Milepost 4,253 (Newport News)

During our four days in what is known as the Hampton Roads region, we've been trying to limit ourselves to one place per day.  Yesterday, we went on a cruise of the Hampton Roads Harbor.  Well, that, and we got the oil changed on our car, but I figure you're not that interested in our Jiffy Lube visit.

Our cruise on the Miss Hampton II was mostly in the Hampton Roads Harbor though we were also briefly in the Chesapeake Bay.  The cruise took us past Naval Station Norfolk, which is the largest naval station in the world.  We cruised past dozens of naval ships, including the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier (top photo).

While there was nothing to actually see, we heard a lot about The Battle of Hampton Roads, also known as The Battle of the Ironclads, which took place in this harbor.  And we made a stop at Fort Wool, which was built on a man-made island in the early 1800's to protect the harbor.  This cannon was one of the weapons utilized at the fort.

Today, we went to Jamestown, which was the first permanent English settlement in North America.  The photo at the left is of the area where James Fort was built.  For decades, it was believe the fort had been eroded away by the James River.  However, excavations that began in the 1990's proved that was not the case.  Unfortunately, it was somewhat rainy the day we visited Jamestown, so the excavation site was covered.

Over the next two days, we plan to go to Williamsburg and to Yorktown.

Lastly, to see some additional photos from the Great Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway, click here.