Mill Point Park and Downtown Hampton, VA

This afternoon we went on a walk to Mill Point Park, along the waterfront and through downtown Hampton. Take Exit 267 from I64 to Settlers Landing Road. Take a right and proceed over the bridge. Turn right onto Eaton Street and Mill Point Park will be on the right.

Mill Point Park is going through a renovation. They are re-doing the stage and amphitheatre. This will be nice in the summer when they hold concerts there.

After going through the park, there is a path along the Hampton River to walk on. It is a path made of pavers so it's an easy walk.

This pathway leads you to the Miss Hampton boat dock and the Hampton Carousel.

This is a restored 1920s carousel. One of only 200 antique carousels still in the United States, it is a rare and beautiful example of American folk art. It still has its original oil paintings and mirrors. It costs only $2 to ride it.

After walking through the carousel park, we walked along Queen Street where there are a few shops and restaurants.

There's also a Wine Street in downtown Hampton! How can you go wrong with a Wine Street?
Wish you were here!
Joyce
Sammy & PG

Fort Monroe Hampton, VA

In 2011, Fort Monroe was decommissioned as a military installation and became a national monument. This is the largest stone fort ever built in the United States and the best way to explore this fort is by foot. To get to the park, enter from Mercury Blvd, go across a bridge and causeway; and drive on the road along the water and the marina. Once you pass the former Chamberlin Hotel, which has now been converted to a retirement community, there are a couple of parking lots along the seawall. We parked close to the Old Point Comfort Light House.

Before we headed to the fort, we had to go out onto the fishing pier and see if anyone was catching any fish. Al really misses going fishing. And PG seemed ready to jump in!

No one was catching any fish--but we did run into these iggys! Sammy was thrilled to see these mini-versions of himself!

We crossed over the moat; and then went through a tunnel onto the fort. We entered through the East Gate.

Once inside, we climbed up to the top of the ramparts, to walk along the perimeter of the fort. There is this huge wrought iron sign, in the style of the Eiffel Tower, at the top. It says, "Jefferson Davis Memorial Park." I'm not sure of the history of this sign. Jefferson Davis was held as a prisoner at the fort after the Civil War.

The walk along the ramparts is really fabulous. Not only can you look down on the houses, structures and trees within the fort walls, you can also look out at the Bay. All along the ramparts are old weapon foundations. We had the whole place to ourselves. The walk is about a mile and a half long.

This old cistern can be seen looking down from the ramparts. Since the fort was surrounded by salt water, they had to rely on the cistern for drinking water. From the marker:
The Old Cistern

One of several large cisterns shown on a map of 1834. No potable water was ever found on Old Point Comfort, although one well was sunk to more than 900 feet. The garrison had to depend on cistern water and water brought in from wells on the mainland.

An interesting thing to me, was that there are hundreds of small pet grave markers along the ramparts where military personnel stationed at the fort were allowed to bury their pets. Some of the markers are very extravagant--must have been much loved pets!

 As if walking along those ramparts wasn't enough, we finished our walk by walking down the seawall. This could be a beautiful walk in itself!

From the seawall, you can look out at the ship traffic passing. Some ships coming back into port and some heading out to the Atlantic Ocean. In the background is another fort, Fort Wool.

This is a great place to walk and we'll certainly be going back!
Wish you were here,
Joyce
Sammy & PG

Suffolk Art Gallery, Suffolk, VA

This afternoon we dropped off some of my husband's photographs to enter into the 29th Annual Juried Photography Exhibit at the Suffolk Art Gallery. The Suffolk Art Gallery is located at 118 Bosley Avenue in Surprising Suffolk!

We took the dogs along with us. In the enclosed courtyard of the art gallery, they have a whimsical bottle tree forest.

 

The bottle trees are very Seussical!

Sammy and PG enjoyed strolling through the forest! Was PG trying to look inside the bottles? Or was she trying to look like the tree?

If you're in Suffolk on Saturday, March 9th, come to the Opening Reception of the Photography Exhibit! 4pm till 6pm and there will be live music. This is the largest and oldest photography show in Hampton Roads--always an interesting show!

