http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , Virginia en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:06:03 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:06:03 +0000 Saturday Today was my last day in Virginia with Martha and Jackson.I followed them as they went on the road to perform a couple of gigs that day.Our first stop was at Kingsport in Tennessee to play at a wedding. It was a lovely outdoor wedding held at a grand house.Our second stop was in Haysi to play at a restaurant. There was a lot of fun and dancing and the crowd really loved the Whitetop Mou http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-462267.html 9am We were supposed to see a bit of the city before we leave in the afternoon. But Sanak woke up only at 10am. Hmm not a good sign for the trip given that we plan to wake up early and do most of the driving during the day to avoid driving at night. Dhiraj called to warn us about the huge snowstorm headed our way. We are gonna be driving right into it. Definitely not the best start to the trip http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Virginia-Beach/blog-461254.html We returned Northward on Monday with two more nights to go before we return home. We dithered a bit about where to spend them looked over a couple of towns along the way but ultimately decided that the best place to finish our time in Spain was Toledo. It was the first place we visited and remained one of our favorites. It is also within an hour or so of the Madrid airport especially importan http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-458179.html Festivals can be fun and then they can be fantastic. This one is fantastic.OYSTERS OYSTERS ANDhellipURBANNA OYSTERSThe first frost of the season crunched beneath our boots as we stepped off the porch. In the east the soft pastels that heralded a new dawn were just peeking through the trees and the crisp November air snapped at our cheeks. The clear sky promised a great fall day for a festival.W http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Urbanna/blog-455851.html Unless you have onboard internet connections wifi is in short supply for cruising boaters We gather like honey bees at dockside hot spots. We're taking an early morning oppportunity to get our blog launched before casting off for the ICW.The trip so far has been 'busy' but the pace should ease up on this next leg. We will share some of the experiences of the earlier days later on.It's cloudy http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Norfolk/blog-454400.html Goodbye Tidewater VA hello adventure After our weekend in Virginia Beach attending our good friends Lester and Arlyn's wedding we woke up Monday morning at Hospital Point the start of the ICW Intercoastal Waterway on our journey south. After dodging a tug and a carrier we were enveloped with fog. That slowed us down a bit but it lifted within about a half hour. Next we came upon b http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-452097.html Excitement is building. Making a list of all the places we want to see and favorite places to eat. Took a look through some of the hundreds of photos we shot when we lived there and included here a few favorites and views of where we lived in the Emerald Hill Road historic district. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Williamsburg/blog-451243.html We left Kiawah Island Sunday morning. The general rule is that it takes three hours each in South Carolina North Carolina and Virginia. It usually takes a little longer but is a full day in any case. We had hoped to stop and see my sisterinlaw Echo in Raleigh but we were not able to reach her before we passed the turn so decided to continue homeward rather than risk showing up unannounced http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-449975.html This photo is for my RollsRoyce project. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Charlottesville/blog-449749.html Destination Anchorage at Hospital Point in Portsmouth VaPoint of Departure Salt Pondas Marina in Hampton Va 1100 AMArrived Portsmouth 300 PMPasengers FrankWind N1015 kts decreased down the Elizabeth River so ran motor last half hour. Fueled up at Ocean Yacht Marina and headed back to anchorage. Dinghy motor would not start pull rope was hung. Hopefully I can fix it in Coinjock tomorro http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Norfolk/blog-448201.html Nous voil reparti en laissent derire nous de beau souvenir . Prochain dodo Galesville belle petite baie pour 1 dodo . zzzzzzzz. 7hr am Dpart pour Solomons belle journe de voile arrive vers 5pm . Nous passont 4 jours a Solomon et 4 jours de mauvais temps et de froid une chance il y avait 1 Westmarine hihimagasin pour les capitaines. Nous sommes 6 voiliers quebecois dans Backcreek Solomon alo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Norfolk/blog-448168.html Annapolis le salon du bateau wow wowEnfin le salon est commenctrs trs salon du voilier. Ce n'est pas le premier salon qui prpare la gang. Une logistique toutpreuve.Les bateaux sont sur l'eau amars un quai qui n'tait pas l quelques jours avant. Poteaux genre tlphone sont enfoncs selonun patron bien tablie ancrage des quaies montage des tantespour les exposants et l'arriv des http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Norfolk/blog-448151.html Planning on taking off tomorrow on a short hop to Portsmouth Va. Leave Portsmouth Monday about 7 AM to make the bridges and lock. If everything goes smooth I'll try to make Coinjock NC before dark Monday night. If not I'll hold up in Great Bridge and make Coinjock on Tuesday. The stop after Coinjock will be at anchor in the Allegator River just past Albamarle sound.I have heard that the Ben Sawye http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Hampton/blog-447935.html Thought I would add a bit so I could post a couple of photos. The Spirit of Independence is docked near us...kind of looks like a giant version of us. Well actually she has bronze engraved winches and stuff but the lines are similar. Lovely chap who crews on the vessel gave us all sorts of useful information regarding the area. We will be here for another day or two..taking advantage of some f http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Norfolk/blog-447912.html How many hundred dollar bills can you spend per day getting a boat ready to go south and still have enough money to go south. That is the question http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Hampton/blog-447554.html ThursdayIn the morning Martha and Jackson took me for a walk to Cabin Creek in the Grayson Highlands Park. It was a really nice walk. It was lightly raining so the atmosphere was a little bit like an Australian rainforest but still different. Check out the photos.In the afternon we drove to Boone about an hour away...come to think of it everything was about an hour away. This was for a Fi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-447143.html Wednesday.It was a slow start in the morning due to the late night before. It was a good day for sleeping as it was raining so we didn't go for another walk to Grayson Park as planned. Maybe another day.Jackson went to the library to check his emails while I stayed back and looked through his music collection.In the afternoon Martha and her friend Crystal also another fiddler went to Galax. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-447127.html TuesdayJackson and I checked our internet in the morning.After lunch Martha Jackson and I drove to Galax Fiddlers ConventionWe met up with Debbie and Martha's family and watched the competition.Did some jamming that night and got to meet up with a few of Martha's friends including Jeremy Stevie Brett Jerry Lee. Martha seemed to know everyone and everyone knew herWe had a late night jam wit http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-447110.html Today is Monday 3rd AugustThis morning we did log splitting with Tim Debbie's Husband and Steve. They're both from Michigan but now live in Virginia. They were using their log splitting machine which made it a lot quicker but it was still a long process because Jackson had a lot of logsI escaped half way and went with Martha to see the wild ponies in Massie Gap also in the Grayson Highla http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-447096.html SundayThis morning I went for a drive with Martha and Emily to Jefferson to Ingles Grocery Shopping Centre I guess it sounds kind of boring but it's great to see the little differences between Australia and USA. It was also a really pretty drive to Jefferson snaking through all the little towns and seeing all the interesting houses.We were stocking on some groceries and preparing for a BBQ a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/blog-447087.html