Portsmouth, Virgina

From the deep nature of the Dismal Swamp, we exited to not only civilization but extreme industry.  We have been to major ports before but nothing as eye-popping as the shipyards along the Elizabeth River.  These yards have been around for centuries as have the towns around them.  Portsmouth offers 2 free docks to entice boaters.  As noted earlier, free is good!  We chose the one near the Visitor's Center so we could get a good lay of the land from the staff.  We had hoped to pump our holding tank but another boat seemed to be stuck near it and it didn't leave us enough room to tie up.  Oh well, life isn't perfect but the price for the tie-up was right.

This was a boat dock with a twist on the way up.

Portsmouth on the way in.

This is the largest and oldest US Navy hospital in the world.  Fortunately
it was also close to the place we docked.  I had been suffering from the
bites I had received along the way.  Although it was the same type of flies
biting in Georgia and South Carolina, my body had a severe reaction and
my feet and legs were extremely swollen.  The efficient and sympathetic ER staff
fixed me up especially after they heard the list of 15 previously tried remedies.
Sometimes drugs are the only solution to ailments.

I wish it hadn't been so encased that it doesn't photograph well,
but this is an example of the largest Fresnel lens ever built
for lighthouses along a coast.  That is a lot of little glass pieces to
keep clean!

Portsmouth was a thriving city before the Revolutionary War and
this arch was built to commemorate Lafayette's contribution to
our country gaining independence.

During the Civil War, Virginia was part of the solid South.  This is
a monument to all those who died for the Confederacy.

An example of an old Light Ship used by the Coast Guard to provide
beacons for shipping.  Light Ships moved around in their assignments
and changed their names to reflect the town their were stationed to provide
navigation aid.

The ship is also a museum and has a self guided tour that was worth
the time to see.

One of the pocket parks in the old section of town.  The town
was designed around squares, a plan copied on a grander scale
by Savannah.

The sections of town cover centuries of living.  Architecture
changed as houses were rebuilt after floods, fires, British invasions
and Northern invasions.  You might see a colonial era house next to
an antebellum house as a result.

Being one of the original Colonies, Virginia was officially Church of England
but as immigrants from Ireland and France arrived they built this Gothic Catholic Church.
This cross is a monument to those clergy who gave their lives treating the sick during
one of the plagues to hit the town.

Saint Paul's from the front.