Friends and Family

Hampton, VA has been a "friends and family" stop for us. Hampton can trace its history back to 1607, but the city was burned to the ground during the Civil War, so there isn't a lot standing that is very old. However, the city does have some lovely Victorian-style homes.

Hampton is also the home of the Virginia Air & Space Museum-just down the street from our marina-but time slipped away from us this weekend and we didn't manage to make it there because. . . . .

. . . . the focus of our several-days stop was not history or museums, but visits with friends and family in the area.  On Friday, May 23, we had the pleasure of meeting Trevor and Laura Brazelton and their three children: Katelyn, Christopher, and Hunter. Laura is the niece of long-time Minnesota friends of ours, Rich Thorne and Jill Brustad. Rich and Jill have spoken of Trevor and Laura for many years, so it was a pleasure to finally meet them and now count them as friends. Trevor has been in the Navy for nearly 20 years (he retires October 31!) and he graciously took us on a tour of his current assignment location-the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach. This included a stop at an outdoor aviation museum, a park filled with aircraft from US Naval history. Truly nirvana for Lon.

Navy jets at Oceana NAS

Hunter, Laura and Trevor Brazelton with Lon at Oceana

Lon and F-4 "tombstone"

Afterwards we went to their home in Virginia Beach and had a wonderful dinner with the family and members of Trevor's Christian motorcycle group, the Remnant Sons.

Katelyn, Christopher, and Laura Brazelton

On Saturday, May 24, I had the opportunity to reconnect with a friend who was a co-worker of  mine when I was working in the forensic lab at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.  BJ Blankenship left Minnesota in 1999 to work as a DNA analyst in the Norfolk lab of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. Minnesota's loss was definitely Virginia's gain. We've kept in touch from time-to-time through the years, and it was fun to have dinner with her and her husband Sven Hauksson. 

Lon, BJ, Sven, and Pat at Oyster Alley in Hampton

Sunday was family time. We hosted Lon's cousin (on his mom's side) Roy Dean Buetow and wife Marie for dinner on the boat. Roy Dean had a very distinguished Navy career and retired in Virginia Beach. It was fun to hear some of the Buetow family stories.

Lon, Marie, and Roy Dean

No visitors today, so we spent time on a variety of small boat projects that we had just never seemed to get around to doing. Weather permitting, we enter the Chesapeake Bay tomorrow with the goal of reaching Deltaville, VA, about 50 miles north of Hampton on the western shore. We're hoping that the day won't include "rearranging the furniture."

On this Memorial Day we pause to remember those Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our liberties.  And we say a special prayer for our nephews who are currently serving in various branches of the Armed Forces: Peter Clausen (Navy), Matthew Clausen (Naval ROTC), Andrew Hatch (Air Force), and Evan Wojtowicz (Army).