Very cool historic site that has much more to offer than I was able to enjoy in a day. I'm not a…read morehuge historian, but it was quite remarkable to see the part of the country that has been preserved and restored to match the original colonies. We got to see a barrel being made, a cannon being fired (dry fired), a court session, and lots of buildings and other historical items. The person I was with has been here a few times and said they have options to stay on site and also there are several very good places to eat. Would be a great place for the family or yourself if you want a piece of Americas history.

From a historical perspective, this is a great place to visit. (5 Star) But I would have to say I…read morewas very disappointed in the visitor center. There's a lot of space and opportunity and they really miss the mark providing no real historical experience within the center itself. The outside structure of the visitor center is a C at Best. Gutters are falling off flashing is missing tiles need to be replaced. It's very tired compared to the visitor center down at Jamestown. I was disappointed that the plantation exhibit along the walkway looks to be overgrown and not often for public viewing. It used to be such a great experience to show what life was like for slaves and owners. The colonial town and structures were great to visit, but even several of those structures need more care... gardens and landscaping are mostly weeds and unkept. I would've thought the location would be in pristine condition. Getting ready to celebrate 250 years. (2 Star)

Ordinarily, plantations would not be on my list of places to visit, given the history of slavery…read more However, I discovered a statue of Grace Sherwood while living in Virginia Beach, and I was intrigued. I had mentioned this to one of my students, and she suggested I visit Ferry Plantation House. I planned a tour with her as I was interested in their ties to Grace Sherwood and stories of paranormal activity. The tour did not disappoint, and I'm always interested in history when it is presented in creative ways. I appreciated that they include tales of the slaves that were a part of the plantations past. As for the paranormal, I felt very drawn to a particular tree on the property. Though, nothing felt menacing, I did get pushed on the stairs after visiting an upstairs room where a former slave women spent a lot of time with the children of the plantation. The push was on my leg leading me to believe it could have possibly been a child. Lastly, I did stop by the gift shop at the end of my tour. My favorite purchase was a Ferry Plantation tea blend. It's worth a visit if you are interested in Virginia Beach history or the paranormal.

I came Ferry Plantation house this past Saturday the 21st. I have been vacationing for years at the…read morebeach but due to the rain and to look for alternative things my family and I could do. While researching I cam across the story of Grace Sherwood (not going to ruin it) which lead me to the plantation. After researching it I decided it would be a great place to drop by to put the story in motion. Since it is fall and almost Halloween I knew my stepdaughter would love it. We unfortunately could not get tickets as I waited last minute so we couldn't go into the house but just roamed the property. They have signs all around of historic significance and just seeing the house puts everything into perspective. I will definitely be back to tour the inside of the house and we heard from a volunteer who was arriving as we were leaving they do tours on Thursdays and Saturdays as well as was in the process of setting up for an event (some kind of funeral/mourning) that they do every year. If we lived closer we would definitely attend. No matter if you believe in the paranormal side of things or not it is still a great place of history located smack in the middle of some beautiful million dollar homes on the waterfront.

The story of this house and it's series of residents makes clear that a lot of racial assumptions…read moreabout the Civil War are wrong. Neither the freededmen nor the restored land owner could sustain the farm after the war despite fertile land and roads and rail connections. The docents are knowledgeable and enthusiastic. The grounds are lovely. The house is incredible for when it was built. It would make a great mansion in the 1930s but it was built fifty years earlier.

Lee Hall is an interesting historic house museum Built in 1859, on the eve of the Civil War, it is…read moreItalianate in style on the outside, but has a Georgian interior floor plan. When built it was the most prominent house in Warwick County. It was used as aConfederate headquarters in April-May 1862. The basement contains an extensive exhibit on the 1862 Peninsula Campaign of the Civil War. The two furnished floors above are shown on the guided tour. Furnishings are arranged as they might have been in 1861. The bedrooms contain modern-looking closets. Our guide did his best to dispel the oft-repeated story that closets were taxed as though they were rooms (and that is why closets were uncommon). Lee Hall's bedrooms had them. The grounds contain a two-story brick outbuilding identified as the kitchen. It is not open and little was related about it or its configuration and use. Also on the grounds are the remains of Confederate earthworks. Troops camped one the property used it as a base to launch an observation balloon. After 1862, the Civil War largely bypassed the area and the house survived. The house was occupied into the late 20th century and divided into apartments for a time. The city of Newport News acquired it in 1996 and restored it. Definitely recommended for historic house enthusiasts.

