Hampton, Virginia (October 30, 2010)

In my last two posts I wrote about Air Power Park (the latest one after this one) and before that a visit to the Virginia Air and Space Museum. Being an aviation and space fan both (the museum I planned to see, the Air Power Park I just stumbled across by luck), but I was also pleasantly surprised by Hampton itself. I did not have a great deal of time to see a lot but I liked what I saw of this very interesting town. One such area was "Riverwalk" with its great variety of ships. I saw pleasure boats, fishing boats and sailboats during my visit there, and enjoyed walking around and checking them out up close and personal. There were also places along the docks to enjoy some food or a beverage.
In the area near the Virginia Air and Space Museum was the courthouse. This one was rebuilt from the ruins of the old one which was burned during the Civil War. There were a number of old and interesting buildings in the area, and many of them has historical plaques attached to them. Many of the old buildings were used as offices, stores, and restaurants. There was a good crowd in many of them, and the streets were clean and very well kept. I enjoyed walking around and checking out some of the sights in the area, it is a very comfortable place to explore. It is a city with a lot of history, and a lot of fun places to wander around.


One of the oldest places in the area was this church site. St. John's Church seen here was built in the 1700's, but is on the original site where three other churches of the same congregation stood since 1610. Yes, the church is celebrating its 400th year, and is the oldest continuous Anglican Church in the United States (well before it was the "United States." With an amazing aviation history (Langley Air Force Base and at least one NASA facility if not more are nearby) as well as being close to NAS Oceana and Norfolk Naval Station (the largest Navy base in the World if memory serves me right) there are many interesting things to see in the air and on the water. From what I saw in a short time, as is much of Virginia, it is filled with interesting people of many types. I have no doubt that I will return to Hampton, Virginia in the days to come.