Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

Happy Birthday to my two youngest today! My daughter is 22 and my Navy son is 20.  I am happy to have my daughter home from college for her birthday.  But we are sad to miss sharing it with our son.  Second year in a row missing his birthday.  But we all understand and are extremely proud he is serving our country.  Hopefully his Aunt and Uncle out there in Norfolk will take him out for his birthday tonight.  I hope everyone is staying safe and warm in all this crazy winter weather.  We are suppose to get snow again today and tomorrow.  But we are not experiencing the craziness of some of these other states. 

Happy Friday All!

HuffyMom23 - Happy Birthday to your kiddos!  I'm glad you can at least spend it with your daughter - and I'm sure your sailor knows you are thinking of him! 

My sailor & his roommate are heading to VA early (2am) tomorrow morning.  He made it back to NY last night - whew!

The Tiger Cruises sound amazing - I sure hope the Truman does something so my hubby can go (and maybe me too!).

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend ;-)

Hi all - Happy Monday!  My son & his roommate made it to VA on Saturday.  They got their apt rented - now just waiting for the movers to get their furniture delivered.  They both report to their ships on Thursday so are really hoping furniture comes today or tomorrow.  I guess they don't deliver on the weekends so if it doesn't get delivered they are going to have an issue!  Fingers crossed it all works out.

Hey all!  Just a heads-up to share with your sailors from Naval Operational Security (OPSEC) posted today:  "Be aware of a spear phishing campaign targeting users with a Navy Federal Credit Union account. There are multiple senders and the subject line of the malicious emails vary, but appear similar to "Account Alert", "NFCU Notification", "Notification Alert", or "Account Notification". The email contains an attachment that links to a phishing page.
OPSEC Best Practices: Verify links and sources of emails."

Thank you Marcy! I sent an email to my sailor to let her know!

have a great day!

Hi all - Happy Tuesday!

Thanks for sharing that Marcy - I've forwarded it on to my sailor too.

Happy Friday!

Hi all - Happy Tuesday!

Michelle - my son just got to Norfolk last week so unfortunately I can't offer any suggestions for a mechanic, but I am going to make note of suggestions you get!

Hi Michelle!  I'm checking with my son who is stationed there to see who he used for some recent car work. He did ask if there is something specific your sailor needs or is it just general mechanic work?

Mechanic Info:  Here is info posted by another member a while back (a 2nd member also had work done there) "

Accurate-Tune Plus 757-226-8863, JT is the gentleman to talk to. My son had several things done there and I talked to him personally.  They also have great reviews and we were referred to them."  Good Luck!

DARmom, awesome you could dig that up!  I just made a new Discussion and called it "CAR FAQs for sailors" with a compilation of moms' recommendations and other info, so we'll have one place to add good info when the subject comes up again, as it often does!  

Michelle, tell your son to take it to Maaco in Portsmouth.  They fixed my son's driver side car window when it went off the track.  Charged very little too.  Phone 757-335-6490 and they are open Saturdays till noon.

ps I think they were extra-accomodating as he was about to deploy for a few weeks  :)  Anyway they were great about taking care of it.  

Hi all - Happy Monday!  This was my beautiful SoCal sunrise this morning on my way to work.  Just had to share....

Hi all!  I almost never post since I don't have a lot to share about the Norfolk area since I live in Florida even though my sailor is in Norfolk.  With that said, I am looking for advice.

My son said he will be shipping out for the very first time in his 5 years with the Navy soon, (I have not asked for dates, details etc, as I know I won't get them) so I was hoping I'd get some pointers from the mom's who've been there done that.

I have his ship address, and he said I could follow the Facebook page of his ship to get any other details, but are there any other tips or things I should know as he heads out?

Thanks so much!

My sons ship Facebook page is wonderful. Captain writes posts and they post lots of pictures while underway and on deployment. Helps Mom a lot to see these things. Always pour over pictures to see a glimpse of my sailor. Such a thrill when I see him.

I put his phone on Military hold while he is gone and he gets no charges the whole time. He can use the ship phone and we can FB message and email. 

I believe my son had an iPad or his laptop on board. 

Abuoun18 - I know my son has added me to the OMBUDSMAN email list, but not sure about the FRG one. (what does that stand for?) I've asked him to make sure he adds me to that as well.

CO-TwinSalorsMom - We gave him an iPad recently so hopefully he'll remember to take it with him.  He also mentioned he would be able to bring his Xbox with him, does that seem reasonable?

Good morning everyone! I don't post very often but I do read everyone's posts. I'm wondering if anyone else has a sailor deployed on the USNS Arctic. The Arctic doesn't have a group here or a Facebook page. Apparently, it's crewed by civilians. 

I have no idea about an xbox. My son is an IT so it makes sense that he has access to FB and text mom.

Hi all - Happy 1st day of Spring!

Thanks everyone for your great ideas and suggestions for when my sailor goes underway.  I appreciate it!

Welcome batmom90!  You're in the right place.  This group covers the Hampton Roads area, which includes Norfolk (largest base in the world), Newport News, Joint Expeditionary Base (JEB) Little Creek, Oceana/Dam Neck, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Williamsburg and Yorktown.  Interesting fact:  Hampton Roads is home to over 20% of the entire US Navy!  

Hi all - Happy Tuesday!

June - congrats to you on becoming a grandmamma!  My hubby sooooo wants to be a grandpapa lol! (I'll admit, I'd like it too, but don't see it happening anytime soon.)

My son is going to be at Naval Base in Norfolk.  Don't know anything about the better & safer areas and good apartments.  Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks, Tonya M.  Is your sailor in an apt complex?  

Here's the link with contact info for the Navy Housing Welcome Center for Norfolk, a good resource and they can help with leases.  I'm with abuon18 - like Ghent very much too and the commute is easy - no freeway needed, and no tunnels or bridges in between.  Old Dominion University is there too.  Wherever your sailor looks, be aware that commuter-hour traffic is a real concern, and tunnel and bridge blockages can ruin your day  :(  

My sailor's single.

Try joining this group - "Navy Home Search" on Facebook.  A mix of Navy people posting their needs/ISO's, and Realtors posting listings both for lease and for sale.  People share a lot of good information there.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/137720826328215/

I'm not sure if he receives BAH yet.  I appreciate knowing that Larchmont and Ghent are the areas that are considered safe in Norfolk.  Are they the only safe areas?  I think he'd rather not have a long commute or have to deal with traffic, but would want something safe.