Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

Thanks, Cherie. He is actually in Newport News and I would only be there for the weekend when he doesn't have to work (I hope!). so he can stay with me in Williamsburg. My son has told me how horrible the traffic is up there. We live in Miami FL ...traffic is pretty horrible down here too, but I understand about the tunnel traffic getting so backed up. YIKES! Thanks for the input on Williamsburg. I have never been to VA and would like to see that area. I appreciate it! Thanks again!

Cecilia: This was WONDERFUL. Thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to write it all. Wow. Makes me excited about it just reading it all. Not sure how much of the history things we will have time to do on this trip, but we can try and do some. I'm sure my son will want to take me through Norfolk, Newport News, and maybe even over to VA Beach to see his "stomping ground." It will be the weekend, so hopefully traffic won't be too bad???? Like you, my mission is to see my son....whatever he wants to do is fine with me! You have given me a whole list of activities to choose from! Thanks! Do you know anything about the Embassy Suites at Williamsburg? Did you happen to see that hotel? I'm thinking about staying there so my son can have his own space (2-room suite with sofabed). I am going to googlemap it and try to see it at street level. Just wondering what kind of area it is in. Thanks again so much and glad you had such a good trip!

Thanks Polli!

K-Illinois: Boy, I feel for your son. My son had a hard time coiming off of A School (where it was more like a college experience) to his duty station. Did your son havie any friends from his A or C School who are stationed in the area? I'm just wondering if he has any of their cell numbers where he can make connections with some of them. That is what "saved" my son. His first friend was a guy from his A School who was stationed at Portsmouth about 30 minutes away. He was a livesaver for my son! Since then he has connected with several others from A School as well as meeting new ones on his ship. If your son can just connect with one....the rest will fall into place. I'm sure someone on here much more seasoned than I am will have better suggestions as far as activities on Norfolk. My son is stationed at Newport News. I will keep your son in my prayers....because I know this is such a hard time until he connects, but I know he will. Just tell him to hang in there....it will happen for him.

K-Illinois, Diannep is so right! Also take a look at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation site for Naval Station Norfolk https://www.cnic.navy.mil/NorfolkSTA/MWR/index.htm
Lots to do and they have Single Sailor programs as well!

Single Sailor https://www.cnic.navy.mil/NorfolkSTA/MWR/Recreation/SSP/index.htm

By the way K-Illinois, could he have a car?

Kathie: My heard ached when I got the call from my son when he first arrived up there...so alone, no one around, and on a Friday night. I know it is hard for you as his mom to know his lonliness until he finds his group (and he will!). But until then, it is hard. Now that he has a car and can get places (the lifesaver for my son), he may meet up with sailors on other bases in the area as my son did. I will lift both of you in prayer...because nothing hurts our hearts like when our children hurt...and especially our military children. Please keep in touch here and let us know how he does, ok? But keep encouraging him...we all have lonely times in our lives and when in them, we feel like they will never end. But they do. If he is an active fun guy, he will catch on fast! Praying for you, Kathie, and your son.

Great post, winavymom! We hurt when our children hurt, and rejoice when they do. I guess we should all keep the saying in mind: This too shall pass.
I know I have to keep reminding myself of that one! So glad that your son is doing well now.

Kathie, please keep us aware of how your son is doing. I'm praying for him.

hey everyone just had a question. does anyone know anything about the willoughby housing in norfolk? is it a good area, crime rate ect. im so used to living in virginia beach so it might be a change for us. but we have been offered a 3 bedroom house there and im wanting to take it but torn between having a extra bedroom or a nice new apartment in va beach near everything lol

always ready..... is it really bad? we were only there for a few months before my husband deployed and i left va. now he is coming home soon and i am trying to find a place. and housing offered us willoughby bay, but im so in love with the va beach area :)... and i've always stayed away from that area so i have no clue how bad it is.. its always hard trying to find a place when you arent there. i have been looking everywhere and was suprised housing called and offered us a house.. i asked housing how the area was and she pretty much steered clear of my questions. thanks for the imput

It makes me sick to think that our sailors and their familes have to worry about all this crime. what is this world comming to?

