Aside from the few days we've remained docked or anchored, today was our shortest mileage day, at under 5 miles. We locked through the South Mills lock at 0830, the earliest lock of the day, and were raised 8 feet into the fresh waters of the Dismal Swamp.
The small town of South Mills looks like a great place to explore, which we would have done the night before, had we been able to make the 1530 and final lock of the day. There is a place you can tie off between the lock and the bridge. Next time...
The lock operators double as bridge operators, and after they lock you through, drive over and open the bridge for you.
From there, it was only a few miles to the visitor center, where we arrived in misting rain, and tied alongside the dock. By nightfall, there were five of us, including two vessels rafted outboard two of us at the dock. Much of the day it was a Canadian trawler, a British sailboat, and us. A good international place!
The gorgeous dock is along the back side of a highway rest area. Although the combination sounds a little strange, the grounds are lovely, the traffic noise is hardly noticeable, and there are great places to walk.
Be sure to cross the floating pedestrian bridge to see the exhibits in the Visitor Center, and walk the 1/2 mile boardwalk through the swamp. The floating bridge opens for vessels, and remains open at night.
There is also a paved road to the south, on the visitor center side, that is for hiking/biking, with no vehicular traffic. It is a great place to walk to stay clear of the ticks, in a beautiful place.
We spent the day alongside the visitor center dock, planning to leave in the morning to make the 1100 lock to the north.
Ellen's friend, Doug, drove from Virginia Beach to spend the evening with us, and it was nice for me to meet him, and for he and Ellen to catch up.
No comments:
Post a Comment