Messed around this morning, was in no hurry. Watched as a couple of White Hats made their way toward the geedunk.
After leaving the park we headed to NAS Oceana to see how things had changed. They had. The area outside what used to be the main gate was now the biggest Navy Exchange complex we’ve ever seen. I went in to see if they had any GPS that I might be interested in. Amazingly, they didn’t. But, the building reminded me a lot of the Springfield Mall with shops of all kinds, a food court, etc. This whole thing was sitting almost smack dab where our old Navy housing apartment was back in the 70’s.
After leaving the park we headed to NAS Oceana to see how things had changed. They had. The area outside what used to be the main gate was now the biggest Navy Exchange complex we’ve ever seen. I went in to see if they had any GPS that I might be interested in. Amazingly, they didn’t. But, the building reminded me a lot of the Springfield Mall with shops of all kinds, a food court, etc. This whole thing was sitting almost smack dab where our old Navy housing apartment was back in the 70’s.
We went on the base, through the zig-zag of concrete barriers and past the gate security. It’s funny, but back in my day, the gate security was mainly concerned about whether or not you had auto insurance and wasn’t wearing blue jeans. Today, all I needed was my ID card, but there was no way I was going to drive a truck loaded with fertilizer through that gate. At least, not very rapidly.
My old squadron, VF-41, has since been decommissioned, but our hanger is still there. It felt a little strange driving around the base seeing some familiar sights but many strange ones. They have a real nice Navy aircraft park with about a dozen different planes on display.
We left NAS Oceana and headed over to Corvette Court where we lived for a few months. It looked much the same. A guy that was living there came out and talked with us for a while. Looked like he had just mowed the lawn and it looked nice. The little tree the boys were playing under when lightning struck next door was gone as was the chain link fence that ran down to the street between the houses.
We checked out Dodge Street where Bob and Judy Gee lived, but we weren’t positive which house. One looked familiar, though.
From there, we drove up Shore Drive to the Oceanview area where we lived immediately after I returned from Vietnam in 1968. We lived in a little duplex on Pleasant Ave. That whole area is now big new tightly situated beach homes and apartments. Movin’ on up!
We checked out Dodge Street where Bob and Judy Gee lived, but we weren’t positive which house. One looked familiar, though.
From there, we drove up Shore Drive to the Oceanview area where we lived immediately after I returned from Vietnam in 1968. We lived in a little duplex on Pleasant Ave. That whole area is now big new tightly situated beach homes and apartments. Movin’ on up!
After Oceanview, we drove over to the Norfolk Naval Station to see what carriers were in. Sadly, only the USS George Washington was there in dry dock and it didn’t look too pretty. So, we left there, stopped to eat and then headed for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Crossing the bay, we decided to spend tonight in the Kiptopeke State Park just across the bridge/tunnel on the Virginia Eastern Shore. It’s been a full day.
