There is a red buoy in the middle of the Elizabeth River, a few hundred feet off the Norfolk seawall. Thousands of people walk past it every week without a glance. That buoy is where America starts counting.
Every mile marker on eleven hundred miles of protected waterway, Norfolk to the Florida Keys, counts up from it. There is no monument. No plaque. Nothing at all.
Mile Zero: The Crossing is a half-day hunt built on that one fact. Two cities, both banks, and the two-dollar Elizabeth River Ferry that carries you straight over the spot. It plays in your phone’s browser, at your own pace, with no app to download.
Halfway across, you pass over it. You will be standing on the deck of a working ferry, between two cities that have spent four hundred years arguing across this river, holding a phone that is telling you the whole Atlantic coastal waterway begins under your feet.
Nobody else on the boat will know.
Choose the bank you are standing on
The hunt runs one way around, so it matters where you start. Pick the edition that matches where you are — the route, the crossings and the finish all work from either side.
Starting in Norfolk
Begins at the Lone Sailor statue in Wisconsin Square, a couple of minutes’ walk from the cruise terminal. Works the Norfolk waterfront first, then crosses to Portsmouth.
Starting in Portsmouth
Begins on the compass rose at High Street Landing, in Olde Towne. Works the Portsmouth spine first, then crosses to Norfolk.
What you get
- Nine chapters, forty-nine tasks, across two cities and one river
- About half a day at an easy pace. Stop and eat whenever you like; the clock is yours
- Everything scored is outdoors and free to look at. The battleship and the museums charge admission. Admiring them from the street does not
- Clue coins when you are stuck, so nobody dead-ends on a hard one
- One purchase covers the whole team, each on their own phone
- No app. It runs in your phone’s browser, and it is yours for a full day once you start
Riding the Elizabeth River Ferry: three honest warnings
Bring exact change or tap to pay. It is $2 a person each way, paid to Hampton Roads Transit — that fare is not included in what you pay us. The fare box gives no change, and you can also tap a bank card, a phone wallet or HRT’s GoMobile app. Seventeen and under ride free with a paying adult.
The Norfolk landing has moved for now. Since September 8, 2026, construction has closed the Waterside dock, so the ferry uses Harbor Park until further notice. Boats run about every 35 to 45 minutes, with none before 10am on weekends. A shuttle bus runs between Harbor Park and Waterside, or you can ride The Tide light rail on your ferry ticket. Check the current schedule with HRT before you plan your crossing.
If the ferry is not running, you can still play and still finish. Every chapter can be closed and moved past, so a canceled boat costs you a crossing, not your game.
Sailing the same day?
Only cross to Portsmouth if you have a couple of hours to spare. The river does not care about boarding times. If you are tight, play your own bank and finish there — the hunt is built to let you.
Before you go
That buoy has been out there a long time, doing the least glamorous job in American navigation and getting no credit for it. Two cities grew up on either side. A ferry has been crossing over the top of it, back and forth, all day, for longer than anyone now working the boat can remember.
Half a day, twenty-four dollars for the whole team, and you will not look at that stretch of water the same way again.
Or read the whole story first — the buoy, and the two canals that fought to be its front door →