Tidewater 2006 - Wacko Trip and HL Regional

Here is the information everyone is waiting for concerning the June trip to the Tidewater area of Virginia.

Date: June 24-25, 2006 (weekend after Father’s Day, before Independence Day)

Location: Portsmouth VA

Please remember that as is always the case, changes may happen for a variety of reasons, such as bad weather or a change in ability to visit the land based sites, all of which are on military bases.

Saturday: Lighthouse viewing cruise. After departing the docks we will travel past Old and New Cape Henry before turning east towards the Chesapeake Light Tower. The Chesapeake Tower is one of the most difficult lights to view since it is about 13 miles off shore. Next would be Cape Charles, then past Thimble Shoals, Old Point Comfort and finally Newport News Middle Ground. The boat will put us ashore next to our hotel. This is an all day cruise. We will leave the hotel at about 0700 to bus to the marina in Virginia Beach. Lunch, beverages and snacks will be included.

Saturday evening: Buffet dinner at the hotel for all participants (included in registration fee) Late news is that the dinner will also probably be a Harbour Lights Regional Event. Nothing fancy, details will follow as they are worked out.

Sunday: Travel by motor coach to the USCG National Aids to Navigation School in Yorktown to see their magnificent display of Fresnel lenses. Then off to historic Fort Monroe to visit Old Point Comfort. Final stop of the day will be at Fort Story to visit Old and New Cape Henry Lights. Hopefully those interested will be allowed to climb both the Old Point Comfort and New Cape Henry lights. Lunch, beverages and snacks will be provided. The bus will stop at the Norfolk International Airport on the way back for those who want to fly home Sunday evening.

Hotel: Holiday Inn Olde Town, Portsmouth VA. Group rate is $96 plus tax for up to 4 people per room. The hotel is on the waterfront in Portsmouth, within an easy walk of the Lightship Portsmouth and the beautifully displayed first order lens from the Hog Island Light. The rate is a qualifying rate for Priority Club members. Once you have registered I will provide you with the group code to use when reserving. You will be able to reserve your room at this rate by calling the hotel directly; by calling the 1-800-holiday number; or at Holiday Inn’s web site.

PLEASE NOTE: I am not requiring participants to stay at the Holiday Inn. However, since the hotel is requiring me to fill a certain number of rooms to receive meeting rooms at no charge I will reserve the right to charge an additional fee to those who do not choose to stay at the Holiday Inn. I will charge this fee ($20 per person) only if enough rooms are not booked in our block and the hotel requires rental fees from me.

Please keep in mind that if you miss the bus, either Saturday or Sunday, you will not receive any refund. Do not plan on driving to the Virginia Beach marina unless you have someone who will return you to the marina to retrieve your vehicle.

In Olde Towne there are a variety of restaurants. There is a water taxi nearby, and also a river ferry service that will take you across the river to “Waterside” in Norfolk. You can also board one of the harbor tour boats in Portsmouth.

The weekend will have a limit of 100 participants. Cost will be $220 per person, not including hotel. What is included is the tour boat, the buses used, Saturday and Sunday lunches, snacks and beverages and the Saturday evening dinner as well as a donation to the APVA (caretakers of the Cape Henry lights). If someone is traveling with you and does not want to take the tours but would like to attend the dinner please let me know and this can be arranged.

Registration procedures: There is the possibility that more people will want to attend than there are spaces. To try and make this as fair as possible, I am going to use a mail in lottery registration process. You may either mail me (PO Box 5, Kokomo, IN 46903-0005) or email me (events06-portsmouth@yahoo.com) with your information. If you email, please make the subject "Tidewater Trip". The information I need is:

Name
Email address
Phone number
Number in your party and their names.

If you use the US Mail, please use a full size sheet of paper and fold it into thirds. Send it in a #10 envelope (the long envelope).

On February 3, I will randomly draw from the stack of those interested. Everyone should be notified of their status by February 6th. At that point participants will be asked to fill out a registration form and return it with a non-refundable deposit of $20 per participant by February 24th. The balance will be due in payments of $100 on March 15, and the last $100 on May 1st.

Thanks Dave, this sounds great. We appreciate you so much!!!!
Betty P.

I sent my email.

Nice set-up Dave!

Forum members and visitors: As Dave noted briefly, this will likely be one of two Harbour Lights Regionals for 2006. That means Bill and Nancy Younger will be in town as well as #1 Daughter Kim Andrews.

So you get a two-fer out of attending this WACKO event. Watch for more details next week on how the Regionals will work.