Hampton, VA and goodbye to Pappy and Sa

We left the dock at Norfolk and took the short cruise to Hampton, VA. Our route took us by the Navy yard and we passed by a ship on the way to dock. We also went by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel entrance. It was pretty cool to watch the cars go "under water".

Approaching Hampton, we passed Fort Monroe and Hampton University. Our marina was right at the downtown area, so we visited the Virginia Air & Space Museum and The Hampton History Museum. Hampton is the oldest permanent English-speaking community. The history museum was full of artifacts collected from the earliest settlements in the area. They also had an amazing exhibit on a local photographer.

Steve and I went by St. John's Episcopal Church. It was established in 1610 and is the oldest English-speaking parish in the US. The current church has been at its present site since 1728. There is a very old and large cemetary surrounding the church, with many notable residents.

All of us went to the Air and Space Museum and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were many static displays of aircraft, some hands-on exhibits demonstrating how things worked, and a section for children (which we only saw from a distance). Steve got to fly some simulators and we crashed (on purpose) a few times.

After breakfast this morning, we said goodbye to Pappy and Sa. It was great to have them with us for a few days! Derek (Steve Bluhm's step-son) was kind enough to pick them up and take them back to their car in Norfolk. We wish them safe travel home! We are off to Cape Charles today.

Goodbye to Norfolk

This boat is from Hamilton, ON, home of Darlene Nordoff!

My last Norfolk mermaid

This is a dredge we passed

We stayed clear of the operation

This is a huge Navy yard

We ended up passing this ship

How would you like to be the tug under the bow?

Hampton from a distance

The Bay Bridge Tunnel

Fort Monroe

One of the Bay Bridge Tunnel entrances

Hampton University started out as a college for freed slaves

Coming into Hampton

Virginia Air and Space Museum

I loved these gates

A re-creation of a native home

A representation of a ship's hold

Rebecca, this is a fellow alum of Wm & Mary

Now this is an old fire engine

St. John's parish

This is the kid's portion of the Air and Space Museum

Pappy worked on these

A comparison of rockets through the years

This was a little robot you could drive on "Mars"

A replica of a Mars rover

A model of the USS Reagan

A beautiful carousel, photographed through the window

Our marina had a lovely herb garden for us to use!

Waiting on their ride

Goodbye, Pappy and Sa. Thanks for the ride, Derek!