Ghent is a melting pot of cool architecture, museums, schools, churches, unique shopping, music,…read moreupscale dinning, antique stores, sidewalk cafes, street performers and yes hippies. The main drags of the business district are Colley Ave, Colonial Ave and 21 St. The residential area is eclectic pre turn and turn of the century Queen Anne, Tudor and Colonial Revival. Development began in the 1890's. It's name Ghent hales from from a city in Belgium. Neighborhoods include Ghent, West Ghent, East Ghent, Ghent Square. It is a city within a city since its Norfolk. This is where the most wealthy Industrialist of the day resided. The Ghent Historic District is on the National Register of Historic places. The most historic buildings of Ghent on a little research that I did Warren (c. 1925), the Holland (1904), the Mowbray (c. 1914), Eastern Virginia Medical School, Sarah Leigh Hospital (1902), Fergus Reid residence (1892), the Frank S. Royster residence (c. 1900-02), the William H. White residence (c. 1892), the Richard B. Tunstall residence (c. 1892), the Robert M. and Robert W. Hughes residence (c. 1895-1900), and the William Tait residence (c. 1895). On several of my visits on foot I came across residents running, walking, maintaining their yard and even conversing with their neighbors. It seemed like on every block a resident had a renovation underway whether big, or small. I stopped and talked with at least three Ghent residents and found them all to be super friendly. Interestingly even though the homes are very old, most have only turned over two, to three times in ownership per a local. I spent a great deal of time taking pics for this review, I urge you to check them out. My recommendation is to experience Ghent on foot as I have done on almost a half dozen visits. If you have yet to explore this gorgeous and historic area there is no time like the present. Christmas decorations will soon be up and from what I am told it will be spectacular. I think you will agree that it's a treasured place for us all to enjoy no matter where you reside in Hampton Roads.

This is the nicest part of Norfolk. A city that's already on the ocean has a smaller island that is…read morequieter and more expensive (read, more cared for and historical architecture). It's a walking tour paradise.

This is a cool lighthouse to see and you can actually walk up to the top of the oldest one. It is…read moremaybe about 100 steps or so and there are good views. You can also walk down the street some and go to an look out point over the ocean. There is also an old chapel there but it is currently under construction. What makes this lighthouse a pain to see is that it is located on a military base and it seems apparent that it is an inconvenience for them and thus they will make it so for you. Once you go through a TSA like process and show you ID 3-4 times, they take the ID for your ticket. Then you are shuttled in by a van. The driver was nice enough and they do come around often to take you back to get your idea. I do NOT recommend doing this if there is any line to get through. It is a slow process. There was no one else in the screening shed and it was SLOW. Plus it must be a hang out location as well because when we got back there were 4 people laid out in all the chairs in there just hanging around. Good lighthouse- unfortunate location

Whether you're a local or visiting, make sure to carve out 30 minutes to an hour to visit…read more Located on Fort Story - a military base, Cape Henry Lighthouse is a historical site with 191 steps leading to the top opening to beautiful views of the ocean and the newer Cape Henry lighthouse in the backdrop. IDs are required to enter base as well as proof of car insurance. Please refer to their website for more up to date info for entrance. If you are a civilian visiting you can still visit but must park to the left upon checking in at the gate. From there a tram will pick you up and drive to the lighthouse entrance. If you have military base access you can park right in the lot at the entrance of the lighthouse. I suggest purchasing tickets on groupon for the best prices. The only restrooms are port a potties to the left of the gift shop entrance. Check in is at the counter in the gift shop. One person from your group needs to sign in. As someone mentioned before, the wifi can be spotty so if you have a groupon or ticket on your phone, you might want to do a screenshot. There are a lot of steps to navigate once you exit the gift shop to the actual entrance of the lighthouse. There was a docent at the top of the stairs that automatically spouted out facts and history about the lighthouse. Although there are 191 steps it's manageable for most people even if you don't exercise on the daily and as long as you have ability to navigate stairs in general. There's one landing on the spiral staircase and a straight ladder to climb to get to the top. It can get hot up there. All three of us were sweating but it wasn't the hottest day either. Maybe roughly 5-10 people max can fit at the top. The views of the ocean are relaxing. We even had a sailboat peacefully sail by. I wouldn't wear a dress to the lighthouse if you're climbing up. If you decide to, wear shorts underneath. Probably not a long dress or skirt or flip flops either so you don't trip going up the ladder. If you have sandals with ankle straps you should be fine. There really isn't much else to see at the lighthouse though. At the base there are more scenic photo ops and a compass on the ground. The newer lighthouse isn't open to the public except on lighthouse day, August 7th, the main reason it's not open to the public the rest of the year is it's a working lighthouse.

