9/30/12: We left Hampton Roads early morning and headed to Norfolk and beyond. We were treated again to a couple of curious dolphin shows. We entered the Inter Coastal canal at mile 0 and continued to the cut off for the Dismal Swamp at Mile. We entered the swamp at about lunchtime and arrived at the lock about and hour before it opened. So we anchored and needed to move after the lock master said "Captain if you stay where you are I'll be spinnin' you around when I open the gate!" We had a great experience going into the lock. The lockmaster who is also the bridge tender was very personable. "Robert" was very informative about the procedure and the history of the swamp. We had a very enjoyable first "lock" experience. Robert treated us to a conch shell show & gave us pizza for lunch. I videotaped alot of the experience & parts of the Dismal swamp. We arrived at the North Carolina visitor's center at approximately 6:30pm and rafted up with another boat.The trip has been so pretty with lots of wild life and greenery. It smells like eucalyptus. The water is an orange color with several species of snakes (we won't be swimming) and other critters. We saw a beaver, turtle and herons so far. The dragonflies are numerous also.