Travels aboard Obsession: FEELIN’ GROOVY

Not the 59th Street Bridge, but a bridge on The Alligatorr - Pungo River Canal

59th Street Bridge Song

Slow down, you move too fast

You got to make the morning last

Just kicking down the cobblestones

Looking for fun and feeling groovy

Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy

Hello lamppost, what'cha knowing

I've come to watch your flowers growin'

Ain't you got no rhymes for me?

Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, feeling groovy

Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy

I got no deeds to do, no promises to keep

I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep

Let the morningtime drop all its petals on me

Life, I love you, all is groovy

Songwriter: Paul Simon

We really wanted to start moving fast to get home to Newport by the end of June.

This mile marker along the ICW indicates 115 miles to Norfolk, VA.

But Mother Nature has a way of knowing what’s best for us. After Oriental we traveled across the Neuse River to Belhaven then from there to Alligator River Marina and across Albemarle Sound to Coinjock.

The Coinjock Restaurant. We never saw it in the fall as we arrived just before dark and left just before dawn. Add to that the boats were “parked” three deep along side the dock. This time we arrived early, cleaned Obsession inside and out, and enjoyed a late afternoon listening to music in the cockpit before heading to dinner.

Prime rib all around! (Well almost) with Steve and Sue, (North 45) Carol and Ken (No Schedule) and their boys Jackson and Malachi.

After Coinjock it was a long day to the Portsmouth Free Pier, arriving just in time for a heavy downpour and swirling winds. We even had an escort-a tug headed back to the barn after a day’s work.

This is a pretty part of the ICW

Portsmouth Free Dock

Legend Brewery in Portsmouth

An afternoon at the brewery just steps from our boat, a chance meeting of a couple from Padanaram, MA, a movie night and dessert in Portsmouth at the Commodore Theater,

We stayed in Portsmouth for 2 nights, then decided the $50 per night charge for 4 nights dockside in Hampton would be a bit more comfortable. It was!

Pizza dinner with Toby and Rachel in downtown Hampton. The harbormaster recommended the Hampton Hawaiian-ham, pineapple and crabmeat-oh, so delicious!

And with high winds and seas and unfavorable currents we stayed 3 more nights on anchor in Hampton. We were forced to slow down, make the morning last, trip down the cobblestones and look for fun.

We did!

The next day we visited the space museum in Hampton, another day we found our way to Walmart on the bus, we scrubbed Obsession (again) and enjoyed the hospitality of the Hampton Maritime Center.

The streets of downtown Hampton are cobblestones, and we browsed the shops and restaurants (of which I heard 3 of the 5 are owned by one person) Another lazy afternoon sandwich and beer at the Bull brewery just steps from the boat and we thought we’d be good to head out.

Bull Island brewery in Hampton

But it was not to be. We turned the corner into the Chesapeake and were pounded with 2/4 foot waves, 20+ knots of wind, and really not making any progress. We turned around, went back to our “favorite anchor spot” in Hampton and decided to take a 3 hour guided tour on The Miss Hampton to view the ships in Portsmouth and visit Fort Wool.

The Hospital Ship Comfort-getting ready to be deployed in a few weeks to South America on a humanitarian mission

We finally decided that this is one of the Navy’s camouflage boats. It was moving fast!

It was even too rough for them to land at the fort. Lunch and a walk around the docks at Blue water Yachting Center, followed by a dinghy ride down Sunset Creek because we had no deeds to do, no promises to keep.

A bike ride to Phoebus on borrowed bikes from the Harbormaster, a delicious brunch at Mango Mangeau, a trip to the liquor store, a walk around more cobble stone streets (Cosmo’s stash of RUM was running low) and we found ourselves talking to lampposts, watching the flowers grow and ready for a nap when we returned to the boat.

“Hello Lamp post-whatcha doin’?”

Mango Mangeau of Shark Tank fame

Our final night in Hampton was a special dinner at the Hampton Yacht Club. Truly, we were singing, “Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, feeling groovy”

Hampton Yacht Club dining room

Finally-the perfect day. We made progress toward Solomon’s anchoring at Sandy Point near Reedville, VA.

Sunset Sandy Point near Reedville, VA

We were hoping to catch up to Fairwinds (Jim and Kelly) and Windover (Chris and Debbie), the boats we met up with in Portsmouth, but bumped into No More Mondays instead.