Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  My sailor son has duty and watch today so I'll be watching football at the Navy Lodge.   So glad to be close by, had great fun yesterday and have fun plans for the weeken.     karting.jpg

My son asked my MIL to come to Norfolk for Thanksgiving (she is staying with her other son/grandchildren in Virginia Beach) so he would have a home cooked Thanksgiving meal.  So she is there all week and he has been over spending time around work schedule.  Yesterday, he finds out/realizes he has watch tonight when they have dinner planned that she is cooking.  So there she is and rest of family there enjoying the feast while he is not able to come.  He says "part of my job, mom....I don't mind.  though Gram better have some leftovers!"  Can't wait to see him in 3.5 weeks when we go there to celebrate Christmas with him.  He already has me lined up to cook for him and the suite-mates one evening.  And most exciting thing is he made E-4 this week after 2 months on the job and 7 mos in the Navy!  I know for sure God found the right place when he directed this young man to serve in the World's Greatest Navy!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and I pray for all of our sailors and you their families every day. 

my seaman will be here soon and was looking up the base tonight online and mentioned that there was no sporting arenas in driving distance as he is a sports fanatic and wants to arrange to see games in his free time. football, basketball, wrestling! so we are wondering what do the sailors here during liberty

 If he likes hockey, there are the Norfolk Admirals.  For baseball, the Norfolk Tides are the Triple-A farm team for the Baltimore Orioles and they have a cool stadium right on the Elizabeth River - from Portsmouth you can take the ferry to the game!  

thanks marcy, i will tell him that, but i know he is really into football, basketball and wrestling.

My son just arrived Tues at the Norfolk base.  He will be living on his ship and is under the impression that there is no cell phone or internet on the ship unless you go out on deck.  He is still learning but is this true or is there a place on the ships that they can go besides out on the deck for connection? Thanks for any information?

Kev's mom, This is the case for my son who is also in Norfolk.

Hi Kev's mom, my son said that there are locations on the ship that they get reception but for the most part he goes on deck. There are computers on board the ships that they can use, not sure if they use while docked but I have received emails from him while at sea.

My son also lives on board his ship and yes he has to go outside to get a good signal.  Depending on the ship he is on, there might be someplace he can access a computer and get to the internet.  I know my son goes to another bldg sometimes to use the computer

Thanks for all you info...I was really surprised about no service on the ship while at port.  One of my stress relievers was going to be that I could just pick up the phone and call him now in the evenings, but if he is on his ship, I guess not.  Welcome to the Military..Huh!  Thanks again for your input.  I think my son is just feeling so disconnected right now and not starting out very happy with his first assignment.  He did great Thru RTC and A school and now is having problems.  Did this happen to any of your all's Sailors?

Hello Kev's Mom.  My son lives on the USS Enterprise and he has to go to the hangar bay or flight deck to get a signal.  The signal elsewhere on the ship is blocked by all of the steel on the ship.  The Big E has a computer room (thankfully) and I was able to keep in contact with him during the 8 month deployment (returned 11/4/12) via email.

I am heading to Norfolk this weekend for a few days for something exciting!!!  Can't wait to see my son!

@Kev'sMomKim....My son also enjoyed A school and then got his first assignment to Norfolk.  He's been there about a year and a half and not happy with his division.  He's already done cranking (working in the mess for 3 months and 18 hour days).  He got a fungus infection on his hands from doing so many dishes.  He's a CTT but is doing six months in Engineering.  He's actually enjoying being in Engineering.  His ship will be deployed next year, so we'll see what happens then.  My son does live on his ship but will stay at his friends apartments on the weekends.  He also hangs out at a coffee house to use his laptop.  Good luck to your son!!

Hi! Son lives on ship No signal at all. better signal from out on the ocean!
Goes to coffee place or friends for signal and to get off ship for awhile.

