Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

If your son is going to Norfolk everyday he might want to reconsider moving to Newport News. He will have to deal with the HRBT, (Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel) everyday. that can be a real pain. One fender bender can add a huge amount of time to his daily commute.

He might want to look at apartments in Virginia Beach. It will be a 20-40 minute commute depending on if he is closer to the oceanfront or an expressway. Lots of sailors in Virginia Beach area.

A furnished 1 bedroom in Chesapeake (another town close to expressways) is about $1,000/month. An unfurnished 1 bedroom in Virginia Beach can run about $900.

He should check with the housing office first. They might have some leads on available apartments. I also know that getting approval to live outside of housing isn't always easy.

Hi all - Happy Monday!

My son lives in Va Beach with a roommate.  We visited in July and it's a nice apartment/complex.  Lots of amenities.

http://www.ripheat.com/midtownCityView.php

Thanks for all your help on apartments! My son is an E4 now and saving up so he can afford something. One of the places he was looking at is  http://www.liveatcordobahampton.com/ Does anyone know of it or the area it is in? Thanks you are all so helpful!

Hi all - Happy Wednesday.

I saw a disturbing story on the news this morning out of VA. A reporter & her cameraman were shot & killed on live tv during a broadcast and the lady they were interviewing was injured.  And this was a tourism segment at a water park. Absolutely horrible and heartbreaking for the families.  I just can't fathom what would possess a person to do something like this. 

Hello everyone, my granddaughter is leaving for her ship next week, and I was wondering if she should take a small suitcase with her civilian clothes? how much room will she have on her ship? Just curious.

Your Granddaughter will have a seabag with her and possibly her day pack and maybe one other bag. she should have all she needs. they have a small locker and the space under their rack mattress I think it is about 4-6 inches deep. I know my sons take some limited civies with them for shore leave.

No suitcase. A seabag for all of her Navy gear, a garment bag for dress whites, a backpack for civilian clothes and misc items. All of those will fold flat as a pancake for storage which is minimal.

If she is deploying she will need to have some conservative clothes for port calls. The less she takes the better. Remember she has to carry all of the stuff down a very long pier.

Check with the USO office in the airport.  They should be able to contact someone.

http://www.norfolkairport.com/

757-233-0567 (phone)

Second floor of the arrivals terminal.  That telephone number is the USO number.

Hello!  Do you have any info that would help me keep informed while my son is on deployment? I read somewhere that we need to sign up for info to be emailed to me, and he needs to connect with the communications unit on the ship as well... Just want to stay posted.  Was also wondering if we con welcome him home when he returns?  thank you!

Email List: To be included in the email distribution list, your Truman Sailor must email the Communication Liaison from his or her ship account at HSTFRG_RSVP@yahoo.com. Have your Sailor provide his or her rank/rate, name, department and division along with the names of people they wish to add, their email addresses, and relationship to the Sailor.

Navymomnow - I posted below the info my son had for the Truman.  If yours is on a different ship you would need to find the email for the FRG (Family Readiness Group) & have your sailor email the same info to them!

Navymomnow, you can also contact the ship's Ombudsman Team for your son's ship and get the info for getting on their list and the FRG.  Include his name, rate, rating, and your relationship in your email.  Here's how - http://navyformoms.com/group/whatsanombudsmanandhowtocontactthem/fo...   And yes, you can be there for for homecoming.  The Ombudsmen and the FRG will have the information, which gets more detailed as the date nears.  Just remember, no discussion of actual dates here on NavyforMoms.com or anywhere else, per Naval operations security  (OPSEC)  :)

Alyce, my son says that your son's command has to call the duty van to have it dispatched.  Does your son have a sponsor at his new command?  That person should know - and may even arrange to pick him up personally.

hi all,

in preparation for deployment my sailor has decided to get married!!!??? ack! :) so, do any of you wise folks have info on that - do you need to get 'permission' - sailor is E4 - or do you just go to the Justice of the Peace? As much as we would prefer to get one deployment finished first, they have other plans. :(

I anticipate it will be a 'spur of the moment' thing as there is no telling when there is a day off, or duty, and sadly we won't be flying across the county to be there for it. very $$$$ to do that when it's planned let alone last minute.

