Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

I was able to see USS Iwo Jima leave on a deployment and thought it was fascinating.  There aren't many there to watch vs. the crowds at homecoming.  A great Navy wife told me how I could see the ship as they headed out, so I hustled from the pier at the base to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and got out to the fishing pier just before they passed by.  It's a great photo opportunity, and rather emotional to watch them disappear out to sea!  There is a restaurant at the fishing pier too.  Take binoculars, and $13 for the toll.

Just FYI - Militaryonesource provides free tax filing software.  All active duty, reserve, and retired service members, and their spouses and dependents, are eligible for free tax filing services at www.militaryonesource.mil.

Singingbird, I couldn't see your post about deployment when writing mine - yours was so similar to my experience!  Nothing like manning the rails - it's like a Pavlovian response, I get choked up every time.....

Thanks for sharing the tax info Marcy!  You are AWESOME... :) 

It took about 24 hours before my son heard via red Cross. I was fortunate that he was state side at the time and I was able to keep him informed about his grandfather.

He was able to get leave to come only only because my dad help raise him from 2nd grade on. Had to provide proof that we had lived with my dad during that time.

Any Navy intermural teams there in Norfolk?

2017Commission - here's a current list; click on each league name for more info.  Navy MWR Mid-Atlantic Region Intramural Sports

Marcy - this is awesome!!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You're welcome!  I just added a Discussion above with this and more info about MWR events and activities for Sailors  :)  MWR Events, Rec Center, Activities, Sports and Volunteering for Sai...

(A note to the wise - community volunteering is great to add to brag sheets for evals, so the MWR monthly opportunity is a good way to get that service in...)

You are even more awesome!!  What a great source for all sorts of cool stuff.  Now there is no excuse for "there is nothing to do"

The MWR does a great job of providing activities for the sailors. Lots of options!

My husband and I also provide a place for the sailors...our home. we invite them to come over on the weekends-Saturday evenings for dinner and board games, mini-golf, etc., and Sunday afternoons for a home cooked meal with homemade bread and desserts.  Other activities include Civil War Re-enactments, trip to the Outer Banks. If your sailor is at all interested in having a place to go like home let them know about us. Check out our page on this site to know more bout us.

Yvonne and John 

It's been awhile since I've posted in this group. Since my son is deployed again right now on the Bush, I tend to watch that group more. I printed RED Friday shirts for our family and friends to wear during deployment, and had great interest in them from a lot of people. I ended up printing several for friends and family of other sailors aboard that ship as well. They have a design on the back that is specific to the ship, and I had a lot of military families tell me that they would have ordered them if they weren't ship specific, so I've decided to take orders again, leaving the back design off. If anyone is interested, please email me at ignitespiritbows@yahoo.com. The cost is $15 and that covers shipping and taxes. They are a basic 50/50 t-shirt in unisex sizes. I do not profit from these, this is just my cost. I will post a picture of the design. I will only be taking orders through this week, as to get them done and shipped out as quickly as possible.

Pro tip to share with your deployed Sailor!  "Use the following, which will allow you to text from your ship's email. It'll save a lot of time when communicating back home if you'd like semi-instantaneous communication."

AT&T: number@txt.att.net.
T-Mobile: number@tmomail.net
Verizon: number@vtext.com (text-only), number@vzwpix (text + photo)
Sprint: number@messaging.sprintpcs.com or number@pm.sprint.com.
Virgin Mobile: number@vmobl.com

Thank you Mary~ corpsman mom. It is nice to have those all in one spot. Not everyone knows you can email to a text number. Have a great night.

Island Girl,

I found 2 places on Google you can look up for houses. 1) 10 best Virginia Beach Rentals and 2) Top Virginia Beach Vacation Rentals (VRBO)  I hope they help!

Yvonne

Island girl, 

Did you ever come here and find a rental?

If you did , I hope you had a great time filled with memories you can think back on and pictures to go along with those memories. :)

Yvonne

Emmiesgram,

I would say your granddaughter went from one extreme to another! We were stationed in Hawaii for 2 tours of 3 years each and now we've been in Virginia Beach for the last 17 years. My husband is a retired Navy Chaplain and for the last 17 years we have been inviting sailors over to our home on the weekends to give them a place to hang out. We feed them and play board games with them, go mini golfing, go to re-enactments, etc. If your granddaughter would be interested we would love to invite her over. If she is we can pm you our cell number so she can get in touch with us.

Welcome to this group!

Yvonne and John

Hi all - Happy Wednesday!

If any of you are visiting in Norfolk and have time you need to try & get to the Mermaid Factory.  I went there a few weeks ago when visiting our son - did a girls trip and it was a blast!  You paint your own mermaid - they have all kinds of things you can put on them.

