Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

Anyone have a sailor planning a wedding?  On July 14 this bridal boutique in Suffolk, Virginia is giving away wedding dresses to military brides.  Here's the info and requirements to qualify:  http://www.wvec.com/community/Boutique-to-host-Operation-Wedding-Go...

Well according to that site I'm stuck out of luck. They only keep  individual photos for a year. MAN!!! I am so angry at myself! It really stinks. Heavy sigh.

Thanks for everyone's help.

BTsmom, did you call them to be certain? 

Thank you for pushing me to call. They still have them! I am sooo excited. It literally made my morning. Yay!

My sons ship was suppose to move from the shipyard to the base today.  Makes me happy because now he will have a 5 minute drive versus the 20-30 minute drive to the shipyard.  I think he will be able to do so many other things now being on the base.  I haven't talked to him today so hopefully it got moved.  He said it would be a really busy day.

He is bummed that the rest of us are leaving on vacation Saturday and he won't be able to go.  But such is life in the military. He said how come the year I can't go, everyone else goes.  He has not met one of his sisters boyfriend, so he is really anxious to "check him out". ha  Her boyfriend just got out of the ARMY after being in for 9 1/2 years.  I think they would have a lot to talk about. He did 2 tours in Afghanistan and 1 tour in Iraq. 

Storms yesterday really wreaked havoc in the area  - Norfolk had flooding, Virginia Beach had winds up to 70 mph and even a tornado touchdown.  Photo from wvec.com of downtown Norfolk and the Midtown Tunnel flooding - just what you want to see when you're under a river - NOT!  Any motorcycle-riding sailors trading in for a car yet?  :)

Amazing! I was looking through my son's things in his room and found my Sailor's graduation pictures from bootcamp! Yay! Saved us lots of money! 

Thanks for the support in trying to get new ones.

BTsmom, that's good to hear; you're welcome.  Pay it forward! :)

new to group. My daughter just arrived there from Japan. She is an OS to work with HSC group.

Welcome blm!  This is a fun and active group, lots of great people and information.  

For anyone with a sailor looking for something fun to do, the Military Challenge in Virginia Beach is coming up Saturday, July 26 - pass along this link to register:  Military Challenge 2014.  

BTsmom,

I'm glad you found the original pics and good to know the Photo Lab keeps the photos for longer than a year~~

Love this! "If preparing dishes in a cramped kitchen sounds daunting, imagine cooking in a small space hundreds of feet below the sea's surface for 170 of your closest friends."  Story:  Cooking in tight quarters: A submarine (aboard USS Pennsylvania; from the Philadelphia Inquirer)

Kathy-HSC is Helicopter Sea Combat, she is an Operations Specialist

Here's a serious question. I've been thinking about joining the Blue Star Mothers but my Sailor will more than likely never be deployed and pretty much stateside. I think I would feel guilty because I have no idea what it's like. What do y'all think about this?

BTsmom,

I don't think it matters if your Sailor wouldn't be deployed overseas.  He is enlisted and serving our Navy.  You can choose however you want to spend your time helping out our military in general.  It will be a great feeling to be involved and helping fellow Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, or Coast Guard!!  Go for it!!

CO-Twin,

I think it is a matter of the details count.  A little boat doesn't compare to a big destroyer and a ship is in no way a sub.  It is always better to get the terminology correct.

Can anyone tell me what is the weather like around Mother's Day in May in Norfolk??  Thinking of planning a visit to my Sailor daughter~~

It should be nice by then, everything starting to bloom.  Here's what May looked like this year, sort of all over the board but mainly warm!  Might be better later in the month to be safe for the warmer temperatures, because you never know.  These were the temps in May 2014:  http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/norfolk-va/23504/may-weather/1828   

and this page goes into more detail about average precipitation, clouds etc for May in Norfolk - http://weatherspark.com/averages/29954/5/Norfolk-Virginia-United-St...

So Sad... My norfolk son  can not get down to Goose Creek for his twins Graduation. Airfare too expensive and he is in school right now so could only come for the weekend. His best buddy in out to sea.

on the funny side...there are only two kinds of vessels in the Navy: submarines and targets! :)

yvonne

Is anyone here part of the CVN77 family and plans to attend the next FRG meeting? I would love to fly out from IL to attend, but can't.

Hello and Happy Monday to all.

singingbird - Lucky!! how nice that you were able to spend a weekend with your Sailor!! I will have to tell my Sailor about these places that you visited to give her ideas of where to explore too.

Tracy - what is an FRG meeting?

COTwin - that's too bad that your twin won't be able to go see his brother for his graduation. Lord knows why things like this happen but I am sure the one graduating will feel the love from a distance.

Catmom509 - I went to Norfolk over the Memorial day weekend and the weather was beautiful! Sunny, blue skies, warm and a nice breeze.