Wish you were here!
Joyce
Sammy & PG

Chesapeake Arboretum, Chesapeake, VA

Finally--a sunny, warm afternoon on a weekend! Today we ventured to the Chesapeake Arboretum.  I found out about this place via Doug Gelbert, author of the "Hike with your Dog" books, blog and website. The arboretum is a treasure just off the main drag of Battlefield Blvd.

The paths are wood chips--which are very easy to walk on for both humans and canines.

I was surprised that we had the whole trail to ourselves on such a beautiful day! There are 3.5 miles of trails with a stream running through the middle. You can download a copy of the trail map.

There are bridges every so often so you can cross back and forth over the stream. The flowing stream is clear and provides some nice water sounds for the walk.

All the trees are covered with these vines. Probably not good for the trees! The February tree of the month is the Red Maple.

There is a lake about halfway through. Lake Hughes. I was surprised at all the McMansions around the lake. This 45 acre woodland is surrounded by houses and shopping centers but when you're on the trails it feels like you are in the mountains somewhere. This is the kind of place where I would have played as a kid.

There is a whimsical sculpture of two otters laying on their backs, eating some fish at the trailhead. The dogs were hoping that we'd see some otters on our walk but no luck!

Wish you were here!
Joyce
Sammy & PG

Barboursville Winery, Barboursville, VA

We went to the Inn at Little Washington to celebrate our wedding anniversary this week. Dogs are NOT allowed at the inn--but they did recommend a great boarding kennel close by where they could spend the night. We picked them up the next morning and traveled to Barboursville Winery on our way home.

In the middle of the week in the winter--Barboursville was not very crowded.  Well-behaved, leashed dogs are allowed in the tasting room.
Barboursville Winery has a really great winemaker, some great wines and a wonderful restaurant called the Palladio. Since it was winter and I didn't get the greatest photos--you should check out their website.

While my husband was in the tasting room with a roaring fire, the dogs and I decided to walk around the vineyards. He tasted 15 wines for $5. He could have tasted more wines and he could have kept his glass if he wanted to.

We walked to the ruins. The ruins are the former mansion of James Barbour, a U.S. Senator, Secretary of War and Virginia Governor. The mansion was designed by Thomas Jefferson, one of Barbour's friends. Everything except the masonry walls  and the columns of the porticos burned in a fire on Christmas day in 1884.

The vines aren't very pretty in the middle of winter--but the dogs were still interested in checking them out. As we were walking through the vineyards, I could hear workers in the vineyards whistling while they worked! It must be a happy place to work!

Wish you were here!
Joyce
Sammy and PG

Greyt Park, Inyerhead, VA

The weather has been terrible here. Rain, snow and really cold. So we haven't been able to take walks on the weekends like we usually do. So, we made up a walk that any greyhound would love to take.

The trail that we walk on has trees filled with dog biscuits. It's sunny and warm--no rain, no snow! The trail is easy to walk on--I think, flat, oyster shells with no big hills.

Some of the biscuits fall from the trees--and Sammy and PG are happy to gobble them up!

In the middle of the trail, there is a koi pond. Sammy and PG jump in! And the koi are happy to have them swim and splash with them!

At the end of the trail, there is a little village with some shops and a little bistro. Sammy and PG stop for a glass of wine. It's the perfect way to end a perfect day!

Come on, spring!
Wish you were here,
Joyce
Sammy & PG

PS. Thank you, Lesa, for giving us the great watercolors to play with!

Gosnold's Hope Park, Hampton, VA

The dogs are going stir crazy staying in the house! It rains for days, then it's bitter cold (by Virginia standards, anyway!) and then it snows! So I pulled out my Christmas present from last year, a pair of LL Bean snow boots, and I took them to Gosnold's Hope Park for a walk.

It was pretty quiet at the park. A few hardy joggers. Mostly just snow covered fields and park shelters.

While I was picking up a pile, a man in a truck stopped and said, "I don't envy what you're doing--but you're a good person for doing it." Just then Sammy kicked a big pile of snow all over me!

What is that smell?

The pond is frozen. No one sitting on the bench feeding the ducks. You may notice, too, that I had to put the old "I heart NY" collars back on. Their new beaded collars kept coming over their heads and falling off in the snow. They still have the beaded tag collars. Come on, Spring!

Wish you were here,
Joyce
Sammy & PG