Welcome back to your virtual tour of C & I’s 10th anniversary vacation. We are up to day 4 of our trip and it was the busiest day yet. That was Wednesday of the week we were gone and we decided to make that day sight-seeing day. Once we started out that morning, there were so many things to see that we ended up staying out and about longer than I had planned and didn’t have quite as much beach time as I had hoped, but that was okay. We saw some amazing things while we were touring!
We started the day going to see the first lighthouse built in the United States. In fact, it was the first public works project in the newly founded country. It is located at Fort Story military base which was just a few miles up the street from our hotel. Since it is on an active military base, we were required to show our driver’s licenses and our vehicle had to be inspected. After that we were instructed on where to go and that we could not take any photos except at the old lighthouse.
This is actually the “new” lighthouse that is still used today so we didn’t get to go in it.
This is the “old” lighthouse.
There were many, many steps to climb!
Upon leaving the lighthouse, we headed toward Norfolk to continue our touring. Now, let me tell you a little “secret”, I usually DO NOT LIKE BRIDGES, especially shaky swaying bridges. As C was driving along he looked out over the water and asked what something was. That “something” was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a 20 mile long bridge with, not one, but two underwater tunnels. He asked if I wanted to go over it and, before I could chicken out, I said yes!! I am so glad I did, too. That drive was one of the most beautiful and interesting 20 miles I have ever been on.
Notice how it says “no stopping”.
Well, we had to stop. Once you are in the tunnels, there is only 1 lane per direction. We had to stop our way to let a wide-load hauling semi-truck come through the other way.
This was a helicopter that looked like it was chasing this boat. It just kept getting closer and closer!
We are officially standing in the Chesapeake Bay.
There is a restaurant and the fishing pier below on one of the man-made islands at the tunnel entrance.
After this wonderful little side trip, we headed into Norfolk.
Norfolk’s downtown has been revitalized and it was so pretty. We were heading to the Hampton Bay Naval Museum, Nauticus Science Center and the USS Wisconsin Battleship. When we got to the end of the street to find a parking garage, this was our first view of the ship…
Pretty awesome, isn’t it? This was one of C’s favorite stops along the whole trip. He loved the museum and science center, and especially the battleship. You give yourself the tour and you have access to many parts of the ship. Here are a few shots of the museum and ship.
As we were leaving to head back to Virginia Beach, I spotted the MacArthur Memorial. We didn’t take time to stop, but I snapped a couple of photos from the street.
We returned to Virginia Beach, hungry and tired. We found a little pizza place just down the street from our hotel and went there. I’ll have more info on that in a later “foodie” post. We spent some time on the beach and enjoyed an beautiful sunset and full moon.
There are only a couple of days left of our vacation to share with you, so please check back next Thursday for the next installment!
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