Category Archives: Virginia

The Battleship Wisconsin at the Nauticus Museum in Norfolk, Virginia

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Sunday, July 6 — It was supposed to rain hard in the afternoon, so we decided that an indoor activity was a good idea. We settled on a museum called Nauticus, which had a retired Navy battleship on display. The museum didn’t open until noon, so we left the boat at 1130 and headed to downtown Norfolk. It was close to the historic area we’d visited yesterday. This section of town was built up and modern. Even though the two museums were only blocks apart, it felt like two totally different worlds.

We were sad to see there was a traffic jam around the museum. We also noticed a conga line of people with suitcases walking towards the museum. Eventually, we realized that there was a cruise ship next to the museum that was currently boarding. We found a parking garage directly across the street. Like the other garage, parking was free for the first two hours and inexpensive for more time. As we approached the ship, we were struck by how huge it was.

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The Moses Myers House and Gourmet Grilled Cheese in Norfolk, Virginia

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Continued… From Adeline’s room, we moved into the part of the slaves quarters that was above the utility room. The signs said that the Myers had dozens of slaves over the decades, but didn’t say how many slaves the household typically had at any given time. The guides did tell us, but we don’t remember now. But we do remember they always had several, not only one or two. There was a big binder full of information that we didn’t read. Some of the displays on the walls were bills of sale for the various people. One display showed a bill of sale for a mother and daughter. In the bankruptcy inventory, they were identified as “washer and daughter.” John Myers did allow at least one of his slaves to purchase his freedom. We didn’t go into the portion of the slaves quarters over the kitchen.

View of the back yard from the slave’s quarters. What is now a parking garage was once a creek.
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The Moses Myers House in Norfolk, Virginia

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Dawn on Saturday, July 5, 2025

Our plan was to go to historic Ft. Norfolk. There was a marina barbecue from 1300 – 1500 that Eric went to, so we didn’t head out until 1500. When we entered the fort into the map app, it said it was closed on weekends. We decided to go sightseeing in historic downtown Norfolk, anyways, as there were plenty of other things to see. Even though we hadn’t entered the MacArthur Memorial as our destination, the map app sent us to the Memorial’s parking garage. At first we were confused, but then we realized the garage was for the general downtown area, not only the Memorial. Parking was free for the first two-hours, and it was inexpensive for additional time.

When we walked out of the parking garage, the first thing that caught our eye was a church across the street.

We later found out this church was built in 1850 and was designed by Thomas U. Walter, who designed the US Capitol dome. The original steeple toppled over in 1879 and was replaced in 1897.
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Keith’s Perspective on Virginia Beach Comicon/Portsmouth/Ft. Monroe/Le point de vue de Keith sur Virginia Beach Comicon/Portsmouth/Ft. Monroe

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On Saturday, we moved the boat to a different slip first thing in the morning, then mom’s friend picked us up and showed us around the area. Then we went back to their house and I talked to mom’s friend’s daughter about a video game. We borrowed their car, then went to a burrito place for dinner. Unfortunately, mom couldn’t eat anything. On Sunday, dad and I did some boat chores, then we went to a mini Comicon, which was fun, though it wasn’t as good as the real thing. After that, we went to the house of some of our friends from the Bahamas (Miss Roxy) and had dinner. 

Virginia Beach Comicon
Virginia Beach Comicon
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Celebrating Independence Day at Historic Fort Monroe — Part 2

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Continued… When the tour concluded, Eric and Keith announced they were hungry. They went to a nearby restaurant called The Deadrise, which was over at the marina.

The food was good and the portions were huge. Keith, who was not a seafood fan, loved the crab dip (even though it wasn’t as good as Haste Away’s).

It looked like the section of the marina closest to the restaurant was closed, as there weren’t any boats in the slips. We were too far away to get a look at the part of the marina that was occupied. There was an anchorage beyond the marina that was deep enough for Kosmos. Given that it was a holiday weekend, we were surprised there weren’t more boats anchored out there.

Christi stayed at the Visitor’s Center and went on the 1500 tour. It began much the same as the 1400 tour had. But instead of stopping at the entrance casement, the group walked on to the four-acre parade ground.

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