Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

Chipmunk, I thought you were referencing the 3 sailors who recently passed away.  I hadn’t heard of the Walmart shooting.  Very sad.

WaterLily - I am so sorry!! I had not heard about the 3 sailors. 

Good Evening!!

I just wanted to remind you to let your sailors know that there are several activities in the area that they can receive military discounts at. The main one is Busch Gardens where each year they can receive a 1 time free ticket, and then at other times, I think they receive military discounts. 

Good Morning Everyone!!

Happy Hanukkah - Merry Christmas - Season's Greetings!! 

I am hopeful that some of you will get to have visits with your sailors!

Good Morning Norfolk Families - 

How is everyone doing? 

Can we just have a hand wave! It has been a while and I thought we should play a little catch up. 

My son is still stationed on his ship here in Norfolk. He will be finishing up his enlistment soon, however, my sailor gal is also stationed in Norfolk and her enlistment is not over, so my son will be staying with his wife and start figuring out schooling. 

I know from some of my other groups that we have more sailors coming this direction and I want them to know we have people in this group that are around to help answer questions for them.  Thanks!! May you have a wonderful day!

Good Morning all. We have just been enjoying living close to Norfolk and seeing our sailor often.  Hope everyone is doing well.

Devonson - it is a blessing to have your sailor close enough for multiple visits in a year.

Hi Chipmunk. I'm here. My son is out at sea but returning to Norfolk in a week or so after a "fun" cruise. Luckily they're stopping along the way and we will get to see him at one of his stops this weekend. We'll get him all Saturday. It's a 2.5-hour drive so not worth it to bring him home, but we'll find something ot do. 

I feel very blessed with that and I get all the hugs I can.

I am here. Kind of. Work is insane today. Happens when the temperature swings like it has been. 

my sailor is still in Norfolk. But away for schooling at the moment. Somewhere in New Jersey. 

I'm here, my son will be stationed at Oceana but his ship is the Truman when deployed. They don't have a site for Oceana that I know of. The squadrons operate a little different from what I am understanding. Would love more information if anyone has any!

Hello my first time commenting on here. My son is in Newport News, Stennis - will likely be under maintenance until 2025. He’s busy doing his quals. Living in an apartment at Hampton. Hope to see more people on here from BC. I stopped following BC after the batch of Shanny and Katharine! Definitely i know Northwoodsmom and Chipmunk from BC to Nuke page. Hope you still remember me.

Gigi - Yes, I remember you!! Did you ever join Beyond BC - that is where most of us hang out and do a lot of daily chatter. Sometimes more of us than others, but it is where everyone can stay connected if they wish. 

I am glad that your son is able to work on his qualifications. Having the ships / boats in the shipyards can be hard. My son's ship has been in Newport News twice since he has been in the Norfolk area. 

Northwoodsmom - I do not know as much about how the squadrons operate, but you keep posting and keep asking. Remind me and we will reach out to the Norfolk ombudsman if we need to.

Shanny - May your sailor glean a lot of new knowledge that will be helpful down the road! 

Katharine - Enjoy the time when you can get it with your sailor!

Dawn - Were you trying to post your comment here? I think it showed up in the "main room" chat instead. 

Gigi of course we remember you. Your son was going through Power School about the same time as mine after one of his many setbacks.  Is he closer to you at all or further away? I hope he isn't disappointed with his ship in dry dock for a while, I know they are itching to get out to do their jobs. So happy you are here!

Hi Gigi - wondered how you were doing and just joined this group myself. Didn't realize it existed until Chipmunk mentioned it this week. I had joined a group for my son's ship but there is no current activity there. Seems like it was all back when the ship came back to Norfolk in 2015. He's been there almost a year now working on quals while ship is still in Newport News but they are hoping to move it to Norfolk in a few months. One of his roommates from Goose Creek is on the Stennis as well so maybe your son knows her. They were originally there about the same time but my son was one of the lucky ones who avoided any extra covid quarantines during boot camp (other than great wolf lodge of course!) and goose creek so got through fairly quickly compared to some. 

4kidsforfun - Welcome!! This is evidently one group on this site that I do not follow the new members joining. We are glad you are here. There are several of us that are currently active on the site. This group doesn't get much action, but since I heard there were several from other groups whose sailors were headed to Norfolk or at Newport News, Oceana, I wanted to have us do a shout out again. 

There are some things more unique to the East Coast than say San Diego. We do not have any web cams for watching our ships come in. Several of us have to rely on the local families to post pictures on our Ombudsman group page. 

Also, it is my understanding that there is no public transportation in the area, so it is almost imperative that our sailors have a vehicle, especially if the ship is back and forth between the shipyard and port. 

