Coronavirus Virtual Cruise

[Gill W]

We were supposed to have two full days in Charleston, but there was some sort of mess up (P&O blamed the port), and it meant that we arrived at lunch time on day one, and left at lunch time on day two

Open decks of Oceana as we sail into Charleston

[Gill W]

In the afternoon we went on our planned excursion to USS Yorktown, a WW2 aircraft carrier.

There is so much to see at this site, the Yorktown is massive, with lots of aircraft to look at, and other ships too. As is often the case, we didn't have enough time to see everything.

[Gill W]

We also saw the living quarters of the sailors. (the buffet looked better than the Oceana!)

[Gill W]

The following morning, we had a walk round the city centre, but unfortunately, our time was limited, due to the lunch time sailing.

[Manoverboard]

While y'all went back to the ship we strolled around downtown Charleston's historic district to locate a ' local ' restaurant. We both had a set menu item consisting of three dishes, each of which was a dinner in itself but needs are what needs must be as they say. We each had a large rack of Memphis Dry Spice Ribs, a pulled pork concoction from the Mississippi Delta and a variation of Jambalaya. Like I said earlier it was a ‘ local ‘ restaurant. We had to queue and be paged so when the pager went off we dutifully arrived at the entrance to be greeted by an extremely large smiley coloured lady, she advised us that she would escort us to our table ... this she did with aplomb in spite of the table being a mere three metres away from the starting point. One of the benefits of eating out when on a holiday.

[allatc]

Wednesday's port is Norfolk, Virginia
Home to the largest US naval base in the world.
As well as the naval base tours there are excursions to Williamsburg and Jamestown

[Manoverboard]

The half day excursion to Jamestown will visit ‘ James Fort ‘, I much prefer ‘ Fort James ‘ but hey-ho, a settlement which since its reconstruction aims to demonstrate what life was, and conditions were, like at that time. The harbour for supply ships is adjacent to the Fort itself.
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[Manoverboard]

‘ Colonial Williamsburg ‘ is a full day’s excursion as it's one of the World’s largest open air ‘ Historic Working Museums ‘ with enactments taking place throughout the day, needless to say slavery is not forgotten. The shops, workshops, small holdings plus an Inn and a Hotel trade as they always have done. The products for sale were generally traditional but the prices were of course present day. The first four pics depict the status, pecking order, of the inhabitants of Virginia but Williamsburg in particular. The other pics aim to provide some idea of the diversity of this extensive place, there is a wealth of additional information within this ' link ' if anybody wishes to learn more about ‘ Colonial Williamsburg ‘.
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[Gill W]

I'd be spoilt for choice at this port with excursions.

I'd probably do the Williamsburg excursion. I read about this place several years ago, and thought it sounded like my cup of tea

[Manoverboard]

I'd be spoilt for choice at this port with excursions.

I'd probably do the Williamsburg excursion. I read about this place several years ago, and thought it sounded like my cup of tea

When we booked the tour we hadn't even heard of it so it came as a complete surprise ... and what a surprise.

[allatc]

Williamsburg is definitely worth a visit.

I would say to do it justice you need more than one day, or an extremely long day.

[allatc]

Next port : Baltimore.

Excursions from here to Washington DC; good train connections. But Baltimore harbour area is definitely worth a visit.

ps ... and not forgetting ' Fredericksburg '
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[Manoverboard]

A half day excursion to Fredericksburg is all that is required to cover what was our lunchtime stop after leaving Washington, it’s a nice homely fun loving sort of place and one that is listed as being ‘ Historic ‘.
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[Manoverboard]

Our USA tour covering much of the Eastern side started during the springtime in Washington, their beautiful pink and white blossoms were everywhere and possibly even rivalled those of Japan or so we thought.

A full day with an evening excursion would be required to re-tread our footsteps. We had a lengthy walk-a-bout to see the best of the blossoms down by the river and a couple of other places. We also saw else visited The White House, Arlington Cemetery and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Basically we went to most of the usual places but we also had our evening meal in trendy, read expensive, Georgetown albeit we were advised not to take cameras with us ... for security else confidentiality reasons rather than crime related we decided.
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[allatc]

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Capitol Hill, Washington

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Baltimore Harbour (Harbor ?)

[allatc]

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USS Constellation

[allatc]

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Baltimore Inner Harbour