July 5-11 Hampton and Arlington VA
Sea Bee spent a week docked at Hampton Public Piers, the first marina we have visited that offered a "Boater's Garden."
Enroute from Norfolk to Hampton, we passed the Norfolk Naval Base and glimpsed the not-yet-formally-commissioned aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford. Unfortunately, I did not get a good photo of it, but I did capture this colorful commercial vessel not far away.
We rented a car to explore more of this historic area and to spend 3 nights in Arlington VA with our totally charming grandchildren and their estimable parents.
The Hampton Public Piers are just blocks from the Virginia Air and Space Center (which Howard visited while June got a much-needed manicure right across the street) and the Hampton Carousel, a beautifully restored 1920 carousel.
Across the Hampton River was Hampton University, a private historically black university founded in 1861.
The Hampton Museum located in the restored former library building houses an outstanding collection of African, African-American, and other art (sadly, no photography allowed in the exhibits).
Hampton also boasts the oldest Anglican parish in continuous existence in America with a church erected in 1728 and a Confederate soldier memorial in the graveyard.
We drove to Yorktown where Washington defeated Cornwallis in 1781, effectively ending the Revolutionary War. As always, the National Park Service made the visit interesting and enjoyable, on this occasion at the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center.
One of our favorite museums so far was the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA:
The Mariners' Museum is housing and preserving the revolving gun turret of the USS Monitor Civil War ironclad, recovered along with other artifacts from the bottom of Hampton Roads in 2002. We spent most of our time in the Monitor displays, but other exhibits were equally outstanding.
No blog entry would be complete without a mention of food. We enjoyed Venture Kitchen and Bar in Hampton enough that we had two dinners there, and at Country Grill & Smokehouse we ate barbeque surrounded by Memphis in May posters.
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| "Boater's Garden. Help Yourself." |
Enroute from Norfolk to Hampton, we passed the Norfolk Naval Base and glimpsed the not-yet-formally-commissioned aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford. Unfortunately, I did not get a good photo of it, but I did capture this colorful commercial vessel not far away.
We rented a car to explore more of this historic area and to spend 3 nights in Arlington VA with our totally charming grandchildren and their estimable parents.
The Hampton Public Piers are just blocks from the Virginia Air and Space Center (which Howard visited while June got a much-needed manicure right across the street) and the Hampton Carousel, a beautifully restored 1920 carousel.
Across the Hampton River was Hampton University, a private historically black university founded in 1861.
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| The view from our dock. |
The Hampton Museum located in the restored former library building houses an outstanding collection of African, African-American, and other art (sadly, no photography allowed in the exhibits).
Hampton also boasts the oldest Anglican parish in continuous existence in America with a church erected in 1728 and a Confederate soldier memorial in the graveyard.
We drove to Yorktown where Washington defeated Cornwallis in 1781, effectively ending the Revolutionary War. As always, the National Park Service made the visit interesting and enjoyable, on this occasion at the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center.
 |
| Yorktown Victory Monument |
One of our favorite museums so far was the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA:
The Mariners' Museum is housing and preserving the revolving gun turret of the USS Monitor Civil War ironclad, recovered along with other artifacts from the bottom of Hampton Roads in 2002. We spent most of our time in the Monitor displays, but other exhibits were equally outstanding.
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| USS Lancaster eagle figurehead, 1880. |
