Great visit

My Dad and stepmother came down for spring break from New Hampshire last week. It was exhausting and fun. We had a great visit.

They arrived Tuesday after visiting my brother in northern Virginia. On Wednesday, we went over to Newport News to visit The Virginia Living Musuem. Ellie wrote that visit up on her blog. One cool thing happened while we were walking the outdoor trail: As the fire trucks wailed out of the nearby station, the red wolves and coyotes took up howling. Very cool.

Thursday we went to Waterside Marina to see the sailboats of the Velux 5 Oceans race around the world. Above we’re checking out the boat of the leader Bernard Stamm. Beside that is Dad checking out another boat.

We then went to walk the decks of the battleship Wisconsin beside Nauticus. Once we were aboard Stamm took his boat – Cheminees Poujoulat – out for a shakedown sail in the Elizabeth River. Here it is passing the American Rover.

A few minutes later he played with his guests on board, including a Pilot writer and photographer, and the day’s westerly, heeling the boat way over.

The girls had fun scrambling around on the Wisconsin. Here’s Amelia in front of the big 16-inch guns and between the anchor chains. The next one is the the girls and I on an upper deck.

And on Friday we went to Jamestown, which is putting the final touches on for the 400th anniversary of the settlers arrival in May. The Native American village was a big hit with its many furs and little houses to run in and out of. Ellie liked the beds. Audrey found a bed she liked – and that was her size – on the Susan Constant.

Ellie naturally got the most out of it even though she visited the settlement back in October on a class field trip. Her curiousity is insatiable.

Friday evening, we all went to dinner at Orapax and enjoyed a Greek feast. Dad and Sal left early Saturday to beat the Nor’easter home. They made it. We had a great visit and already miss them.