Kev'sMom, there is a great place on base called the Wind and Sea Recreation Center in Building C-9 on Bacon Ave in Devary Hall, with wi-fi internet.  Wind & Surf Internet Cafe is upstairs; downstairs is Bellissimo Espresso Cafe with wi-fi, TVs and Starbucks coffee.  The center has pool, pingpong, movies, Xbox, monthly events.  Here's the link; scroll down to Liberty & Recreation Centers.  Does your son have a car?  I feel it's a "must" for living in Norfolk - just for getting around the base and to the NEX, for starters!  :)

 Hope he gets settled in  soon; once they start making friends, it all seems to fall into place.  it's a great area with lots to do (again, a car is truly needed).

How fun is this?! "William Shatner will beam down for USS Enterprise inactivation cer...

Hi oregonmom,

I'm an Oregon mom too. My son is stationed very close to Norfolk. He is at Little Creek Amphibious base. Where are you in Oregon? I'm near Portland.

@Kev's mom...My son did A school in Pensacola and loved it  made some good friends.....first duty assign.  Norfolk ....he is still adjusting to it...He loves his job and his work but does not like the area...we drove his car down to him and that has been his salvation....he has couple guys he hangs out with when they are not at sea...my son lives in barracks....we went to visit in August and if he doesn't get his leave request we will go back to see him around Holidays.  Hope things get better for your sailor...allie

so u need a car in norfolk, va! i will tell my son to think about that!, he will be on uss san jacinto, is there a group for that ship?

@dannysmom.....my son is not on a ship  he lives in the Barracks  and his job is 3 miles from his barracks so he was walking very very early in morning cause he started at six in morning....that was main reason we drove his car down to him  ...but he is able to go get groceries now and go to mall and movies etc...first month he spent $400 in cab fare...when he wanted to get off base ....it's an old buick but it runs gets him where he needs to be.  Not sure if there is a group but you can search groups and see  most likely.  good luck your  son....if you live on ship your job is there and meals are there my son has to walk to hangar for his job and  go to galley for meals or he cooks his own.  take care 

thx guys, thats very useful information that we will talk about when he comes home for leave before going there.

My sailor is taking the Christmas Leave and will be working for the new year holiday.  I am looking to stay near base to be with him in the evenings (12/26 - 1/1).  We need a room that has possibly a seperate bedroom (closed door) and a sofa bed at a resonable rate and is clean and safe.  Suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

My Sailor ship will be nhome for christmas and i'm trying to plan our move for this month, however i have no idea of good Area. He is Base in Norfolk but his ship yard bis in Portsmouth and he dont want to  be too far from there. We are also looking for pravite or military school in the area for our 5yr old.....Can Someone plz tell me a name for a good Apartment that dont cost too much ?? or do ya'll think it's best we stay in Base Housing ?????????

HI JNJNavy.....we stayed at Navy Lodge when we visited....it was nice  $75 per night for a room with 2 queen beds and kitchenette....breakfast in lobby in morning  I don't know anywhere else...it's on Hampton Blvd not far from Norfolk Base....

Proud Wife - here is a link to the main page of housing support and how they can help you out locally.  http://www.cnic.navy.mil/CNIC_HQ_Site/WhatWeDo/FleetandFamilyReadin...

There is a lot of good information from the Family Readiness Group and here is another web address that has a lot of information.

http://www.navy.mil/navydata/infoIndex.asp?id=H 

allie1928- we stayed at the Hampton Inn right next to the base and there are places you can walk to to eat. They offer breakfast in the morning (included in the price.)  I do not know if they have a suite set up but the rooms were nice more than the Navy Lodge but they do have a military rate. We got a room for our son @ $109.00 a night with a king bed. Just a suggestion.

JNJNAVYGF.... last year my son mentioned they had a thing called "Operation Jingles", which helped the cost of the families coming to Norfolk to visit their Sailors for the holidays.  Ask your Sailor to ask about it, mine has not mentioned it this year because he is coming home on the 27th thru Jan.  If I am not mistaken, but I could be wrong (it was a year ago) they offered to cover the cost of some hotels for a certain amount of days, and discounted rates at others.  Would not hurt to ask or check in on it...

btw, marine_navymom stayed at Navy Lodge!  And thanks to her I now know what a Nesco is ;)  

Proudwife, here are two more groups you could ask - http://www.navyformoms.com/group/navywivesofnorfolkportsmouthva and http://www.navyformoms.com/group/ladiesofva (try asking your ?s by posting and also using the "send message to group" function).  A good apt is "The Myrtles" in Portsmouth (the three-story brick, not the high-rise) - a little pricey but really nice. It's right next to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth and a straight run down Effingham Street to the Shipyard. http://www.apartmentguide.com/apartments/Virginia/Portsmouth/The-My...

