We got up on Tuesday and ate at a place called Mama Steve's Pancake House. The food was excellent and there was plenty of it. Once we finished, we headed out.
Donna has always wanted to visit a lighthouse. We've never really gone anywhere that is close to one. I had found the Cape Henry Lighthouse on the map about an hour's drive from Williamsburg. So, we decided to take the plunge and go. We also found there was a zoo in Norfolk right on the way back, so we could stop there afterwards if we chose.
There are actully two lighthouses. One is the one that is actually in use and the other is the old one built originally in 1792. They are the Cape Henry Lighthouse. They are both located on a military base - Fort Story. You have to show ID and get a pass to get in. Then, they have you get out of your car and check all over for security purposes. I totally understand that. The man leading the search said he had a grandmother with the last name of Yancy. Since I know my ancestors came from Virginia, I wish I would have had time to talk to him more about that...
We got to the lighthouses. The newer one is a black and white structure there on the Chesapeake Bay. You are not allowed to go up in that one. We could go up in the old lighthouse (pictured above). It's a very imposing brick structure built in 1792. You pay 4.00 and you can go up the lighthouse. Of course, I was game to up so off we went.
Donna as you may know has a fear of heights. I was concerned about her going up in it and unfortuantely, she got about 3/4 of the way up and couldn't go any farther. It is somewhat intimidating. There is a long spiral staircase leading to a ladder to get to the top. I made it up and the view was wonderful. It it warm up there even though there is no light in it any more. The glass all around allows the sun in and makes it very warm. I made it back down OK. I didn't see Donna so I went back down the to our car, but she wasn't there either. Turns out she was on a bench outside the lighthouse and I somehow missed her. She saw me taking pictures of the other lighthouse and came out to meet me and we left.
We went on to the Zoo in Norfolk. It was not a huge zoo, but we found it very nice anyway. There wasn't a huge crowd, so we were able to take our time in viewing the animals. We saw all sorts of animals. We were able to get really close to the giraffe. We also saw some striped antelopes called bongos. We left and went to eat an early dinner at Chili's. We were watching Cash Cab later and the video question to double the money showed a picture of striped antelopes and asked "This creature shares it name with a type of drum". We both immeidately shouted out "Bongo".
We rested for the evening in our room. We planned to go to Colonial Williamsburg the next day. I'll give you my review of that in my next post.
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