I agree, Cindy. Very very sad....

thanks always ready i think i have made my mind up, i am turning it down and sticking with virginia beach instead lol.. i loved that area, im going to have to suck it up and live in apartment again but rather do that then deal with a crappy neighborhood and crime.. they wanted me to sign the lease, site unseen before i even arrived back in va so i told them no thank you lol.. thank you for the information on that area

Any suggestions for fun things to do on the weekends for single sailors new to the Norfolk/Newport News area? They are going to Busch Gardens and have been to King Dominion. Also VA Beach. Any suggestions (that are CHEAP or free!) would be welcome!

i have asked to be put on the list for a house off of kempsville and indian river not sure of the navy ben morell maybe not sure.. but yeah i asked to be put on that list and they said that the wait list is anywhere from 8-12 months and on :( but thats alright my husband doesnt have that much longer in the navy anyways so im ok with going back into an apartment.. just thought it would be better for a house since i have a 2 year old and she could do more stuff outside.

Thanks, KY mom.

Debbie, I couldn't find the address either. If you go to the website http://www.enterprise.navy.mil/ and click on the link "Ombudsman" at the top, it will take you to a page with contact information for all of the ship's Ombudsmen. Any of them should be able to give you the address.

For anyone else wondering how to contact their ombudsman, I found this link: http://www.ombudsmanregistry.org/?m=contactombudsman
Clicking on links will narrow it down to your ombudsman and open an email to send them.

Thanks, Theresa. I'm wondering if these are the same concerts my son and buddies tried to go to recently? They were trying to go over to one a couple of weekends ago and the traffic was so horrendous 3 hours before it started that they had to turn back around. They spoke with some others who made it over there, but could find no parking and headed back. All were disappointed as they are huge country music fans and were so excited. I know they were headed to VA Beach, so I'm assuming this is the same as what you mentioned?

Birdlegs, Ben Morrell is right by the Naval Station so your son will have a very short commute to work. The housing there is not too bad, and she will be very close to the commissary and Navy Exchange. However, that area in general is not the best. Maybe have them drive around the area to see how they feel about it before signing any paperwork for the house.

Speaking of moving, "Sweet'Southern'Lady(Whitney)" has started a group http://www.navyformoms.com/group/pcsingmoving with lots of good info and looking for more :)

Thanks again, Theresa! I appreciate it!

Steve's Mom, has he had a chance to speak with his sponsor yet?

Steve's mom - my son is stationed in Norfolk and when he first got there he lived on the ship. After about a month he was able to move to "military housing" ? that was just built. It sounds like it is just right outside the base. My son really likes it. I don't know for sure what it is called but if you friend me I can give you his phone number if that helps? cindy

Steve's mom- when he gets here, they will do what they can to find him a room. They may not have anything permanent for him when he gets here, but they are not going to just leave him with no where to live. If he gets here, and there isn't a single barracks room on the whole base available for him, they will find a temporary room for him even if it means putting him in the Navy Lodge which is right by the base. They have a lot of different barracks on the base, so it's very likely that they will have one he can stay in until he can get into the rooms they have for single sailors off base.

Helo squadrons are their own command which means your son is not assigned to a ship. Going to see him at work would mean going to a hangar on base, with the admin offices either in the hangar or in a building next to it. When most people hear, "Sailor" or "Navy", they think "Ship". However, not every Sailor is on a ship. Depending on his job, your son may go on ships as part of a detatchment (still part of his command, but attached to the ship for part or all of a deployment), as part of ships company, or never. Some avaition squadrons fly to where ever they are deployed to, and fly back with never really being on a ship. His squadron may have one or more ships they send detatchments to. The larger ships take almost the whole command, while the smaller ships may only take a couple aircraft, their crew, and a small maintenance crew with them.