Also, crazy driving and accidents, as well being given tickets for things that may not be common in other areas of the country are something that I have learned about from several of the local sailors. Remind yours to mind their Ps & Qs, to watch their speed and to know what the local laws are with regards to speeding, traffic tickets and whether they might be a misdemeanor or not. 

These are no joke issues and even the best of our sailors can find themselves facing situations they had not planned for. 

This is a public group, so I am just saying this as a reminder - not everyone local sees our military as a blessing or a welcomed presence in this area, as they might be in other areas of our country. Our sailors have to be on their best behavior and do their best to remind those they are around that there will always going to be someone that is struggling with their place in life, but that is not every sailor, so may ours be the light and the good where they can be and share kindness and mercy no matter where they are. 

If there is ever an issue that you are not sure if you can address it to the group first, feel free to reach out to me and I will do my best to help guide you, as you are looking for answers to questions or situations that might arise. 

I know Chipmunk mentioned that there wasn't any transportation at Norfolk but I did find this on a Facebook site for Norfolk.

Northwoodsmom - Thank you for sharing this! I believe this is just for on base, but that is good to know. 

Good Afternoon - How are our Norfolk families doing?  

Chipmunk I am here even though my Sailor is in Oceana, close enough. It has been pretty quiet but I just got a message from my son, he got sunburn bad enough that his SLPO sent him to medical. His mom would of been all over that reminding him to put sunscreen on, he is very fair skinned and burns fast.

Northwoodsmom - Yes, Oceana is close enough. This group sort of encompasses that entire area, including Newport News. My son grew up in the south, playing outside all the time, but when we went swimming, they had sunscreen and a t-shirt on usually. My sailor can burn easily, especially on the beach, so my DIL makes sure he comes with lots of sunscreen! I am glad your son got some medical treatment. Hopefully they were able to give him something to help. 

Oh those sunburns are nasty!  Especially if they are out fishing!  I had one when we went for the family day cruise. I remembered sunscreen everywhere except my chest-I had a v-neck shirt on. It seriously changed the color of my skin permanently. That was a year ago and it still looks terrible. 

Good Morning!! I just wanted to check in with everyone. I know there were some bad storms at last in the Virginia Beach area last night. I haven't had a chance to check in with my sailor yet, but I figure no news is good news. 

But I wanted to see how the rest of you were doing and your sailors. 

Good Morning Chipmunk!  My sailor is not in port right now and we're hearing their underway has been extended so if the storms moved through his area, I'm sure they rode it out as they do on those ships.  I haven't really been tracking the Norfolk weather this past month.  Hopefully the base parking lots have not had any flooding issues?

Good Morning.  We dropped our sailor off last night and the wind and rain and seas were in an uproar. Hope everyone is ok.

My sailor was at his apartment in Newport News. He said they had frequent cloud to ground lightning, winds and heavy rain. He called this morning and said base seemed fine. Sounds like most of the damage was to Virginia Beach. 

my son also lives in apt in Newport News. However, he was on base for his duty day on Sunday. 

My son checked in with us last night, he is the Virginia Beach area and didn't know a thing about it. I heard it touched down between River Rd. And Great Neck Rd. Hurried and checked our Airbnb and everything was fine, had me sweating bullets for awhile. Thank the Lord no one was seriously injured.

My son just sent me a screenshot of a tweet from the NWS. The tornado that hit Virginia Beach was an EF 3. 

Oh Wow!! That is significant!!

I am glad to hear from everyone!! It is good to know that our sailors are fine and yes, if they are out to sea those big ships do rock n roll. 

Shanny, thank you for sharing the update. I am sure the community will pull together and help everyone out. 

Good Morning !! How is the Norfolk crew doing?

Mine son is now a civilian, but he will be staying in the area since his wife is stationed there. I think this was the first 4th of July that my son was able to watch fireworks in 7years, since before he went to BC. I was encouraging them to do something fun to celebrate the day. They did not want to get caught up in all of the traffic. I did hear that they were able to sit on their balcony and see the fireworks from a distance. I know my son was happy and DIL was as well, that they did not have to drive anywhere. 

Hi Chipmunk!  Thanks for checking in.  I'm glad to hear your son & DIL were able to enjoy some fireworks while relaxing on their own patio and avoiding the traffic jams.  That's the way to go!

Our family actually just got back from the Norfolk area yesterday.  Our sailor (son) is readying for deployment and drove his car home prior to his week of leave. Instead of flying back, my husband, our daughter and I decided to drive him back for a family road trip.  It takes us about 12 hours to make the drive so it was fun to make some old fashioned family road trip memories, like old times lol.  We rented a house in Hampton again and drove in Sunday, spent Monday together as a family and took him back to base Monday night.  It was nice to have some quality time together and overall was a relaxing and low-key holiday - the best kind!

