Seniors Stop By Hampton, Virginia

Senior travelers will find Hampton on the southeast end of the Virginia Peninsula. It is bounded on the north and east by the Chesapeake Bay and on the south by the Hampton Roads Harbor.

Wth a population right around 138,000, Hampton is one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area.

Hampton traces its history to the city’s Old Point Comfort, the home of Fort Monroe for almost 400 years, which was named by the 1607 voyagers, led by Captain Christopher Newport, who first established Jamestown as an English colonial settlement. Hampton was named for Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, an important leader of the Virginia Company of London.

 Seniors Must See Historic Fort Monroe

TripAdvisor has listed 27 things to catch your eye and to enjoy on your visit to Hampton. Senior visitors will not want to miss the Casement Museum of Fort Monroe that chronicles Hampton’s colonial roots and its military role from the 19th century onward.

Widely considered to be one of the nation’s earliest settlements, Hampton dates its origins back to the early 1600s. Mainly a quiet trading port before the Civil War, Hampton found itself in the middle of the conflict when the Confederate army, in an attempt to stop Union troops from taking over the town, burned it to the ground in 1861.

From the ruins left behind, former slaves who were under a degree of Union protection built the Grand Contraband Camp, the first self-contained African American community in the United States.

 Seniors Enjoy Historical, Cultural and Recreational Attractions

Senior visitors can enjoy a wide variety of historical, cultural and recreational attractions in Hampton. The Hampton University Museum is located on the grounds of one of the oldest African-American universities in the country. The University originated as the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, whose mission was to educate freed black men and women after the Civil War and teach them trades and skills.

Also located at the site is the Emancipation Oak, the place where Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was read. Another Hampton landmark is the Virginia Air & Space Center, the official visitor center for NASA’s Langley Research Center.

Senior visitors can see the Apollo 12 Command Capsule that journeyed to the moon, experience a state-of-the-art virtual-reality video on the pioneers of flying, and much more. The Air and Space Museum has an IMAX theater and during the winter months there’s even an outdoor skating rink.

The Hampton History Museum, located in historic downtown, tells the storied history of Hampton. Seniors, plan a stop in Hampton when you’re in Virginia and enjoy this exciting city. -jeb