Where Is SawMill Creek

[Keith Outten]

In the picture below the blue pin is the location of the SawMill Creek server otherwise known as my workshop.

At the top of the picture you can see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, above the tunnel is the Atlantic Ocean.
The blue pin is located between the York River and Sarah's Creek so we are on a small peninsula that is part of a larger peninsula.
Langley Air Force Base (LAFB) is adjacent to the City of Hampton, note there is no such place as Langley Virginia which is often referred to in movies.
LAFB property adjoins NASA Langley and there are some older NASA facilities that still exist on the Air Force Base.

As you can see there is water everywhere!
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[Michael Weber]

So now that we know how to get there we just need to know when the big party is:D

[Keith Outten]

Michael,

I was just waiting for someone to ask :)

We can party right here as we have six acres of space for motor homes and campers, etc.
If you don't own a camper you can rent one or stay in a local hotel.
Lets do this one state at a time starting with all the Creekers from Arkansas. What date looks good for you?

:)
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[Bill Cunningham]

Wow.. We may lose the creek to high water when global whining ...er warming... starts to melt the poles..

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I will suggest....late June or late August....

[Keith Outten]

Bill,

We are just a bit above sea level. Big storms bring flooding all around us, in fact the road in front of the house floods on both sides and we are often unable to get in or out when big rainstorms combine with high tide. On the North end the road will sometimes be under 3 feet of water. On the South side Sarah's Creek will back up across the road right at the edge of our property.

In the last 75 years the land and the house here have never flooded according to my neighbors who have lived here all their life.

Whats funny about our situation is that my Dad's family was established on the Eastern Shore of Virginia in 1634 (all farmers). My Grandparents moved to the Peninsula near Langley Field when they were young to work at Newport News Shipbuilding rather then become a farmer. My Dad moved from the Peninsula to Gloucester County just before I went in the Navy. The picture shows every location that our family has settled in 379 years, we haven't gotten very far from our original point of entry here in Virginia.
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[Keith Outten]

I grew up in the City of Hampton just about 3 miles from the Main Gate of Langley Field. It was called Langley Field in those days but now only the old timers use the term. About one city block from my house was Smitty's Better Burger which still exists today. I used to go to Smitty's during lunch and shoot the breeze with all of the original seven astronauts. They all drove convertibles in those days, young jet jockey's who loved to laugh and have a good time.

Because Langley Field and NASA were basically adjoined facilities and the space race was well under way you could be at Smitty's and watch everyone who was anyone pass by on their way to the base. I frequently saw President Kennedy and Jackie plus just about all the other heads of state at the stop light in front of Smitty's. Often there would be big black Cadillac Limo's parked at Smitty's with the window rolled down and a food tray hooked to the glass if you can remember those days :)
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[Michael Weber]

I will suggest....late June or late August....

lol Sounds like you know something about Southern summers. One word, oppresive. Hope you get your HA back soon.

[Jim Matthews]

Wow.. We may lose the creek to high water when global whining ...er warming... starts to melt the poles..

Bill, did Simcoe freeze this year, sufficient for pond hockey?
It's too warm here (coastal Massachusetts) for my backyard rink - two Winters running.

Two Winters may not be a trend, but still...

[Harry Hagan]

I have family in the Williamsburg area—might stop by and visit the manor sometime. :D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

lol Sounds like you know something about Southern summers. One word, oppresive. Hope you get your HA back soon.

Michael...I spent 8 years in the US Navy....6 of them in the Deep South.......Brunswick, GA.....4 years in Meridian, MS......Kingsville, TX and Charleston, SC...I have experienced Southern summers......those suggested dates , however, are when I expect to be visiting my youngest son and his family (He's a Navy dentist just transferred from dental school in Houston to Norfolk) and my oldest grandson and family in Norfolk (He's a jet mechanic on which carrier I have lost track as he switched recently). We will be in the Norfolk area primarily to babysit the 3 year old twin granddaughters and their 1 year old brother as their school will be out on vacation.

and....I am doing well with just my cochlear implant....and while I was typing this, the phone rang. It was my HA audiologist and it's ready for pickup so I will be back to stereophonic bionic hearing later this morning.

[Rick Potter]

So...Is all this water anywhere near Badger Pond?:p

Rick Potter

[Keith Outten]

Michael, I also know Southern Summers all to well....hot and humid. No doubt Ken is not looking forward to the weather here.

Harry, whenever you are in the area let me know and we will get together.

Ken, you should also let me know when your plans shore up so we can get together.

