Wednesday, 9/16/15
Wednesday dawned clear, calm and pleasantly cool - a perfect day for the 40 mile jaunt from Hampton, VA up the James River to the Jamestown settlement.
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| We headed out to the James River at 7:30am |
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| Some of the large ships tied up in Newport News |
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An aircraft carrier under construction at the Newport News
Shipbuilding yard on the James River |
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| A second aircraft carrier under construction! |
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A lift bridge we passed under. It is 60' high when down.
Much higher when lifted! |
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This is part of the US "ghost fleet" that was anchored in
the James River. We counted 9 large government ships in
various stages of being mothballed. |
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| Notice how much the James River winds around |
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| "Are you sure you want ramming speed?" |
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| Our first view of historic Jamestown from Samba. |
After dropping anchor off of Jamestown in the James River, we had a quick bite of lunch and headed in to the town to see what was here.
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| Leigh & Jim |
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| Carol & Ralph |
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| Pulling ourselves up the steep wall |
As it turned out, neither historic Jamestown nor the touristy Jamestown Settlement are boater friendly. To get to historic Jamestown from the river, we tied our dinghy line to a picnic table and hauled ourselves up the steep, slick concrete embankment.
Some of the site attendants couldn't believe we made it. We're about the only ones who have ever done this. LOL
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| Historic Jamestown from the river |
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Just today, they found a button & 2 of the
metal scales (?) from a soldier's chest armor |
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| One of the archaeologists explaining what they were finding |
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| The Jamestown monument |
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| This was a great quote at the base of the monument |
This footbridge connected the historic site to the visitor center. It crossed a tar & pitch swamp which still has a high concentration of arsenic!
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| Looking down the swamp |
Though Jamestown was well placed as a military outpost, it was uninhabitable for the long term. Mosquitoes, arsenic in the swamp and salt water in the James River made it impossible to find clean water. Even the well they dug had arsenic in it.
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| We had an outstanding tour guide take us around the site |
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| As the tour guide was talking about the cannon placements and how they had full control of the James River in case of Spanish attack, we couldn't help but notice what/who was directly in its sights! Hmmm! |
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| A reconstructed barracks placed on the exact historical footprint. |
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Notice the 4 graves in the front of the church! They had
unearthed and identified the remains. The walls were partially
constructed to show how they would have been built in the 1600's. |
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Captain John Smith
The original church was to the left. The
later church was behind him. |
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| Inside the later church building |
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| A scale model of the original Jamestown fort & settlement |
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| Pocohantas |
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| Heading into the visitor center |
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| The visitor center is full of wonderful exhibits and artifacts |
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| The theater-in-the-round at the visitor center |
It was interesting trying to get back into the dinghy. The last few feet were totally covered with slick algae.
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| Enjoying the evening anchored in the James River |
Sunset was a spectacular, fiery show. What a blessing!
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight..."
This footbridge connected the historic site to the visitor center. It crossed a tar & pitch swamp which still has a high concentration of arsenic!