To start off, Lincoln is there! (If you were doubting). We took the trip up to see these heads…read morespecifically. It ended up pouring so yes, boots are recommended! The rows in between ended up flooding so I couldn't get past maybe the 3rd or 4th one in each row but this was a very unique experience. They have 42, technically 43 with Obama in the front. Well more like 42.1 compared to his size lol. To kick it off they give you background information which is cool to know and then guide you to the heads. You have the 2 hour slot to use and walk around for as little or as long as you'd like. The company was VERY organized and thorough with information beforehand and updating us on the weather. As well as accommodating, offering ticket holders to come earlier that day or next day with the weather! I didn't get the sunset pictures I wanted but a muddy rain night with the statues is a cool trade off! Worth it to see.

I've been wanting to visit this for a while and was lucky to get tickets many months in advance…read more It's on a private property and is open only ~8 times in a year. There were different 2-hour times that you can choose from when I bought the tickets. A full day pass is also available that allows you to enter multiple times in a day. The organizers send emails containing directions to get to the place, tips and other reminders. When they tell you not to wear pretty shoes, listen. Even though it had not rained for the past week when we went, there were areas that were really muddy. Wear boots. Went here on a Saturday afternoon. There was a short orientation at the start near the registration area then we went to the heads of the presidents. It was a cool experience seeing all these huge busts of the presidents. Two brief talks during the visit were (1) trivia about the presidents and (2) history of the place/presidents' heads. A gift shop at the entrance/exit had magnets, postcards, tree ornaments, posters, etc. Had a great time here and was lucky to get those tickets ahead of time because they run out quickly.

Built in 1894 for Mr. James Wilson Hunter & wife Lizzie. Hunter was a prominent merchant, banker &…read morecivic leader. The home is restored close to original and is in private foundation. Located in the Freemason District, one of the original neighborhoods in Norfolk. Beautiful two story eclectic nineteenth century homes line the street. Parking is off street. Hours Wednesday-Saturday 10 AM to 3:30 PM Sunday 12:30-3:30 PM. Ring the door bell and wait for a guide to answer. Admission is $5 adult, $4 senior, $1 child. No pictures are not permitted inside the home. Gift store on the third floor. Definitely a hidden gem off the beaten path that I have enjoyed over the years. Worthy for visitors and locals alike to check out.

Beautiful Victorian home that offers both guided and self-guided tours. Extremely knowledgeable and…read morefriendly staff were able to share fascinating details about the family and customs of the time. Definitely worth a trip when visiting Norfolk!

This was my friends and I first time doing electric bikes and they were so fun! We originally had a…read morestart time for 12pm but we were running late so we called and were able to push it back to the 2pm time. Jill and her husband were super sweet and great! Helmets are required for insurance purposes. Jill gave us a map and had great recommendations on bike routes so we could see the most. It was a really cool experience and definitely highly recommend best way to see Yorktown. Super bike friendly! It was $25 per person so not bad at all.

Me and my wife took a 2 hour Segway tour around Yorktown historical district. First time riding a…read moreSegway but it's real easy to learn and within a few minutes you're ready to go. Great weather and a great guide made for a relaxing and fun 2 hours. Highly recommend this tour with this company