The first city we explore in the Hampton Roads region, Hampton, Va., was my first home when I moved to the area in 2007. The city was founded by English settlers in the early 1600s and now is the oldest continuous English settlement in the U.S. With a great mix of history and contemporary fun, Hampton offers a variety of activities for all.
Favorite Hampton Places
Fort Monroe & Casemate Museum
In the mid-1800s, the U.S. Army completed a new installation on Point Comfort where 200 years earlier the English settlers developed a strategic defense on the water of the confluence of the Elizabeth, James and Nansemond rivers. Named in honor of the president at the time, Fort Monroe played key roles in America’s defense until its closure in 2011. Surrounded by a moat, the fort was the largest stone fort ever built in the U.S. Today, the fort is registered as a National Monument opened to the public. With historical buildings throughout, you can view places such as where President Lincoln gave a speech during the Civil War and where Edgar Allan Poe stayed during his time in service stationed at the post.
Located on the fort’s ground, the Casemate Museum features relics and exhibits throughout the fort’s history inside a former series of jail cells. For free admission, you can also view where the Confederate President Jefferson Davis was imprisoned during the Civil War.
Virginia Air & Space Center and Downtown
Within the city limits, you’ll find Langley Air Force Base and NASA Langley Research Center where many aeronautical ventures take place. In support of this aviation focus, the Virginia Air & Space Center opened to the public in 1992 as the official visitor’s center for LAFB and NASA LRC. For an admission cost, you can view historic aircraft, artifacts from various missions, and participate in interactive modules, such as the Apollo 12 Command Center. With the IMAX Theater, you can also watch 3D movies that take you to outer space.
Located in central downtown, the Center is next door to the turn-of-the-century restored carousel and popular restaurants and shopping boutiques. My favorite part of downtown is the waterfront location, making it perfect for the annual Blackbeard Pirates Festival and Hampton Bay Days. You can also take boat tours from the launch at the downtown visitor’s center to Fort Wool.
Peninsula Town Center
A premier mixed-use complex, the Peninsula Town Center was opened in 2010 to become the shopping, dining and nightlife destination for the city. With department and specialty stores, casual to upscale restaurants, and plenty of entertainment venues, PTC offers something for everyone. My particular favorites were Chipotle and Cinebistro.
Buckroe Beach
With major tourist beaches in the Hampton Roads region, it’s nice to find a quieter spot at Buckroe Beach. Once part of a major amusement park and resort destination in the late 1800s, early 1900s, the Beach is now used by locals and does draw some tourism with performances at the pavilion throughout the summer. The pier is also popular with fishermen.
Sandy Bottom Nature Park
For the great outdoors, take a hike through the trails and around the lake of the Sandy Bottom Nature Park. Made from reclaimed land of a former trash dump, the Park offers educational environmental programs and wildlife exhibits.
Hampton Eats
One of my top breakfast spots in the nation is located in Hampton. Tommy’s on Mercury Boulevard was opened by Greek immigrants, and the diner offers hearty platters of grits, bacon, eggs, pancakes and more for less than $7. The line out the door each morning speaks to how good this place is. Jack’s is another diner that is a great place to get a taste of the local life, but the food is nowhere near the quality of what you’ll find at Tommy’s.
For a more unique experience, The Grey Goose is set up as a Southern tea room, featuring dishes such as Brunswick stew, seafood chowders and pulled pork sandwiches. La Bodega offers wines from the Commonwealth, microcraft beers, and specialty meat and cheeses. If you’re looking for English imports, check out the quaint Best of British shop, also in Historical Downtown Hampton.
Working in Hampton
Located in the geographic center of Hampton Roads, Hampton is an attractive option for retail and hotel businesses. With its aeronautical history, the city is rich with aerospace industry and promotes several industrial parks.
Jason Brown, an active-duty U.S. Air Force public affairs specialist at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, has been in Hampton since 2009. He says the city has recently seen a rise in economic development with booms in entertainment districts and a revitalization of downtown. He also likes the central location of the city. “As Hampton is centrally located in Hampton Roads at the southernmost tip of the Peninsula, getting to the various locales is easy — I-64 and I-664, which pass directly through the city, provide commuters the pipeline to travel easily to the Southside cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, or westward toward neighboring Newport News, Yorktown, Williamsburg and Richmond.”
As Hampton Roads is notorious for its traffic jams, Jason says Hampton does a good job of handling commuter traffic loads. As the opening of the dreaded Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel is located in Hampton, the city offers primary thoroughfares to ease congestion, and it also helps these roadways are well monitored by local police.
With such a variety of activities, Jason says he doesn’t have to look far for something fun to enjoy in the city each weekend. From the quaint shops of the downtown area to the sophisticated venues in the PTC, date nights to family-friendly activities abound. Jason especially enjoys taking in special events at the iconic Hampton Coliseum, such as concerts and trade shows. “Hampton’s blend of history and modern convenience make the city an ‘up-and-comer’ among places to live and work.”
Rating Hampton
I give Hampton a 6. What is your favorite waterside festival?
-Monica