Fort Monroe (Elizabeth City County, Virginia)

I'm in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia area for the weekend to run a half-marathon. This is my first visit to the area and while here, though I would check out Fort Monroe. This defensive position at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay was recognized by early colonials in the early 1600's as having strategic value and fortifications were built here all the way back in that time. Construction on the actual fort called Monroe was completed in 1834. In conjunction with other fortifications at other strategic points nearby, this fort provided a solid defense against any aggressor trying to enter the bay. It was finally deactivated in 2011 and was designated as a National Monument. 

The fort is huge with an inner area protected by both a high defensive wall and a mote, roughly in the shape of a pentagon. In fact, this is the largest fort by area ever built in the US. I had originally intended to walk the sea wall, but there is enough in and around the defensive structures to occupy my time. As I walk up some of the gun batteries placed outside the mote, I peer off into the nearby sea and wonder what any approaching ship intending aggression must have thought when seeing the defenses here. They must have quickly reconsidered their approach. A few gun installations (disabled, of course) remain for the tourists, but the obvious placements all along the walls and other batteries leave no doubt of the firepower this place once had. 

Heading across the bridge and through the East Gate, I climb up the fortification wall above the mote and walk around it for a ways. Here more gun placements would have once defended this position. Two centuries after it's construction, this fort would still provide a lot of protection to anyone seeking safety within. 

Returning to the walkway, I walk down to the sea wall and follow it for a short distance as I make my way back to my car. It's windy today and I almost loose my cap. I didn't really hike all that much, but I do really enjoy the history that a place like this holds. Certainly worth a visit if you are ever in the area.