The sharp snap of bright red sails and a call to ‘heave ho!’ break your reverie on the deck of the American Rover, a 19th Century-style schooner plying one of America’s most historic harbors daily. Tugboats push giant cargo barges past pleasure boaters and gigantic Navy ships in Hampton Roads Harbor. However you travel, there is so much to see.
NORFOLK
The American Rover leaves Waterside several times daily from mid-April to late October. 90- minute Harbor Cruise departs at 11:30 a.m.: $12, adults; $8, children under 12. Two-hour Harbor Cruise departs at 3 p.m.:$16, adults; $10, children under 12. Sunset Cruises are $22, adults; $12 children. 627-SAIL or www.americanrover.com
The Victory Rover departs from Nauticus daily for two-hour narrated cruises of Norfolk Naval Base, March through December. Two-hours: $16, adults; $10, children. 627-7406 or www.navalbasecruises.com
The Carrie B, a replica of a 19th century Mississippi paddle wheeler, tours the inner harbor past Norfolk Naval Base and the USS Wisconsin. Two-and-a-half hour tours depart several times daily mid-May through mid- October, from Norfolk’s Waterside, picking up passengers at Portsmouth’s North Landing. $18, adults; $9, children under 12. 393-4735 or www.carriebcruises.com
The Spirit of Norfolk offers a sightseeing lunch or dinner/dance cruise departing from Town Point Park. Prices vary. 625-3866 or www.spiritofnorfolk.com
The Paddlewheel Ferry is a quick and inexpensive way to view the Norfolk and Portsmouth waterfronts. Service is offered year-round, every 30 minutes from Waterside and Portsmouth’s North Landing. A one-way trip costs a dollar; 50 cents for seniors and handicapped. Hampton Roads Transit, 222-6100 or www.hrtransit.org
Hampton Roads Transit offers daily Naval Station Norfolk and Naval Air Station Oceana bus tours. Photo ID is required to enter military bases. Adults are $7.50; children under 12 are $5. 444-7955, 222-6100 or www.gohrt.com
VIRGINIA BEACH
Now here’s a new one: a Venice-style gondola tour complete with Italian music. Moondance Gondolas offers 50-minute day and evening tours of Rudee Inlet on a private gondola for up to six people. Day tours are $100 for two people; evening tours are $120 for two; $20 for each additional person. Departs from the dock next to Rockafeller’s Restaurant on Mediterranean Avenue. 757-395-4089, www.moondancegondolas.com
Pieces of Eight offers pirate cruises aboard a Spanish galleon style ship with friendly pirates, facepainting, dancing, treasure and grog for the adults. The 1 ½ hour cruises depart from Rudee Inlet April through November. $25 for adults, $18 for children under 14. 417-7272, www.piecesofeight.com
Watch the graceful arcs of bottlenose dolphins or toast the sunset aboard one of Rudee Tours’ six very different sightseeing cruises of the famous oceanfront. The Rudee Explorer features naturalists from the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center. Naturalists from the museum also accompany The Rudee Whaler and Rudee Flipper, which offer whale-watching in the winter and dolphin-watching in summer. There’s fishing aboard the Rudee Crabber, and romance aboard the Sunset Cruise. The Rudee Rocket is a 70-foot, 2000- hp tour boat that jets along the oceanfront. Ticket prices range from $5 for the Explorer, to $20 for the Rocket. Depart from the Virginia Beach Fishing Center on Rudee Inlet at southern end of the Virginia Beach resort strip. 425-3400 or www.rudeerocket.com
Explore the last undeveloped salt marsh in the city on a half-hour pontoon boat tour of Owls Creek Marsh. Trips depart every 45 minutes daily, April through Sept. 3, from the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center on General Booth Boulevard. $5 per person; $3.50 for museum members. 437-BOAT or www.vmsm.com/excursions.html
Winding tidal creeks and shallow estuaries, where larger boats dare not go, are best explored by human-powered vessels. Egrets and herons are plentiful, with the occasional bald eagle. A sting ray or turtle just may swim beneath your boat. Several outfitters provide gear, instruction and guides for eco-tours by canoe and kayak.