WaterLily - Mine is "out there" doing their final pre-deplpyment certifications. He is actually closer to me than to Nofolk. A few days ago he was about a hundred miles due east FROM HERE!!! We went to the beach and waved. Marine Vessel Tracker showed that they moved, but he is still closer to me than Norfolk.

Mine too will be driving his car and some of his valuables down here before deployment. It is also a 12-hour drive (due south) but I think he intends to fly back. I don't want to do the drive back here by myself and I don't think anyone else will be easily able to take more time off after his 2 weeks here. 

Water Lily, good to hear from you and so happy you got a chance to enjoy some  family time. Wonderful memories those family road trips. Did they pick on each other all the way still. My son is in Virginia Beach area and we are making a road trip next week, 17 hours for us. We are picking our Sailors up and bringing him to his sister's wedding in Tennessee. First time our children will all be together in 17 years. Thought it was only 12 but y was corrected. Looking forward to also meeting our new daughter-in-law, first son got married in Korea last year.

WaterLily - That sounds like you had a wonderful time!! I am so glad that you were able to spend it with your sailor. 

Katharine - The Wave works!!! I am glad you are able to keep tabs on him. 

Northwoodsmom - That is so exciting, to have everyone together!! Take lots of pictures!

Katharine, I LOVE that you went to the beach and waved in the direction of his ship,  That is definitely the type of thing that I would have done also!  That's so exciting that he will have two weeks of leave soon.  Mine only had one week but he sure did pack a lot into that week.

Northwoodsman, that is SO exciting!  Being all together as a family after all of those years will be such a blessing and I know you will capture the moments in your memories and hopefully with lots of photos.  I hope your long road trip is uneventful and smooth.

And to answer your question - my sailor and his little sis did pick on each other a little but he's always doted on her and they have a close relationship so they enjoyed the extra time together in the car, thankfully!

Good news! We had another Sailor over to our home last night for dinner and a card game and then a little Bible Study together! We are so excited that our ministry is beginning to take off again. We have missed having those Sailors over. Our new Sailor will be coming over on Saturday and Sunday! Praise the Lord!

her! 

Hi all! I haven't posted on NFM since my sailor's PIR last August but I have been hanging around and reading :) He has finished A School and is now in Dam Neck for C school through the end of the year. I couldn't find a group for that location so I jumped in here. I will be going to visit him next week, can't wait!! 

Hello Ladies!

I'm writing this to see if any of you Moms have Sailor sons or daughters stationed here in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, at C school or on a ship or shore duty who might enjoy coming over to our home on the weekends. We get together and eat, play board games, watch movies or just get to know each other better. We are like a home away from their home. And it gives them something to do on the weekends. :) We love having them over! Let us know! 

Yvonne and John

P.S. If they don't have transportation, we are happy to pick them up and take them back to the base. 

Y &J

Yvonne & John, I absolutely love and deeply appreciate that you open your home to the sailors in the area.  My son is deployed now but I’ll be sure to connect with you in the future when he’s back.  He does not have an apartment so it’s always nice to have a comforting place to go to for a meal and some conversation.  God bless you!

hi. Yvonne and John. 

i am going to let my sailor know about your lovely and generous offer. we were all meant to be in community. too often our sailors are somewhat isolated.

tgcunny - I hope you had a wonderful time visiting your sailor!!

John & Yvonne - I am so glad that you are once again able to host our sailors in your home!!

Dawn,

That would be wonderful! We would love to meet your son and be happy to have him over to our home!  Thank you for letting him know about us. :)

Yvonne and John

WaterLily,

We look forward to connecting with you when your son comes back from deployment! And hopefully we will get to meet him and invite him over. :) We have two other Sailors who are also on deployment and they will be coming over when they get back! It is such a blessing that the Lord has opened the door again for us since the pandemic!

We will keep your son in our prayers while he is out there. 

God bless,

Yvonne and John

Does anyone know if there is a live cam like they have in San Diego for when ships leave? 

Katharine - To my knowledge there is not a live came for when ships leave, like there is in SD. Sometimes the local news will show something, so you might need to do a Google search. The other option is to check your ombudsman page. At least with my son's ship, when they were leaving or returning, some of the wives would post pictures that they had taken from one of the beach spots, and would share them in in our Ombudsman FB group. 

https://www.wtkr.com/news/military/crew-of-carrier-uss-eisenhower-d...

Katherine here’s a short clip I found on today’s deployment