Mark's Retirement

Friday was Mark's retirement ceremony in Norfolk. The rough midpoint of my trip, and one of the main main inspirations for the trip. The ceremony was fairly simple and not too long, but was very nice and patriotic. There was talk of dedication, service and God. It was a great experience, to be there with Mark and his family, celebrating his 26 years of service to the United States Navy.

There was a reception after the ceremony, then we headed to Kelly's (Mark's wife's sister who lives in town) house for a wonderful bar-b-que for good food, drink and long conversations.

On Saturday, we all met for breakfast in the hotel, then Mark brought us on board the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt for a tour. It was a thrill to get a tour of an active carrier! All the sailors were very professional and polite, especially the Petty Officer who conducted most of our tour. We hit the Navy PX, headed back to the hotel, ate a dinner of leftovers from the various parties for Mark, and later I had a good conversation with my cousin Matt.

Sunday has been pretty lazy, meeting as usual for breakfast at the hotel, and people heading to the airport to go home. I got an oil change and am taking advantage of the hotel laundry (exciting stuff in this blog, huh? :) I'll stay with Ted and Eve, tomorrow we're planning to see a few of the local historical sites.

Till the next post,
Greg