Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

Sad for my son. He went back to get his Elk and it was gone, A lion carted it off.

Forever proud... When my boys were little our local vet took us along for a vet call to a local wildlife rehab center. The lady there showed up the lion enclosure. She had platforms built up in trees that were 8 to 10 feet up. She told us how the DOW drops off road kill for her and they put an elk in the enclosure and the lion will grab it and jump up on the platform with it!! That is how strong they are. They also have the ability to open their mouths wide enough to grab an adult human skull. 

My son also went right from the airport to a moving ship when he arrived at norfolk. At some point on deployment he was assigned a barrack so he did have a place to go when he got back. There are also REALLY nice storage places that are really cheap for the sailors to store their stuff.

CO_Twin! How terrible! All that work for nothing! So, I guess I won't be buying a freezer. :)

Proud AG Mama, Welcome! The base-pretty big! :) The area:there's a lot to do here, from museums to the beach to Busch Gardens, to Williamsburg, (this is a big history area).  And a little farther away is DC, just to mention a few.

And if your son wants a home cooked meal and likes to play board games, go bowling, mini golfing he would be welcome to join my husband and I and other sailors at our house on the weekends.  We get together on Saturday evenings from 5 to 9 and on Sundays from 1 to 5. 

We've been here for the last 14 years inviting sailors, soldiers and marines over to have a place to hang out when they're not busy doing other things. :)

Forever proud, we would be happy to invite your sailors over here too when he gets back.

Yvonne and John Wagner

P.S. If you want to know more about us, just go to our page on this site.

Yvonne - thank you so much.  Your invite is a God send. I don't know if I will be able to get my sailor to take the step of meeting new people, but I am sure going to try.

My son can be very driven. He was very focused and accomplished a lot in BC and A School. He has been at his station, like I think I mentioned, for a week. He seems to have lost his drive already.  He can be on the shy side. The sailors he has met so far are into computer games, which is fine short term, but he needs other interests. I would love to see him get out and join your group of sailors.Thanks again. You may be a life saver, at least how I am feeling right now.

Hello all!

I am back from my long weekend visit to Norfolk, or Nor-fick, as the locals call it. On Friday night, she drove us over to Ghent and had dinner. I liked the feel of the small town with the shops and restaurants. On Saturday, it was so great to see my daughter in her element while giving us a tour of her ship. She showed it with pride and explained so much to us. It was overwhelming! We also met some of her shipmates and I made sure to thank each and everyone of them for their service and sacrifice. After the tour of the Porter, we drove over to the Fleet Fest and enjoyed the music, food , car and bike show, and all of the informational booths and displays of the Navy jets and helicoptors. The lines were super long for the ship tours! It is breath-taking to see how humongous these ships are! After the fest, our Sailor took us to downtown Norfolk to the MacArthur mall because we had planned on catching The Book of Life movie, but before the movie we got to walk around the mall and do a little shopping! That is always fun!!

On Sunday, we went to Grace Bible Church I think that is in Virginia Beach. My daughter has been going to this church since she got to Norfolk and really likes it. It is similiar to our home church in Chicago but on a much smaller scale. After that we went to Lynn Haven mall and found the Pizzeria Uno with Chicago style deep dish pizza because that is what she was in the mood to eat. Well, it was ok, not as good as Chicago but I give it credit! The rest of the day we just hung out at the hotel and lo and behold, my Sailor dozed off and rested. I caught myself just staring at her while she slept with amazement at who she has become in her Navy journey. God bless her!

For anyone who's loved one is on a destroyer...our FRG is selling a beautiful ornament. It does not have a ship name on it so can be used for any destroyer. Please contact me if you would like to order. 

No, they are acrylic. They are 5.5 by 5.5 white. The color is just a piece of paper. They are called "Swoflakes". $15. Please contact frgjasondunham@gmail.com if you are interested in ordering. 

Hi everyone.  I'm new to the group, but not N4M.  My sailor just got to Norfolk this week and is looking at getting all set up.  Just wanted to say hello!

hello! my sailor just arrived to Norfolk today :) I'm new to the group, but I was apart of the PIR group on here and loved all the support from everyone

My sailor just arrived back in Norfolk after letting his mom enjoy his company for 10 days!!

nicole1818 and LadyDi,

Welcome to N4M and we hope your sailors will enjoy the Navy as well as this area.

My husband and I have been here for the last 14 years, inviting sailors over to our home on the weekends. We play board games and sometimes other activities as well as eat together on Saturday evenings and on Sunday afternoon we invite them over for a home cooked sit down meal with home made bread and dessert. You can see more about us on our page on this site. If you think your sailors would be interested in joining us and having a place to hang out away from their ships or the base itself, please let them know about us. We can pm our cell number to you if you like.      My husband spent 20 years in the Navy: 10 enlisted and 10 as a Navy Chaplain so these sailors are important to us.:)

Yvonne and John Wagner

nicole1818, 

I am from the same area as you; in fact my sister lives in the same town as you do! Small world! :)

Yvonne

Welcome Lady Di & Nicolel818 :)

Nicolel818 & Yvonne - I'm in Discovery Bay, right over Vasco Road :)

Hello Ladi Di, Nicolel818 and JackieD! I used to live in Antioch before my move to Hawall a year ago! I was in Norfolk visiting my son 2 weeks ago..oh how I miss that kid!

