The Colonial Triangle

While we await the launching of Lapidus (no set date yet), the Comfort Inn in Gloucester (pronounced Glaw' ster) has offered us great conveniences: close to Deltaville, wireless, pool, breakfast, a laundry room. We're fifteen minutes from a beach plus close to lots of Virginia history.

Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown offer a big day (could easily be days) of the history of colonial times and the beginning of America. Once designated as the capital of the Colony, Williamsburg is easily reached off I64, but the three areas are connected by the scenic Colonial Parkway. We've discovered 'Parkway' in Virginia means scenic and slow, but mainly scenic with no views of commercial properties and very little traffic. -a good choice when it's offered

In 2007, Jamestown celebrated 400 years as being the first permanent English settlement. Wow! To put that in perspective, in 2007, Oklahoma celebrated its 100th year of statehood.
Archeologists are currently unearthing the remains of the first fort built in Jamestown.

Just twelve miles away lies Williamsburg, well-known for Colonial Williamsburg, the restored Historic Area of the city, and for the adjacent College of William and Mary, established in 1693, the second-oldest university in the United States.

Yorktown is most famous as the site of the surrender of General Cornwallis to General George Washington in 1781. The impressive Victory Monument commemorates the battle, which ensured freedom for the citizens of America. Today Yorktown is a beautiful little town with historic homes. The town is built up the hill from the banks of the Yorktown River, which has a great beach.

History is fun!

Virginia Beach

With 35 miles of beach, Virginia Beach is an American destination for a classic beach vacation. Lots of activities are available in this large beach area that is roughly divided into the Chesapeake area, Resort area, and Sandbridge area. We enjoyed one of our favorite activities at this bar and grill in the Resort area: drinking coldies and listening to good Music.
The views from the top floor were gorgeous. A great place to watch other activities including surfers, sand castle engineers, and bikers on two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and even four-wheelers pedaling on the boardwalk.

We then walked along the edge of the water, feeling the soft sand, the waves, and the warm rays. Virginia Beach's motto, "Live the Beach Live," would be pretty easy to get used to.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, both a tourist attraction and travel convenience, is an engineering wonder that spans 17.6 miles, connecting Virginia Beach's mainland to Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Larry is in front of one of the four Yankee Stadium sized islands, all made of riprap (car-sized boulders) and then filled with tons of sand and rock.


Piers and restuarants on the islands create
destinations for tourists and anglers.
The feisty wait staff at the Sea Gull Pier Restaurant ensures a fun atmosphere.


Two underwater tunnels, each about a mile long, protect
two important shipping channels, the Thimble Shoal
Channel from the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Channel.

This huge tanker is crossing over the Thimble Shoal Channel.

Following its opening in 1964, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was selected as one of the "Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World."

Virginia Rocks

Tennessee continued to be green and beautiful and we left Knoxville driving north into Virginia.

We needed a break from too much traffic; we needed a little adventure. So, while driving through the Jefferson National Forest, then the Washington National Forest in the Shenandoah Valley (think The Virginian) of Northwestern Virginia, we hopped off I 81 and enjoyed even grander views traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway. The word Parkway does not exactly go with this windy two-lane highway that goes up a mountain and then down a mountain and through quaint little towns. These little towns have visitor centers with nice people who are glad to see any visitor who stops in for a minute. The 'Parkway' was the main road before the Interstate; then, all travelers at least passed through the small villages. It is now known as one of Virginia's Scenic Highways; and it is very scenic, though, it's still very lightly traveled. We were neither followed nor following closely; in fact, we met maybe three vehicles and a few hikers.



On this road, we were amazed by the fog or mist. The heavy, moist air caused steam to rise from the highway, creating this fog or mist. We thought it was just all the hot air from the semis on the interstate close to us. It was unusual, seemed mysterious, and was very elusive to those seeking to capture it in a picture.




This sign is interesting. In June and July, when the sun shines on the cliff, dusk will be in twenty minutes. No need for a clock for the village close to this cliff!




Plenty of scenic lookouts encouraged the very few travelers to catch their breath and enjoy a break from the heavily traveled interstate.

We met up with I 64 at Charlottesville, and set our course east/southeast through Richmond, then took Highway 33 to Deltaville, on the Chesepeak Bay. Our boat is in the boat yard in Stingray Point.

Lapidus is looking great; we love the new blue boot stripe, well stripe, and eye brow! The boat yards needs one more week to finish everything. We're glad we're here to be able to check on our boat every day!

OK, so we have a little time. We're close to the water, but the beach would be even better. Virginia Beach is next on our trip!

Plan B

Full-time cruising to new and exotic locations has been our plan for several years. But, we've often said that if cruising was not possible, we would instead travel the highways and byways of the U.S. Doing so would be our Plan B. We would be driving to Deltaville because we had our personal and boat items to move into our boat. So, a little of Plan B was available to us.

Driving east on I-40, on a cool August Tuesday with overcast skies, we felt excited to be on our way to Virginia and our boat, Lapidus. Leaving beautiful eastern Oklahoma behind, we were amazed at the gorgeous views Arkansas continually presented. Boston Mountains, Dardanelle Lake, many smaller lakes, countless trees and hills, plus small areas of farmland and meadows dotted with cattle -all kept our interest; soon, we were in Memphis, our destination for the night.

We checked into our room and walked to famous Beale Street where we grabbed a booth at The Pig and enjoyed a slab of ribs with both sweet and hot sauce. Delish -though both sauces are very different from our usual indulgence of Texas and Oklahoma Barbeque sauces. A few blocks down, we took a seat in B.B. King's Blues Club for a session of blues offered by the B. B. King All Stars. What a treat. Great food, excellent blues -gotta be happy with that.

Larry thought we should drive by Sun Records, the recording studio that first signed Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and many others. The famous studio, owned by Sam Phillips, is now a museum.


Before we left Memphis on Wednesday, we toured Graceland. A must, if you love Elvis , and who doesn't? Viewing the vast collection of record awards and stunning costumes stirs up a variety of memories. Graceland is stately and beautiful, though small for even a large house by today's standards. The interior is over-the-top, but definitely gorgeous.


We'll enjoy Plan B for a few more days.

July has turned into August and we’re anxious to be underway. Our Valiant 42 is in Deltaville, Virginia having “spa” time. A new name, new color for boot stripes, a generator, air conditioning, chart plotter, and a few maintenance jobs are taking a little longer than planned, but we know the results will be worth the wait.

We are in Oklahoma City, so following the daily progress of our boat has been challenging. We just sold our home and will be driving to Virginia next week. We will be aboard soon and will be sharing our time on the water with you.