I stayed in Hampton close to the waterfront; it was a lovely area. I drove around the peninsula for a week to see the several historic sites.

Fort Monroe

I spent the first day at Fort Monroe. Advance timed tickets to the Casemate Museum are required. This was a great museum, lots of artifacts and history about the fort, including the cell where Jefferson Davis was held for 2 years.

I spent the entire day here. After the museum I did the walking tour of the fort, seeing the Quarters Number 1, the Chapel of the Centurion, the Lincoln Gun. I walked all along the walls for great views.

Fort Monroe is the largest stone fort built in the US, complete in 1834. It remained under federal control during the Civil War, and was called Fortress Freedom by the enslaved who escaped and came here for their freedom. General Benjamin Butler refused to return 3 escaped enslaved to a Virginian enslaver who tried to enforce the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Butler said since Virginia declared they were not part of the US, they weren’t entitled to enforcement of US laws. The former enslaved were called “contraband of war” by Butler, his decision caused many more enslaved to seek sanctuary.

I walked around the outside perimeter, too, visiting Continental Park, seeing the moat, and the First Africans in Virginia monument, brought here in 1619, and heard about the planned memorial. I saw Battery Irwin and the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse. The visitor center has great exhibits on slavery and the many laws Virginia passed to continue to limit the rights of blacks, free or enslaved.

Yorktown National Battlefield

Yorktown and Jamestown are both part of the larger NPS Colonial Historical Park, along with the 23 mile Colonial Parkway that joins the two sites, from the James River to the York River. I did not drive the entire parkway since I visited the sites on separate days; there are parts closed for maintenance anyway.

I drove to Yorktown Battlefield. Starting at the visitor center, I saw the 18 minute movie of the land and naval battle. Between seeing all the exhibits, including a quarter replica of the HMS Charon, a British vessel sunk by the French,  I attended a ranger talk about the “contraband camps” outside.

They have a free shuttle running from the visitor center to Historic Yorktown. I took the shuttle downtown. The NPS App lists the various tours but for the details I had to download a separate Yorktown Tour Guide app (from America’s Battlefield Trust) to follow the “Walk Main Street in Yorktown” tour.

On the walking tour, I started at the Yorktown Victory Monument and walked down Main to see all the great 16th century buildings, including the Dudley Digges, the Sessions House, the Nelson House, Custom House and the Cole Digges House, with views of the Great Valley before walking along Water Street. What a beautiful town.

I returned to the visitor center to drive the red route of the self guided auto tour (also part of the Yorktown Tour Guide), from the British defense line to the Moore House and Surrender Field. I also drove part of the yellow route, or the encampment.

I went back another day to visit the Museum of the American Revolution. I spent about 4 1/2 hours at the museum. There is an introductory movie on the Yorktown battle. It has many exhibits and other shorter videos and information on the Revolutionary War, including events leading up to it. It covers the Seven Years War/French Indian War, Stamp Act, the alliance with the French and Spanish, the Treaty of Paris through the Articles of Confederation to the Constitutional Convention, as well as plenty of biographical information on King George III, Washington, Cornwallis, Tarleton, Benedict Arnold, de Galvez and many more. No discount for veterans, had to be active duty, and too young for their senior discount, but asked about others and got a discount for AAA. Always ask!

Jamestown

Historic Jamestowne is a partnership with the NPS managed site. Like Yorktown, the NPS Jamestown is also part of the Colonial National Historic Park.

The exact location of Fort James was long thought lost to erosion and hidden under the James River but in 1994 archeologists started excavating and found proof of the original location. Since then millions of artifacts have been recovered.

I got in free to the NPS site with my annual park pass but there is a charge for the Historic Jamestown, $30. I used my VA card for a $15 entry. I took a ranger tour of the NPS managed site (most of the island), then a historian/archeology tour of the Historic Jamestown site. I also visited the Archaearium, a “clean building” over top of some of the original foundations. The archeologists and architects worked together so they are all preserved, you can see these in open glass floors. Great history and information.

I also visited the Glasshouse and did the scenic drive of the island and a few of the trails for a full day at the site.

Hampton

I waited until the last few days to check the hours of the Virginia Air and Space Science Center and it wasn’t open when I wanted to visit. I did find the excellent Mariners Museum to visit Tuesday before I left. Admission is only $1; they had a rich donor expand access during COVID. It’s worth much much more but they said they have greatly increased visitors since their costs went down.

A large part of the museum is on the Ironclad Revolution and the USS Monitor and USS Merimack/CSS Virginia. There is a room with screens about 300 degrees round with a great video about the battle.

The turret of the Monitor was found in 2011 and it is on site and being restored. There is also a full size Monitor replica and a portion of the Virginia. I spent most of my time in this area of the museum, learning about the battle as well as how they built these ships, John Ericsson, the inventor of the rotating turret, the destruction of the Virginia by the CSS, sinking of the Monitor during a storm. I didn’t give it a lot of time, but the rest of the museum had a great building of small ships from all over the world, a room sponsored by Oracle on the America’s Cup, to submarine warfare. Highly recommend!

Restaurants

Bull Island Brewing Company (Hampton) was walking distance from my AirBNB so I went over one night for some 5 ounce tasters. Nice tap room right on the waterfront.

The Deadrise (Hampton) Had some great fish tacos after visiting Fort Monroe

Carrot Tree Kitchens (Yorktown) had a HUGE sandwich when visiting the battlefield.

I stopped in Oozlefinch Beer and Blending (Fort Morgan) for lunch but they don’t have food so I went to Deadrise for lunch. I did go back a few nights later for a couple of 5 oz beers. Their Oktoberfest and a sour were great.

Fort Monroe

Yorktown

Jamestown

Hampton

** All photos property of Lisa, not to be copied or reproduced **