Rick, I have no idea where Badger Pond was but I am pretty sure it is all dried up by now :)
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[Dennis Peacock]

So...Is all this water anywhere near Badger Pond?:p

Rick Potter

LOL...!!!! For some reason....I just KNEW this was going to come up. :D ;)

I remember those days and conversing with Wayne Miller over the final end of Badger Pond. :)

[Dennis Peacock]

Joseph and I will be on his "senior trip" riding motorcycles to Savannah, GA. From the Google maps....appears that Hampton, VA is only another 493 miles from Savannah, GA. I may have to talk to Joseph and see if he's up to riding to Hampton, VA and then ride home from there. ;)

That would mean....I'd be in your area around the end of May....first part of June.

[Keith Outten]

Joseph and I will be on his "senior trip" riding motorcycles to Savannah, GA. From the Google maps....appears that Hampton, VA is only another 493 miles from Savannah, GA. I may have to talk to Joseph and see if he's up to riding to Hampton, VA and then ride home from there. ;)

That would mean....I'd be in your area around the end of May....first part of June.

Excellent, another Creeker visit! Just let me know if and when you are able to visit Dennis.
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[Scott Shepherd]

I was just looking up seafood places in that area for a family member that might be in that area in the near future. Got any good seafood restaurants around Gloucester? Looks like the reviews are all over the place. One person says "best ever, love the place" while the next person says "I had to spit it out in my napkin because it was so nasty" :)

[Matt Meiser]

It's a relatively long way from Keith but years ago when I did a project in Chesapeake we went to this place every week. I started a project in Suffolk in January and we went again and it's still as good as I remembered.

http://www.rudees.com/

I'd hoped to meet up with Keith but the timing didn't work. Hoping it will work out on a future trip.

[Keith Outten]

Sadly, I can't recommend any seafood restaurants in my area mostly because I have been spoiled in the past.

I grew up going fishing with my Dad and Grandfather, we went every Saturday morning when i was young. In those days there were fish here and I mean in great quantity. We used to put three hooks on a line and catch three large fish in 30 to 60 seconds. Our Saturday morning fishing trips would only last about an hour, thats all the time it took for us to catch what we needed. When we needed flounder we would go just to the edge of the Chesapeake Bay where the water was deep enough. On the way back in to where we kept my Dad's boat we would empty our crab pot which was all we needed for the week, my Dad would steam all the crabs on Saturday afternoon. The point is I grew up with fresh seafood, it was so plentiful then here in our area it was a primary part of our diet. A long time ago the City of Hampton was the Crab Capital of the world.

The area has been harvested to death, local fishermen can barely scrape a living anymore and the catch is not impressive to say the least. Thirty years ago there were hundreds of active fishing boats here in Gloucester County, today there are just a few left.

The James River is not a body of water that I would allow anyone I love to swim in much less eat anything that comes from the river. Years ago there was a Kepone chemical spill, dumping is a more accurate a term, and although the James River has been approved for fishing again I still have doubts. Secondly I worked for Virginia Power for many years and I had a first hand look at what the fossil power plants pumped overboard into the James River, there are still several fossil plants along the James today. While they have ben very successful at scrubbing the air exhaust from these plants the effluent has to go somewhere, you be the judge where it goes. I replaced a ten inch heavy wall discharge pipe once that was only in service for twelve months, it was destroyed by acid. The rivers edge was barren, nothing the water touched was alive, there was no grass or any wildlife. The water was crystal clear.

I also worked at Surry Nuclear Station before the plant had any overboard radiation alarms, in fact I was in charge of the installation of the alarm systems as part of the Three Mille Island Modifications. In those days Surry was a dirty beast, contamination was everywhere inside and outside of the plant. The overboard discharge from Surry goes into the James River. I expect things have been improved today but I can't get the image out of my mind from days gone by.

In my travels over the years I found the best seafood in Wilmington North Carolina on the Inter-Coastal Waterway. Wilmington also has the best barbecue and brunswick stew I have ever eaten. I worked in Wilmington for almost a year when I was young so I had the opportunity to frequent almost evert restaurant in the area in those days.
When I say Wilmington I also mean the Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach areas.
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[Bill Cunningham]

Bill, did Simcoe freeze this year, sufficient for pond hockey?
It's too warm here (coastal Massachusetts) for my backyard rink - two Winters running.

Two Winters may not be a trend, but still...

Yup it froze solid.. Still has some ice on it.. Last year we had no real winter, this year it won't end!! North of us the Bracebridge area has some real flooding problems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOGB3xcTe9kwe

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOGB3xcTe9k)