake Bay tomorrow. The Great Bridge public dock offered the best dog walking trails for Beau and provided local rowing club provided some athletic entertainment.
The weather has been quite unsettled recently, consequently our boating plans play out one day at a time. We had actually hoped to be on the Chesapeake Bay today but the further north we proceeded up the Elizabeth River, the winds were increasing accordingly. We rounded a corner just north of the U.S. Navy shipyards and lo and behold, our free dock adjacent to the historic district of Portsmouth beckoned us in off the water. That was an easy decision!
Upon our arrival today in Portsmouth, Alison went to check into the municipal kiosk. Thirty minutes later, I had to go rescue Alison from the grips of 2 elder lady hostesses that where talking up a storm. We then set off exploring the historic homes and downtown…what a gem! In addition to numerous naval/maritime related museums, this is also the Coast Guard headquarters for the East Coast Region. And, we're accessing free WiFi from the hotel next to our free dock :) Our downtown reconnaissance identified a German restaurant and a movie that we plan on enjoying this evening; Beau will be on guard duty until our return.
We are not sure what tomorrow will bring but we will figure it out when we get there…and let the great free dock safari be a continued success!
