Day 3 - Monday April 30, 2018 - Norfolk, VA

America's Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) Spring Rendezvous Road Trip -



Well it was a fine first day of the AGLCA Rendezvous meetings. We had the morning to ourselves so we were able to get out for a walk around the waterfront area of Norfolk. Being the home of the US Navy fleet it should shock no one to find a display of a famous battleship. The Missouri earned its place in history during World War II. We did not have time to take a tour but the ability to walk around it was extremely impressive. I was amazed at the relatively narrow beam to length of the vessel.You can see that from several of the bow on photos below. It was noted that the top speed of the vessels was 33 knots (which is 40 mph) which I find extremely surprising.

Walking along the harbor walk brought us to the Freemason Abbey restaurant. It was a very cool building and the food was very good. We plan to go back for dinner later in the week.

 Yes it really was a church.

So very appropriate that I close, as did Red Skelton, with
God Bless and Good Night

America's Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) Spring Rendezvous Road Trip -Day 2 - Sunday April 29, 2018 - St Michaels , MD to Norfolk, VA

Click to View the AGLCA Road Trip

Well yesterday there where no photos - today is a make up and then some day. I really enjoy blogs with lots of photos so hope you do too.

Let's begin with some morning photos of St Michaels. The actual harbor is very small - the size of a good pond or a large swimming pool. Well that last one maybe a stretch - but it is small. It is rather beautiful though. The park near the center of the harbor shore is below.

Defending the harbor still

There is a great number of old homes around the center of the town. Rather interesting that such homes from yesteryear would seem to us so small - but they had the tiny homes figured out long before the modern craze was invented.

This one is a large home here

 This photo is of the west side of the harbor

We left St Michaels about 9:00 and headed to Annapolis. I had been there years ago - only on a quick trip through a few streets.  Today we saw why so many folks speak so highly of the historic town.

The capitol of Maryland is located here and the capitol building (seen below) is the center of the old town. We were lucky to find a parking spot and walked a ways around

 And old hotel - looks like a lighthouse - you think?

 The governor's mansion is just that - and it is located across from the State House building

 The supreme court, shown below, is in the same area

 Statue of Thurgood Marshall is impressive

 As it was mid morning the need for coffee was brewing - sorry couldn't stop myself. We found a wonderful coffee shop on a side street. I even passed up a Starbucks (not hard) in order to find a local coffee establishment - mission accomplished!!!! It was even needed more because it was windy and very cold for what we expected

 We have friends that just went to Holland to see the tulips - I got to see them as well.

 Remind anyone of Beacon Hill in Boston?

 We then took the local roads to Norfolk. It is farm and rural setting most everywhere much south of Annapolis. The main route we drove is 17 - it once must have been the main road to Hampton and Norfolk. It was mostly a four lane highway that was likely built out in the forty's. The interstates made it far less used - for much of the northern end it looked like a drive through the land of 1950 frozen in time - including gas stations with the portico roofs over the gas pumps - once used a long time ago -seems the interstate impact was very dramatic.

We did make it to Norfolk in late afternoon. We are at the Sheraton in Norfolk where the meetings will be held. The scene below is of the large Navy repair yards located here. The inter-coastal waterway passes right between all the ships.

 Turning and looking north below, you see the mouth of the Elizabeth River and mile 0 of the Intercoastal Waterway that runs south. We will be coming through here next spring.

 The Rendezvous starts tomorrow and I will have some photos of the Looper boats at the marina

As Red Skelton always said,

God Bless and Good Night

America's Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) Spring Rendezvous Road Trip -Day 1 - Saturday April 28,18 Home to St Michaels , MD

Click to View the AGLCA Road Trip

Well we are certainly getting closer to the start of the actual Great Loop Trip.
This road trip is to learn about the northern half of the GL. Like the fall trip noted below the event is hosted by the AGLCA. The meeting is in Norfolk, VA. Launch day is May 10 and departure day is May 20 just over three weeks to go!! Hard to believe it is getting so close.


We could have driven it in one day but we decided we needed a boat ride today. If you look at the link to the trip map, you will see that we boated from Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE. It was a fun ride and there was a little sea on so even the ferry rocked and rolled some - where are my sea legs? We also wanted to see Cape May harbor as we will likely stop here in the northbound return leg next spring. You will also note that I forgot to turn on the tracker until NJ - you will have to trust me that we started in NH.

We drove across the DELMAR peninsula to visit St Michaels. It was noted to be a great stop along the Chesapeake Bay - so we wanted to do some more advance scouting for the northbound return next spring.  It is a great small town that is definitely on the stop here list.

I was smart to bring my video camera. I got some nice shots - but you can't (or me either) see them because the second thing I forgot to do was bring the right computer cable. Oh Well we will have some photos tomorrow.

Good night to all

Great Loop - Here We Come - What is It

What is It?

Here' s good map
We plan on following the popular route shown in white.
It is approximate 5500 mile trip around the eastern half of the US

 We will be taking a year to get back home to NH.

Here a link to some helpful FAQs. Also be sure to go to the home page of the link for more information

Link to FAQ on the Great Loop


The day to starting of the Great Loop is fast approaching,

But at the end of March you had to use your imagination as several snow storms reasserted a hold on winter

But none the less the weather is slowly turning and even the docks at Great Bay Marina in Portsmouth NH are going in. We store the boat here and will leave from here. Located up the Piscatagua River six miles, normally we get to the mouth of the river and turn left to Maine. It will be very strange to make a right turn and head south toward NYC and the Hudson River

Have been working on the boat for some time - most inside cabin projects hoping the weather warms up.

We have set our boat launch date of May 10

Planned departure day is Sunday May 20 - if the weather so allows

The COUNT DOWN begins.