Here's the 3 we did  - mine is the red, white & blue one (of course!).  I also have lots of glitter on mine!  If you click on the picture you can enlarge it so you can see it better.

They also package them up real nice in a sturdy box that you can carry on the plane to get them home (they tell you to carry it like a "pizza").  We spent almost 3 hours there and had a blast.

Hi All,  My son just received orders to Norfolk.  He is looking for a rental home for him and his bride.  We could sure use Help!!  He will be on the Bush..

Just found this group, my son is on the Abraham Lincoln.

Welcome!

Welcome to the group Thirdday! Hope your son enjoys his time on the A. Lincoln. 

I want to let you know that my husband and I invite sailors over to our home on the weekends. On Saturday evening we eat and play board games, or go mini golfing, attend civil war re-enactments, etc,. On Sunday we get together and sit down to a homemade dinner with homemade bread and dessert. Sometimes we watch movies or sports, or just get to know each other. If you think he would be interested , let us know. 

Yvonne and John

So, my daughter found her instructions to email the USS Bataan to request a sponsor. We attempted to do this but the email is undeliverable for a variety of reasons. Anyone have any suggestions or experience in this area?

She's been home for the last 2 weeks. She did A school in Pensacola. Thanks for the info. She did wait till the last minute..again...bootcamp doesn't fix everything. 

abuon18...great info!!! Makes me feel better she at least has a phone number. I did tell her to check with the USO at the airport...looks like I wasn't so far off. 

Sassenach,

I read your comment about your son being here on the Ike and also he's an avid 18th century re-enacter! My husband is an avid civil war buff! When we first moved here 17 years ago we thought about re-enacting, but since we came here to open our home on the weekends to the sailors stationed here it didn't work out. We do take our sailors to the re-enactments when they come here though. 

I don't know if your son would be interested, but we would love to invite him over to our home.  Saturday night is our board game night...and of course we feed the sailors dinner. Sometimes we go mini golfing, go to re-enactments, make a day trip to the Outer Banks in NC, etc. On Sunday afternoons we sit down to a home cooked dinner with homemade bread and dessert and do various things afterwards. Sometimes watch a movie, sports or just get to know each other. If you think your son would be interested let us know and we can pm you our cell number so he can get in touch with us or we can get in touch with him if that's easier.

paigec, I would also like to invite your daughter over. We try to give the sailors a place to hang out with other sailors (and us). Let us know if she is interested. :)

Yvonne and John

Well, we never did hear from a sponsor but having the number to the Quartermaster was a godsend!!!! Thank you again so much AUBON 18!!! They put someone else in touch with my daughter who has been a great source of information and support. The plane leaving home airport was late taking off...so that caused her to miss her layover flight. Next flight was 4 hrs later. On top of that they delayed her new flight by 2 1/2 hrs. She is just now in the air. They changed her departure gate 4 times. She was able to spend some time at the USO (which was on the other end of the very large airport) where she encounterd a very nice chief who made some calls to make sure she whereabouts were properly documented and then texted her later and asked her to keep in touch so he would know she arrived and was settled in ok. She did keep in touch with the Quartermaster and they reassured her they were tracking her and not to worry.

The sailor picking her up has been so understanding considering she was supposed to arrive at 315pm this afternoon.  

This crazy day is not quite over yet..I look forward to hearing from her and know she is checked in and safely aboard a ship. 

Fingers crossed :)

abuon18...she did make it to her ship!! She put her stuff away and got to bed around 2 am. She's not on duty this weekend so she gets to explore and get familiar with the place until Tuesday.  She's found some friends and talked to her chief and things are moving along. Sounds like her plans are a bit up in the air but that's the military...Navy flexible!!! May the journey begin!! Again, very grateful for the support she got yesterday. This website has been a lifesaver. 

any mom's on here have kid heading or currently attending C school at Dam Neck

Not a mom, but my husband and I open our home on the weekends and Holidays and invite sailors to come over. We feed them, play board games, do some outdoor activities.Let us know if your sailor might be interested. :)

Yvonne and John

Hello,

My son has been assigned to a helo squadron in Norfolk. Anyone have any sailors with similar assignments?

Hi cao503! My son is attached to an HSC squadron. That's helicopter sea combat and rescue. He's currently deployed though. 

Hi Julie,

My son will be with the HM 15. When not deployed does your son live on base? Is this what your son has always wanted to do? My son is undesignated so I am not sure what he will be qualified to do. Any info you can give will be greatly appreciated.

to Moms,

If your sons are here in Norfolk we would be happy to invite them over to our home on the weekends. Go to our page on this site and you can find out more of what we do. We feed them, play board games, go to special events in the area. We are like a 'home away from home' for them. We've been doing this for 17 years. :)

Yvonne and John