To Laurenw and Alyce,

The sailors do need a car, but a lot of times friends will be willing to transport them. 

We wanted you two and any other moms that we(my husband and I) open our home on the weekends and invite sailors to come over for food and board games and movies. we also go mini golfing, civil war re-enactments, Williamsburg on Vet. Day(free for all military). We've been here in Virginia Beach for 15 years doing this. We like to provide a 'home away from home' for them and give them a place to hang out. :) My husband spent 20 years in the Navy, both enlisted and as a Navy Chaplain. If you think your sons...or any daughters too...would be interested in coming over we can pm you our cell number so they can get a hold of us. We can contact them too if they are okay with that.

John and Yvonne

oops....'to know'

Singingbird - Read your comments regarding Alyce's question of whether to get a bike or a car. How does one decide? if you are assigned to a ship and don't know when you will deploy, what happens if you get the car and then have to store it, etc. Is it really worth it or are they better off trying to get a ride from friends? This is driving me crazy!

Alyce,

Do you mean a motorcycle or a bicycle?  I think motorcycles are not as safe as a car, especially in this traffic!  If your son wants to come over to the house, we would be happy to give him a ride.

Yvonne

Hi John and Yvonne, 

I was thinking a bike would help him get around, but from what I'm being told, it would only be good for going around the base, and that traffic around the base would make bike riding dangerous.  

Alyce and laurenw - singingbird is right.  Getting around the base isn't the whole story; they need cars for mobility and independence for a host of reasons that singingbird described well.  To add a few more points...do you really want your sailor to have to depend on other drivers who may have more than a few drinks when they go out?  Is it really fair to rely on other sailors who go ahead and buy a car, insure and maintain it?  Regarding a bicycle...this is not a college campus, this is real life on the largest U.S. Navy base, adjacent to the largest city in the state.  Would you live and work in a major city and just have a bicycle where you have to negotiate freeways to get anywhere?  Don't forget the weather - rain, snow, and effects from hurricanes.  The Car FAQ discussion above has info about buying, insurance, storage during deployment etc http://navyformoms.com/group/norfolksailorsfamilyfriends/forum/topi...

Also - I got a copy of the four-page form for the Navy Exchange Long Term Parking facility last month, here it is and I'm adding it the Car FAQ right now too  :)  Norfolk%20Navy%20Exchange%20Long%20Term%20Parking.pdf

Happy Tuesday!

Thank you!  You too!  It's actually under 100 degrees here in AZ today LOL

Am new to the navy world. My son  is expected back from his first underway. Any idea on what to expect? I would think the return after a longer deployment  would warrant special welcome home activity, but i dont know if that extends to the shorter underway. 

My daughter is in little creek, my son is in Norfolk. If he would have the same weird sense of humor as me and my daughter I would have had him and a group of friends go and welcome her home from her first underway. Just as a joke type of thing. She said she would have fallen over laughing if he would have done that. We do silly things in our family.

Hi all - Happy Friday!  Got my RED on today ;-)

Marcy - we must be getting your warm weather here in SoCal.  Supposed to be 102* in my area today - ugh!  Definitely not fall weather lol!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

He said in March he will be going to San Diego.  He is young and not a very experienced driver and from what I understand the winters in VA are snowy and icy so it kinda of worries me for him to be driving. 

Calimom,

I just saw that your son will be coming here to Norfolk and we wanted to let you know that we open our home on the weekends and invite the sailors over for food, board games, more food, movies and of course football games. :)

And if they don't have a vehicle, we are always happy to provide them with a ride in our car or one of the other sailors who come over have also provided rides.

Let me know if you think he is interested and I will pm you our cell number.

Yvonne and John

Thank you so much John and Yvonne I will certainly let my son know about your generous offer. 

Calimom,  My son is stationed in Norfolk (though currently deployed) and he survived his first year there without a car. He walked, a fellow sailor gave him a ride, or he contacted his squadron's on duty vehicle driver. He was able to get around pretty good. I know he plans to buy a car once he returns from deployment but if he could go a whole year without a car, I'm thinking your sailor can do the same for C school. Good luck!!!!!!!

Anyone know of any good places close to Hampton to buy meat (steaks)?