Finishing our trek around the world after graduation, we went to see our friends Dan and Gina in Norfolk, Virginia. Erynn, Dan and I all went to Case undergrad, and Dan and I rowed while in undergrad. He met Gina while at Case's med school and is now in the Navy. We had gone on vacation with them in Mexico in 2003 and they came up to Chicago in 2004, but this was the first time we had gone down to see them.
Here's a picture of their house from the street. However, the nore important thing is what he parks in the garage. Here's Dan's 1997 Land Rover Defender90 that he bought on eBay. Land Rover only imported a few thousand of the D90s into the US and demand is so high that Dan's truck has actually increased in value since he bought it. However, it's British so that means he'll be pouring money into it. Having bought my own British car, I feel his pain.
Erynn and Gina were the real troopers for the weekend. They had the pleasure of riding on the jump seats of the D90 all weekend.
One of the highlights of the trip was playing with their dog, Bismarck. He's a mutt with a little German Shepard in him, hence, the German name. He's not quite two years old and is a blast. Dan and Gina built a cool red dog house for him in the back yard. We played with him a lot.
It rained the entire weekend we were there. On this particular day, we took Bismarck to the PETA dog park to play and run about. PETA's headquarters are in Norfolk (in a decidedly "red" state), and most people in the area have nothing but contempt for their mission. "Meat is Murder" & "Fishing Hurts" to name a few. But they have a cool dog park next to their headquarter building. So I guess I'll give them that.
The picture on the right shows Gina on her belly trying to get Bismarck to jump into the water. He was already wet from the rain and had gone into the water using the little doggy ramp, but he wouldn't jump. Dan looked on laughing hysterically. At one point it started raining incredibly hard and all the humans scattered. Bismarck was left alone in the park for about 10 minutes so he started howling for his mama and papa. Very precious.
Dan went to med school on a Navy scholarship, and now has to pay the service back with active duty. While in the service he became a dive medical officer (DMO). His first billet was with the submarines and divers at the Norfolk Naval Station, the largest naval base in the world. He's now attached to the Underwater Construction Team (UCT) of the Seabees.
Dan arranged for a tour of one of the submarines on the base. We were given a tour of the USS Norfolk submarine by LTJG Dave Augustine. It is a Los Angeles Class fast attack sub. It's a nuclear-powered sub, but doesn't not carry nuclear weapons, only torpedoes. The tour was awesome and comprehensive. Lt. Dave even taught Dan a few things. The sub pier is the highest security one on base, and we weren't able to take any photos at all while on base so I just took this one of the entrance sign. You'll just have to take my word for it.
On our last day, we drove up to Colonial Williamsburg for a few hours. I had been there as a child and I was surprised how much I remembered. We didn't have much time so just caught the highlights and didn't do any of the more in-depth tours. The picture on the left shows Dan, Erynn, and Gina in front of the Bruton Parish Church. The picture on the right shows them in front of the original Virginia Capitol building.
Here are some random pictures I took while walking down the Duke of Gloucester Street, which is the main drag. The left photo shows Palace Green with the Governor's Palace in the background. The right photo shows the hexagonal Powder Magazine building with the guard house in the background.
Erynn, and I guess PETA, were concerned by the plight of the Virginian ducks. The colonials had these poor souls locked up behind bars. What is this world coming to?
If you go to Williamsburg, you have to get your photo taken while in the stocks. Dan and I obliged.
...and Erynn had a little Captain in her.
© 2005 Doug Rathburn