2LittleDoolittlesCruising: A Trip Along the Inter Coastal Waterway (I.C.W.)

By Mickey Doolittle

This is one of my last entries on this blog and we are coming home! So now I will tell the story of the Inner Coastal Waterway (I.C.W.). It is a long waterway on the East Coast made up of rivers, canals and creeks.

Leaving Florida I pictured the I.C.W. as a long, drudged waterway in open ocean. I was WAY off! Firstly, you do down brackish water. Second, sailing is impossible....I liked that part! Finally, we were going through rivers, lakes and creeks. I LOVED it!

We had to go under A LOT of bridges on the ICW. Some of them were drawbridges like this one.

There were lots of places to stop along the way.

Just another day motoring up the ICW

When we anchored in Yorktown, VA, mom was excited to see the historical triangle, Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown. My cousin, Gaby was visiting so she, Mom, J.P. and I set off. Dad had to work on the boat. Gaby, if you are out there, I'll bet you haven't been a part of a weirder group!

We took the shuttle to Williamsburg. When we got there we walked to the historic part. First, we saw the mayor's house which served as a hospital during the battle of Yorktown. Next, we went into an old-fashioned store. It had three pointed hats, old games, soap and much more. Finally, there was a rereading of the Declaration of Independence. After that mom called it a day and we went back to Yorktown.

The next day we went into Jamestown. We had to take the bus to Williamsburg then to Jamestown. This time dad went with us. Once we were there, we saw a short documentary on the first permanent settlement in the colonies. Then we had lunch and got a tour through an archeological dig. They dig stuff up every day! They uncover animal and human bones, old vases and arrowheads. We saw the fort, the rebuilt church and the water well. It got boring at the end, but we were going to miss our bus. We made it just in time and got back to Yorktown uneventfully. The historical triangle has fascinating history.

Jamestown and the old church

This is where they found a skeleton and evidence of cannibalism.

This is the archeologist that made discovered the Jamestown settlement while he was digging for artifacts.

This is where the archeologists dig for artifacts.

The East Coast

By J.P. Doolittle

Hello readers! Right now we are in Annapolis. If you've never heard of it, then it's a really big city. I know I haven't caught up in a while, which means I have much to report on. First, I'll tell you about the Inter Coastal Waterway (a.k.a. the I.C.W.). The I.C.W. is basically a giant waterway. It leads to Chesapeake Bay. Every once in a while, you might encounter a canal. There are other ones besides the Panama Canal! There was one lock and a barge next to us. It was not very dramatic and took about 20 minutes. You shouldn't sail down the I.C.W. Dad didn't like that at all! We used the I.C.W. most of the way to get to the Chesapeake Bay.

We also stopped a the Historic Triangle. It is a series of three towns; Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. Jamestown is the first colony that started the United States. Williamsburg was the capital of the country. Yorktown is where the British general Cornwallis surrendered and the United States of America was born!

First we arrived at Yorktown. We took the dinghy ashore and found there was a bus to Williamsburg for free! We decided to take the bus to Williamsburg. Once we arrived we had two options: Pay $100 to have the deluxe tour or go for free and not be able to enter most of the exhibits. We decided to go for free!

We crossed a footbridge to a downhill path. Our group, Molly, Mickey, Gaby and I arrived at the town and it was amazing. Everything looked so old except for the Pepsi machines. There were wooden houses, people dressed in 18th century clothes, taverns and much more. We walked down a dirt road to a tavern and decided to eat there. The food was amazing. The service was great! There was even candles on the tables instead of lights.

There were many old, historic buildings. This one had a soda vending machine in it!

This is where the govenor lived

The town square stockades.

Lunch at a historical tavern. It was cool!

The reading of the Declaration of Independence

This is our sailboat, Knee Deep, anchored out off of Yorktown.
It looks really small next to the big clipper ship!

When we left, we watched a reading of the Declaration of Independence and locked each other in the stockades which are outdoor jails. They are wooden sturctures that you lock your hands and feet into to punish citizens in the 18the century. We explored a little more then we left. It was an interesting place and I knew that I might be one of our last boating adventures.