Early Taste of Summer in Virginia Beach

A Day in the Navy

We got to do a class trip to USS KEARSARGE on Friday and were treated to an excellent tour by one of the Marines on board. It brought me back to my days on ships - in good ways and bad. The whole time there was all kinds of cool Navy stuff going on. It felt like a Richard Scarry story. The photo above is of KEARSARGE's well deck, which will be crammed full of smaller vessels that can carry Marines ashore during a deployment and is flooded with several feet of water when the rear gate goes down so those vessels can float out.

We had the good fortune to see a SAN ANTONIO-class ship pull in right next to KEARSARGE while we were on the flight deck.

Three aircraft carriers were in port while we were there, including the one pictured, which is the newest carrier in the fleet - USS GERALD FORD.

Azaleas in Bloom

Andria and I enjoyed a really peaceful walk through the Norfolk Botanical Garden last weekend while the azaleas happened to be in their peak 2-week bloom period for the year. The colors were phenomenal and I was thrilled to have Andria with me.

Yorktown Battlefield

Had a chance to visit Yorktown the other day, site of the culminating battle that saw the British surrender to combined French and American forces, cementing America's independence.

Storming the redoubt!

Appomattox Courthouse

Mom and I also visited Appomattox Courthouse, site of Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant to conclude the Civil War. The grounds and buildings are impeccably maintained, the reenactors were out in force, and the weather was beautiful. We were there on the anniversary of the surrender, which lent a little additional authenticity to the experience.

Having a cigar with General Grant.

James Madison's Montpelier

Mom and I recently visited James Madison's lifelong home in western Virginia. It was a glorious spring day with the Blue Ridge Mountains forming a very comforting backdrop in the distance. Not far from Jefferson's Monticello, it's easy to see why this region was so inspirational to a handful of very influential founding fathers.

These are the slave quarters on the property. Madison is the quintessential example of how so many of the founding fathers just could not reasonably reconcile their love of individual liberty with their utter dependence on slavery. To its credit, the foundation managing the property is making a real effort to tell the tales of slave life on the property.

A Perk of Global Warming

Not to make light of the emerging global climate crisis, but with high temps in our neck of the woods approaching 80 degrees in mid-March, the kids and I had to prematurely greet spring by breaking out the camping gear and spending a night at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.