Does anybody here know anything about hardship separation?

Found this info on the internet Lovemysailor: http://girightshotline.org/en/military-knowledge-base/regulation/de...

I know of someone who did do this but in the Air Force..and unfortunately it also hurted his career after getting out when applying for a job...just wanted to share. Hope this helps and everything is ok..

Hi Yvonne and John!  Thanks for the invite for my son.  I mentioned it to him last night when we talked and he sounded interested. I'll try and get him in touch some how.  He actually reports to the ship today for his first day - I'm anxious to see how it goes!

Hi Nicole1818 welcome as well to the group.  We're both newbie's here I see :) 

That's great LadyDi!  I will pm you my cell number so he can give us a call. The more sailors in our home, the merrier! :)

Yvonne

Wow! It is a small world! My sister doesn't live far from Vasco Rd. Amazing! I'm from Castro Valley.

Yvonne

Yvonne, it is a small world.  I was born and raised in San Francisco and I've been living out here for the past 8 years.  I love the quiet and peaceful surroundings out here.  My kids have family on their dad's side in Pleasanton.

San Francisco! That's my favorite city. I worked there for 21/2 years before getting married.

They Bay Area...my old stomping grounds. :)

Have a great evening.

Yvonne

Well my son leaves today to start a new journey overseas. My heart breaks that I am not able to be there to see him off.

Cindy D - I feel bad for you.  It just breaks your heart I am sure to not see your son off.  How often do you normally see your son each year?  How long will he be gone?

My son has not deployed yet, so I can't even imagine how that will feel not talking to him. 

HuffyMom23 - I usually see my son maybe once a year but it depends on deployments. He has been on 3 deployments in the last 3 years each for 6-9 months. He will be gone this time for 2 years. Skype will be my new best friend! He was excited to go so I a really trying to be strong but it will be a long 2 years.

awe I am sorry Cindy. Hang in there, It is hard I know. We are here for you to cry on our virtual shoulders.

You are a good egg Cindy

Tracy - We're going to be in Norfolk visiting our sailor as well (although my party isn't nearly as big!) Right now, the only thing I can find open on Thanksgiving that would be serving turkey is Cracker Barrel. There are three in the area. I called the one in Virginia Beach. Yvonne might have a better idea for us when she reads this!!!!!!!!!!

so my son is leaving on Saturday for Norfolk.   this time is worse than when he went to Chicago for basic and A school for me.   

Jeannie, he will like Norfolk - lots of great things to do, the winter weather is way better than Great Lakes, and hopefully you can plan a visit!  Norfolk and Navy Lodge info

i hope so..  so little information on this move.  gives me anxiety.

Co-Twin - The egg is so cute!

Tracy - My son left for one of his deployments the day after Thanksgiving and were staying at the Navy Lodge where they have the kitchens. So I ordered the cooked turkey dinner from Kroger's with all the fixings and then heated it up in the room and it was like having Thanksgiving at home. Well almost.

juliw- We won't be there on Thanksgiving day, but since he missed Thanksgiving and Christmas both last year, we wanted to have a "pass around" meal instead of ordering off menus once while we are there. I'm sure he gets tired of eating out and I know he misses family dinners. I may do as Cindy D did, and just order a big meal and take it back to the hotel. We're not staying at Navy Lodge, but I'm sure we can use the lobby to all sit and eat together one evening. We tried to upgrade our room to a kitchen, but too late for that as the hotel is full. 28 years ago we were there over thanksgiving when my sister was in A school, and my mom fixed an entire turkey dinner in the hotel kitchenette!

Tracy - I'm sorry that you can't get access to a kitchen of any kind. In my world, that's a horrible thing! We're staying at the Navy Lodge like Cindy D suggested and I can't get my family to agree to making a home-cooked meal for our sailor. *shaking head sadly* Everyone knows sailors want home-cooked meals........:)

So - just my 2 cents - The Navy Lodge is pretty nice (I've stayed there twice and both times never had any issues) and if your sailor wants some good chinese food I'd suggest, "Royal Garden".  Best curry chicken and fried rice!  If anyone is interested, I can pass out the address. 

Morning all!  I have a quick question, that you may or may not be able to answer.  My son actually lives in an apartment off base - and his ship is being retrofitted I believe at the moment.  However, last night he said he had to "sleep on the barge".... What is a barge? I keep thinking of those things you see being pushed down the Mississippi River by a tow boat :-)