There are also Sailors called Seabees. They don't go on ships either because they are part of a command called a Construction Batallion. They are the Navy's builders.

I hope this helps clear things up a little.

Andres: Join the crowd! I thought that might be over after bc....but it just continues. The ups and downs of having someone in the military! Safe travel for your son and hope he settles in well in VA. Will he be on Norfolk? My son is in Newport News connected to a ship. But it is dry docked so he is in the shipyard. He was disappointed that he wasn't on the Norfolk base.

Andrea: Scroll down and read Steve's Moms posts because he is part of the helo squadron too. You two may want to "friend" each other to stay in touch on the specifics of that. Helps to have another mom going through what you are and what your 2 sons are. Who knows? Maybe your sons will end up being friends!

My son is living on his assigned ship, but he would like to be able to live off the ship. How does he find out information about housing? He is single and has been living with some sailors in a beach house.

Thanks so much. I have emailed him everyone's suggestions, hopefully it will work out. It is frustrating being so far away, but he is a big boy now, I keep telling myself.

rhonda, the navy lodge rooms with a kitchenette is equiped with everything you will need. it has pots and pans, dishes, utensils a 2 burner stove, full size fridge. its all there. hope that helps

Andrea: Glad he made it!

I think he may be talking about MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation). They have lots of discounted tickets to things for military members and their families. He will probably need to go to the MWR or ITT ticket office on the base he is going to. They should be able to help him out.

Debra: I haven't ever witnessed a "homecoming", but I have seen the pictures and cry over those! If you can swing the $$$ at all, I think the short time you are with him will be worth it to witness the homecoming. Have you been there for one before? My son's ship is in dry dock and I'm hoping that he is still with it when it is done so that I can witness a homecoming with him in it! I hope it works out for you. So hard to combine our schedules with the Navy's schedules, isn't it?

Gotcha, Debra. I understand totally!

hope everyone has a safe and wonderful 4th of July.

mama-snipe: Is he with the USS TR? I don't know how many ships are currently in dry dock. My son is connected with that one, in dry dock, and currently they are living in housing in Newport News. He is not in the berthing barges, but rather in land housing. The neighborhood is a bad one...scared my son at first. They are not supposed to go out in it at night alone. They are on a small Navy compound so they are safe there. I hope that his sponsor meets him and explains things to him. Tell him it is an adjustment at first, but he will settle in!

mama-snipe: Also, the TR is supposed to be in dry dock for at least another 2 yrs. I understand that some are rotating off of it to get their experience in other areas. My son's rate is one that he can do even when the ship is in dry dock, so don't know if he will rotate off or not. Will your son have a car there? That proved very helpful to my son...he has A School buddies on some of the other bases nearby so he is able to get together with them.

Theresa: My son sure wishes that he could have stayed on the Norfolk base since his ship is in dry dock (that is where he thought he would be housed when he arrived, and what caused him to be in such shock!). Sounds like they have a "space" issue on the base from other posts I saw on this site. He told me that the Norfolk base is HUGE and nice. But I think he is settled where he is now.

Cecilia: Yes, I agree. My son was very happy to be landbound and have the extra space. As he said: Mom, I have wireless internet, a tv/dvd player with 100 channels, a refrig and microwave, one roommate, and a bathroom shared by only two people.
I think he is realizing now how fortunate he is. Since the ship is dry docked for at least 2 more years (longer from what I hear), then it is nice that he is where he is.

Theresa: Yep, they do! But he sure likes to complain until he does! He can get me pretty worked up sometimes!

Rhonda: So exciting for you but I know a bit sad. But I agree with Theresa. I bet it will be such an adventure for him. And they'll be after the pirates, huh? What a real adventure for him! If there is any more news on captures, you will be thrilled to know that your son was a part of it!

