Our first sight of Virginia was actually in the wilds of the Dismal Swamp a few miles south of Norfolk/Portsmouth VA. It was hard to believe….

Mile Zero of the Intercostal Waterway (ICW) is in Portsmouth VA. I did not realize the highway system used the same mark as well.

We made a brief visit to the MacArthur Museum/Memorial in Norfolk. We did not see the entire exhibit but we will make time next time through. One small note, when MacArthur retired from the Army he was invited to address a joint session of Congress. I cannot imagine that happening today! Like I said, we will be back.

Magnolia departed Portsmouth, VA bound for Deltaville VA. In route learned not only would Eleanor Q be meeting us there but our friends on Mandala as well. What a complete surprise treat! While waiting the “fleets” arrival Annette and I toured the re-built Maritime Museum as well as a nice walk around.

As I described in my last post just before Eleanor Q & Mandalas arrival a significant thunderstorm passed through the area. Thankfully both vessels and crew arrived just fine!

Tradition has it the vessel not traveling that day host dinner aboard. Lucky for us Mandala had caught a number of fish on their offshore passage so we gladly added those tempting treats to the menu! It was great to have this crew back together though there were a few boat friends missing!

The next morning the entire crew got underway for Solomon’s Island on the Patuxent River.  As we passed Naval Air Station Patuxent river we saw an un-manned drone fly over which was cool.

We all had a nice visit to Solomons but it was time to get on down the road, Magnolia into Galesville & West River while Eleanor Q will return to her homeport of Annapolis. Mandala will be in Annapolis for a while, well until the ice clears in their homeport in Maine!

Magnolia is currently anchored near the red circle in the chart below. If you look closely you can see our exit route from 7 months and 3 weeks ago. By the way that is also AT LEAST 3797.85nm miles ago. I have not been 100% on the mileage tracking so we suspect it is closer to 4400-4600 nm. Tomorrow we will start Magnolias “maintenance availability” but today, we are just going to revel in the accomplishment.