Exploring Hampton

We have spent the last few days in Hamton. Following several days at anchor, and prior to setting out down the ICW, we were all in need of some 'land time'. Hampton and area has some great museums, and we saw quite a few of them.
Sunday afternoon we went to the Air & Space Museum. It was a great display of all things aeronautic. A bit of history, a bit of hands-on, including the actual Apollo 12 capsule.
On Mondays most of Hampton's attractions are closed, so we took that opportunity to go to the Visitor's Center, get some groceries and discover La Bodega - a nearby cafe that is popular with the locals and has the most amazing freshly baked french loaf, of which we used several for sandwiches and dinners.
Tuesday we got on the bus and went through the tunnel, under the channel to Norfolk. We spent the day at Nauticus. We all thoroughly enjoyed everthing there. It was a very slow day for them, so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. At many of the interactive displays we were the only ones there, and the staff took lots of time with the girls to explain everything and answer all their questions. There was a shark touch-tank, a submersible which the girls could operate, and great displays about our impact on the aquatic environment. Their afternoon program was building an underwater robot, they nickname them 'sea-bots'. I imagine that usually there is quite a crowd for this opportunity, but our girls were the only ones there, so they each got to make their own. Using submersible motors, PVC pipe and connectors, they had to design and construct their own seabot, with the goal of being able to maneover it underwater and pick up rings and balls from the bottom of a small pool. We also spent about an hour touring the battleship USS Wisconsin.
Yesterday we spent at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. There the girls had the chance to touch all sorts of marine life in their touch tank, including horseshoe crabs, sea stars, welk, and hermit crabs. We also enjoyed walking around their elevated boardwalk, which took us through a marsh, over a pond and through a forest seeing all kinds of wildlife.
We have had a great time in Hampton, enjoying our dock at the public piers and the friendliness of the dockmaster, Kate, and her staff. We are looking forward to getting back to see more on our return in the spring.
Today we are headed further south, through the crazy harbour of Hampton Roads, which boasts the world's largest deepwater harbour, along with the world's largest naval base. We will start down the Elizabeth River into the IntraCoastal Wwaterway (ICW), hoping to make it to the small town of Deep Creek tonight. There is a lock there, which will allow us to enter a narrow channel  and transit through the Dismal Swamp to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. We are hopeful that the channel has been dredged to depths to allow us through. With a 6' draft, we are pushing the envelope a bit, but we have been told by many that a few bumps along the muddy bottom are worth it for the beauty of the passage, and to be able to avoid going around this area through the Virginia Cut.
Here's some pictures of our stay in Hampton.