Roxanne: I will be up there in Oct too...for the first time. My son is actually in Newport News, just north of Norfolk, living in temp housing while his ship is in dry dock. So...I decided to head north for my hotel...and chose Williamsburg since I have never been there. I will only be there for a weekend, so my son can stay with me (it is still only about a 20 minute drive if he has to go back to his housing). If you want to be very close, the Navy Lodge may be your best bet from what I have read on here if your son lives on the Norfolk base.

Well, then, you probably want to get a hotel near his apt. Is he in the VA Beach area? There are alot of hotels there, from what I have read. A friend of mine whose son was in college up there said "Downtown Norfolk" has some very nice hotels too. I've never been up there so I'm only passing on what I have been told! Hopefully, some other "seasoned" Norfolk moms will answer your questions. Good luck!

My son just arrived in Norfolk last week.
He is lonely and I feel bad for him.

blessdpr: Oh, your post pulled at my heartstrings because my son was SO THERE with the sadness and loneliness! Is your son on Norfolk base? If so, I hope that he connects with some of the others. On a ship or land duty? My son arrived in Newport News late on a Fri afternoon....connected to a dry docked ship...dropped into a room by himself in temp housing...where he saw no one else (weekend, remember) and was told not to walk outside at night because it was "unsafe." I have never heard my son so down. I will tell you...it changes! He is happy now...and your son eventually will be too. Did he just come out of A School? If so, that is so hard because A School can be like a college experience with all of the guys as buddies. I will keep your son in my prayers...that he meets his first friend and starts getting involved. Meanwhile, keep encouraging him that this is kind of a normal thing when these guys first arrive. But he needs to know that this feeling won't last! I know your heart is breaking...I cried after I got off the phone with my son that day and desperately reached out on this site to these wonderful ladies. They were so kind. Hang in there...and please post again on how he is doing. Try to encourage him to go to the areas of the base where there is activity...the gym, the NEX, any place where he can meet some others.

Hello Debbie, i know he can have is flat screen tv. my son has been in Norfolk since last Sept. and he took his with him. and soon after he got there he bought him a car. but i dont know about it having to be in his name. Hope this helps.

Debbie - Your son will not be able to have the TV if he is going to be living on the ship. We toured my son's ship when we went to Norfolk in April and they only have a very small locker to keep things in. It's barely enough room for their uniforms. Later, if your son gets an apartment, then you could send the TV to him. We took a car down to our son in April and it was still in my husband's name. We just had to write a letter stating that our son had permission to drive the car and get it notorized. The base is huge, so your son will need a car, however caution him about not leaving valuables in it because a lot of cars get broken into both on and off base. Our son lives off base in a house with his wife now and leaves his car at the house when the ship goes out to sea. They have long-term parking lots on base, but my son didn't want to take any chances leaving the car there. When his ship is in port, he drives the car and parks on base each day. My family is going to Norfolk in 2 days to be there when my son's ship comes into port and we'll get to spend a week visitng them and going to Virginia Beach - I can't wait!

I have a question. The lady at FFSC told us for our move, we get reimbursed for everything, like the gas, lodging and food. But i need to know if we get any of that money for the move beforehand. Otherwise we cant afford the move, we only have on paycheck between now & then and it wont coven even a third of the cost of gas/food/lodging just for the trip. Not to mention the cost of staying at the Navy Lodge once we get there. I am so overwhelmed!!

Justin's mom - We are staying in Norfolk right now and visiting with my son while his ship is in port. We are staying at the Days Inn near Military Circle Mall. It's nothing fancy, but it is a clean room and affordable so that we can save money to do things with our sailor. On Fri - Sat, the room costs $76 and on weeknights, the room is $62. We are 12 miles from the Naval base, but only 7 miles from my son's house and just 15 miles from Virginia Beach. So it is centrally located for us. Here's the hotel number if you want to call them: 757-461-0100.