The FRG is the Family Readiness Group. They handle things like planning the homecoming festivities following a deployment, having fundraisers to help with those expenses and stuff like that. The hold monthly meetings during a deployment and get important information from the command to the families. The only problem is, you have to attend the meetings in person to get that information. We're in Illinois, so it's nearly impossible to do that.

Tracy, my husband is not on the CVN-77 so I won't be attending the FRG meeting but when my husband was deployed I remained living in San Diego until the ship returned and was unable to go to any FRG meetings. Our FRG had a mailing list and would e-mail the meeting minutea out a day or two after the meeting - maybe your FRG does something similar for times you are unable to attend the meetings?

Yes, they do the same thing, but of course dates aren't disclosed in email, only in person. I did get ahold of the secretary of the FRG who said the command hasn't given them a date yet, so go by the tentative date we were given by our sailor. I guess that's what we'll do until we hear otherwise.

Hi there Navy Moms. My family traveled to Norfolk this past weekend to pick up my Son's car and other personal belongings. They are very busy getting ready for this move to Florida. It saddened me to take his car, computer, etc. I know how much he has enjoyed having these while in Norfolk. We are only 232 miles from Norfolk so he was able to make the trip home on occasion. These guys and girls are doing an awesome job as they represent our country in defending our freedom. We are truly blessed. Hang in there Sailor Moms...we have got this!

That is great to hear! I am in MN. so haven't seen my son since xmas. I know he has been very busy.

KrisT1-I hear that. Saw my Sailor last in Jan. and won't get to see her again until next March! Going crazy missing her!

Anyone have any experience with, or know anything about the Hampton Inn close to base? In the pictures, it looks like an older one, but says it's been completely updated.

We just stayed there in June for one night before we got into the Navy Lodge.  It was very nice!

Marcy & Leach73,

Thanks for the info on Norfolk's May weather!!  Wow, 88* and 90* for Mother's Day weekend??  At least being by the ocean it should be breezier--I hope!!  Trying for the weekend of May 9th since that is my birthday!!  Will be here for almost a week (Thursday to Tuesday) and the Norfolk Botanical Garden will be on my list.  Any good restaurants with a mix of salads, sandwiches, pasta??  How about a steak place?

Oh, see the Discussion about Things to Do in Norfolk!!  Gonna pop in there~~

Planning trips is so much fun! Catmom- Even though yours is still a few months away, I like that you are starting to think it through. When I was there we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Food and Service was good...although I think this was in Hampton. I don't know when I'll get to go back but I hope it will be sooner than later. I miss my girl so much but am so thankful that I get to at least text, talk, and facetime everyday.

She texted me yesterday to tell me that she is going to get a "little sister" that arrives on Tuesday and she is going to get in touch with her before then so that she can start to make her feel welcome. Awwww....I thought that was so nice of her to do that. My daughter's sponsor was also nice to her when she arrived in Norfolk back in May so now my Sailor wants to pay it forward.

Singingbird - I got your message and I will reply soon!

Thanks ladies! have a Fantastical day!! Blessings!

Good morning all!! (well, it's morning here in Hawaii). I'm finally planning to visit my sailor in October. Is the weather still decent during that time?

Leach73 & abuon18,

Thanks for the restaurant suggestions.  Got them all written down on my "Norfolk pad."  My Sailor daughter lived in Virginia Beach for a few months and really liked it, so we'll probably visit that area for sure~~

Thank you so much Deanna! Reservations are made for the fall and knowing the hotel is nice is one less thing to worry about. Getting very anxious for our trip and so excited to see our son get off that ship :)

I will be coming to norfolk for the Family day on the Roosevelt at the end of this month. This is the first time I have been to Norfolk and would like to do some fun things with my sailor. Hopefully we don't have to stay in Norfolk the whole time, if he gets a few days of leave. Any suggestions of things to do in and around the area?

Tracy- What ship is your son on?

DebbieB - look at the Discussion up above from Marcy. Good info!!

Anyone - how can we go about finding out when a Family Fun Day is for our Sailor's ship?

ChambosMom- He's on the Bush, on deployment right now.

Tracy- Mine is on the Bataan and in the same area as your son's ship. 

If you like coffee then Bad Ass Coffee is a must!

They are at 619 18th Street in Virginia Beach and serve the best Hawaiian coffee around!  I attached a link to their Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/badasscoffee.virginiabeach

Pat L. in IL commented on shell's group "Molly's Adopt A Sailor" on Navy For Moms

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ATTENTION MAMAS! Have a son or daughter deployed? I have an opening for our October adoption. Have them go to mollysadoptasailor.com and fill out the "Request Support" form.

REMEMBER, we support ALL branches of the military!

I know it's still a ways away, but now that we're past the halfway point of deployment, I'm getting excited about the homecoming of my son's ship. I'm wondering from anyone who has been through one recently how the day will go and how it all works. How do we get on base? Is there some sort of gate pass or list of names? Can we take bag chairs onto the pier? Is there a limit to the number of people each sailor can have? Etc, etc, etc...These are just questions running through my head when I think about it.