Here is a picture of a barracks barge I took in Norfolk in September. 

Happy to find this group!  Son arrived in Norfolk just about 2 months ago.  I love seeing the barracks barge as that's where he had been living.  Now is on ship.  Phone and skype don't work all that well from barge and looking forward to seeing if it's better anywhere on the ship.  He's been waiting until he's been out and about before calling us.

He may be getting to come home on 2nd tier holidays.  Is there a travel office on base?  He's currently at BAE and wasn't sure where to go/who to contact about setting up travel arrangements.

thank everyone for your help

PW - :)  Keep us posted! 

CindyLou, welcome and love the pic of the barge - at least it look like portholes there, though not exactly Carnivale Cruise style lol  

All I can recommend re travel is making your own arrangements via Southwest Airlines if you can, b/c they let you 'bank' your $$ if you have to change plans.  Cabs to Norfolk Int'l Airport are about $20 - 25.  

CindyLou and others,

If your son or any other sons or daughters would like to have Christmas dinner with ;us (if they can't make it home on Christmas day) and be in a home atmosphere, we would love to have him and them join us. My husband and I have been opening our home and inviting sailors, soldiers and marines over for 12 1/2 years now.  Please let us know if he or any of the others would be interested.  (Yvonne Wagner)

My daughter Kristine just got stationed in Norfolk.  She is with the USS Truman.  How do we get mail or packages to her? 

You will need the name of her division, since the ship's crew numbers in the thousands and people can have very similar names.  Mail should be addressed:

Seaman Jane Smith

(Insert name of) Division

USS Harry S. Truman CVN 75

FPO AE   09524-2875

I am sure she will be thrilled to be getting mail from home!

Thank you so much for that information - I will share it with everyone she knows. 

Hi Yvonne,

Sorry it's taken me so long to answer you, but our son has been invited to a friend's house.  I really love how quickly our sailors bond and how open all of you are to opening up your home and hearts!  Our son-in-law just hired a young man who had no place to live, so they have offered to take him in as a roommate until he gets on his feet.

Because of your sweet offer to have our son and other sailors to your home, we have made sure that this young man will be with all of our family on Christmas Eve and Christmas. 

Marcy - Thanks for your advice about Southwest Airlines.  Our son is definitely able to come home on 2nd tier leave for the New Year and I was able to actually get a good rate on a flight!

It's wonderful being able to connect with Moms who are much more experienced in all of this.  One day, I look forward to being someone who can give somebody else some help.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

I apologize for it taking so long for me to say sorry regarding the talk of deployment dates.  Computer at home just came back on.  I am an excited newbie mom.  I definitely understand the importance of such information and will be diligent in my discussions.  Again, I apologize.  Thank you for pointing it out to me.

Hi, I was hoping for some help.  My son has just been assigned to the USS Enterprise a month ago(just in time for it to pull into port).  He is currently living on the ship but will move into barracks or the "barge" soon.  He said they have dismantled the on-ship post office and doesn't know how to get mail.  Does anyone know where I could send him a Christmas package or even Christmas cards?

Hi Bigmama - My son is is in the same boat, literally.  He is still assigned to the Enterprise and I have no idea how to get mail to him.  We will just have to wait and see.

I've heard that the pillaging will begin soon.  Everything will be dismantled and removed from the Big E.  "The times, they are a changin'."

After reading your posts about mail and pkgs., the only thing that came to my mind was perhaps he could get a POBox at the Post Office.  Not sure what that would cost, but it's worth looking into.

@ Theresa.....that's awful.  Prayers going out to the family and shipmates.

I apologize for sounding naive, but is that fatal or an injury?  I am new to this, what is the well deck?  And yes, they will definitely be in my prayers.  God is good!