Wild River Outfitters, at Rosemont Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard, offers kayak tours of Back Bay, Pocaty River, dolphin watch, sunset, moonlight and history tours. The PaddleFeast tour is an evening paddle to the unique Blue Pete’s Restaurant in a turn-of-the-century fish camp setting. 431-8566, www.wildriveroutfitters.com
Back Bay Getaways, Sandbridge (at entrance to Back Bay Wildlife Refuge), has kayak and mountain bike tours, as well as overnight trips into False Cape State Park. 721-4484 or www.backbaygetaways.com
Ocean Rentals Surf and Adventure takes customers on the Atlantic Ocean for dolphin tours and into Back Bay for eco and sunset tours. 721-6210 or www.oceanrentalsltd.com
Kayak Nature Tours guides trips in First Landing State Park, the Dismal Swamp, Back Bay, and Merchants Millpond State Park and Knotts Island in North Carolina. 480-1999 or www.tidewateradventures.com
Chesapean Outdoors on Laskin Road in Virginia Beach offers kayaking, hiking and biking eco-tours, specializing in dolphin sightings. 961-0447 or www.chesapean.com
HAMPTON
The pirate Blackbeard’s career ended with his head on a pole at the entrance to Hampton Creek. “Blackbeard’s Point” is just one of the landmarks on a two-anda- half-hour harbor cruise aboard Miss Hampton II. Trips leave twice daily from the historic downtown and include Fort Monroe, Norfolk Naval Base, and a walking tour of Fort Wool, a Civil War island fort accessible only by boat. $21, adults; $19, seniors over 60 and military, $10, children 6-12. There are also sunset, dinner, and All-Day River Cruises down the Intracoastal Waterway. 722-9102, www.misshamptoncruises.com
NEWPORT NEWS
Follow the route of the Peninsula Campaign, one of the most important events of the Civil War, through Hampton and Newport News. Maps for a self-guided driving tour, or an escorted tour can be arranged.926-1400, www.peninsulacampaign.org
YORKTOWN
Board the tall ship Schooner Alliance for two-hour sightseeing or2 ½ -hour sunset cruises on the historic York River. Departs from Riverwalk Landing May through October. $30 adults, $15 children 12 and under for two-hour tour. $35 for sunset tour. www.schooneralliance.com
SUFFOLK
Twenty-five historic markers denote the sites on the Driving Tour of Historic Suffolk, from the location of Nansemond Indian Villages to the 1738 Glebe Church. Brochure atSuffolk Visitor Center, 321 N. Main St 923-3880, www.suffolkfun.com
EASTERN SHORE
Southeast Expeditions offers twohour, half- and full-day historic and eco-tour kayak trips throughout the Eastern Shore. Based in Cape Charles, with tours also departing from Historic Onancock. 877-22-KAYAK, www.sekayak.com
Eastern Shore Adventures, (757-615-598, www.easternshoreadventures.com) and Broadwater Bay Eco-Tours (757-442-4363, www.broadwaterbayecotours.com) offer ecotours of barrier islands via power boat. Operated by longtime Shore residents, the trips are strong on local history and the story of barrier island communities of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
WALKING TOURS
Cannonball Trail is a self-guided route covering 400 years of history, connecting 40 historic sites in downtown Norfolk. Starts at 401 East Freemason St. 664- 6620. A walk through Norfolk’s historic Ghent is filled with diverse architecture, cafes, and antique galleries. Map at visitor center, 441-1852 or www.norfolkcvb.com
Portmouth’s self-guided Olde Towne Walking Tour includes 45 sites, all within a single square mile. Brochure/map at Portsmouth Visitor Information Center, 6 Crawford Parkway. 393-5111 or www.portsmouth.va.us/tourism.
On summer evenings, take the tour with a costumed guide on the Olde Towne Lantern Tour, or an Historic Trolley Tour, May through October. 391-0155, www.oldetownetheatricals.com
The Smithfield Old Towne Walking Tour traces the progression of a riverfront colony to a thriving steamboat port. Free brochure/ map for self-guided tours of 65 sites from the visitors center, 335 Main St. Audio tapes available, as are guides for groups of six or more (fee charged). 357-5182 or www.historicsmithfield.org
A walking tour of downtown Hampton takes you back to 1610. Begin at the Hampton Visitor Center inside the Hampton History Museum. Tour African-American Heritage Sites throughout the city, including Hampton University, Fort Monroe, Little England Chapel and Booker T. Washington Memorial. Self-guided, brochure: 722-1102 or www.hamptoncvb.com
Hampton University offers selfguided driving and walking tours of this historically black college that include the Emancipation Oak Tree, where the Emancipation Proclamation was read to free people in 1863, and the Booker T. Washington Memorial. 727-5000 or www.hamptonu.edu
Compiled by Mary Burnham
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