Sunday May 13, 2018 - Portsmouth to Hampton

I've been to Hampton before and I really like the town and waterfront but every time I go, I sail past Fort Monroe on New Point Comfort and have always wanted to check it out (if possible).  What I didn't know was that until 2011, it was an Army base and not a place civilians like me could visit.  In 2011, it was closed down as a federal installation and was turned over to the State of Virginia.  Shortly after that, the National Parks Service took on a role.  There is a lot of very large and nice military housing that is owned by members of the public.  There is a very large hospital looking building at the south end that is a fairly high end (and popular) retirement home.  There is a light house near the south end, and, of course there is the Fort.  There is also a fairly large white sand beach on the East side (facing the Chesapeake) that is open to the public. 

Fort Monroe is the largest fort of it's kind in the US. It is HUGE!  It is in the shape of a pentagon and has a very large moat around the perimeter.  It too has a lot of very well built, brick buildings and also has some beautiful housing.  A very nice museum has been created in one of the buildings on the SW side of the grounds that tells the story of the fort.  I would highly encourage anyone who has not been there to go and spend an entire day. 

I stayed at the Old Point Comfort Marina.  It was built for use by military personnel but is now run by some municipal authority. It is a little run down but I really liked it and the wifi worked great.  The bath house was a little odd but very clean and functional.  I docked on a T head and the owner of a Watkins 33 had driven up from Atlanta to take his boat "Finally" to a yard where he was going to re-do the bottom.  His name was Paul and he had lots of very interesting stories about his time in the Air Force.