No, We're Not Lost.........Yet!

10/05/12 Friday     The water this morning was like glass making it easy to spot the crab pots as we left the Tobacco River.

Leaving Our Tobacco River Anchorage.

Once in the channel we continued up river passing Quantico Marine Base which trains new recruits as well as being the home base of  Marine Helicopter Squadron One which handles all helicopter flights for the President.

Quantico Marine Base.

A few miles past Quantico we turned into the Occoquan River to get a slip at Occoquan Harbor Marina for the next few nights. We were hoping to get to Washington but there were no slips to be found over the week-end.

Coming into Occoquan.

Getting into the slip was a bit tight. The fairway was only a few inches wider than Tourist is long making docking a bit of a challenge. Once in and secured I got to work giving Tourist a much needed washing.
 That evening Pam & I were able to re-connect with Vic Parrra, an old friend and business acquaintance from my days on the United Motorcoach Association board. It was great catching up and rehashing past stories.

10/06/12 Saturday & 10/07/12 Sunday     Occoquan has a restored section with shops and dining establishments that we felt compelled to explore. Well maybe the women felt compelled!

 Our ride to town.

Downtown Occoquan.

Occoquan B&B

Sunday was a cold & wet and made for a good day to watch football at the marina bar. Unfortunately the Packers lost. Fortunately the ribs at the marina were yummy!

10/08/12 Monday     Columbus Day. With the high percentage of people who live in this area working for the government there wasn't much traffic on the roads and the cool weather kept them off the water. Good for us as we traveled on past Mt. Vernon toward Washington.

Mt. Vernon. Looks like George is having a party!

It wasn't long before we were being buzzed by incoming aircraft heading into Reagan National.

Check out the bird racing the plane!

Gangplank Marina is just across the river from the airport and our home for the next three nights.

Gangplank Marina in the shadows of the Washington Monument.

We polished off the day by meeting Mike Carlson for dinner. Mike, who now lives in D.C. is from Galena and the son of friends John & Jean Carlson. It was a great evening visiting with Mike and seeing how he has matured. (Thank God I haven't!)

Dinner at Station 4 with Mike.

10/09/12 Tuesday & 10/10/12 Wednesday     Pam & I put on our walking shoes and took off to see the town. A few pictures of what we saw.

Jefferson Memorial.

Martin Luther King Memorial.

World War II Monument.

Lincoln Memorial.

Washington Monument.

White House.

Ford's Theater.

House where Lincoln died.

Pam had to have a picture at the D.A.R. Building for her mother who has been a life long member.

For you Vada!

We rode the Metro in the opposite direction of these fans going to the Nationals game.

National Art Museum

Museum of the American Indian.

Capitol Building with tourist's.

Statue of Grant in front of the capitol.

By the time we were done with our walking tour I had worn a hole in the sole of my shoes but we had one more stop to make. The fish market just down the street from the marina.

Fish anyone?

There isn't enough time to see all the sights in D.C. but we gave it our best shot in the time we had.

10/11/12 Thursday     As we left town we spotted one of the Presidential helicopters overhead.

Your tax dollars in use!

Our ride down the Potomac was uneventful except for the detour out of the channel to stay out of the Navy weapons range which was active. On several occasions we could hear the sound of big guns and the plume of water rising up from the river. We ended our day anchored with Coconuts in Breton Bay about 25 miles from the Chesapeake.