Newport News Shipyards

Today we cruised up the James River and past the city of Newport News.  Leaving the Hampton River, we passed Hampton University:

Newport News is famous for it's shipyards where both military and commercial ships are built and/or refitted.  Below is the USS Enterprise.

The "Big E" was the world's first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, commissioned November, 1961 and is still the fastest in the world.  The flight deck area covers 4.5 acres and it carries 3,500 personnel.  The ship is 1,123 feet long and 257 feet wide.

We also passed two aircraft carriers side-by-side.  The vessel on the right is the USS Carl Vincent, the other is the USS George H. W. Bush.

Across the James River we could also see the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Harry Truman.  We didn't realize the number of carriers based here.

On the way back into the Hampton River we passed a small sailboat race or maybe a Hampton Univ. sailing class.

And finally back past the Cousteau Society offices adjacent to our docks.

Unfortunately, John and Nancy needed to return home this afternoon, so Katy fixed a late lunch/early dinner of nachos, one of our favorite snacks.  Tomorrow we leave Hampton to find an anchorage further north on the Chesapeake.