Uploads from Itinerant Wanderer, tagged virginia, with geodata

Natural Bridge - Drama of Creation

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:48:34 -0800

The "Drama of Creation" is a sound and light show that depicts the seven days of creation as told in the Bible in the book of Genesis.

This photo was taken on my visit to Natural Bridge, Virginia in May, 2009.

www.naturalbridgeva.com/drama.html

USS Wisconsin (BB-64)

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:09:58 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

USS Wisconsin (BB-64), "Wisky" or "WisKy", is an Iowa-class battleship, the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. She was built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and launched on 7 December 1943 (the second anniversary of the Pearl Harbor raid), sponsored by the wife of Governor of Wisconsin, Walter Goodland.

During her career, Wisconsin served in the Pacific Theater of World War II, where she shelled Japanese fortifications and screened United States aircraft carriers as they conducted air raids against enemy positions. During the Korean War, Wisconsin shelled North Korean targets in support of United Nations and South Korean ground operations, after which she was decommissioned. She was reactivated 1 August 1986, modernised and participated in Operation Desert Storm in January and February 1991.

Wisconsin was last decommissioned in September 1991, having earned a total of six battle stars for service in World War II and Korea, as well as a Navy Unit Commendation for service during the January/February 1991 Gulf War. She currently functions as a museum ship operated by Nauticus, The National Maritime Center in Norfolk, Virginia. Wisconsin was struck from the Naval Vessel Register (NVR) 17 March 2006, and, as of 14 December 2009, has been donated for permanent use as a museum ship. On 15 April 2010, the City of Norfolk officially took over ownership of the ship.

www.nauticus.org/exhibits/battleship-wisconsin
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wisconsin_%28BB-64%29

Monticello

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:21:49 -0800

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

Monticello is the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, who, after inheriting quite a large amount of land from his father, started building Monticello when he was twenty-six years old. Located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia in the Piedmont region, the plantation was originally 5,000 acres, with extensive cultivation of tobacco and mixed crops, with labor by slaves. At Jefferson's direction, he was buried on the grounds, an area now designated as the Monticello Cemetery, which is owned by the Monticello Association, a lineage society of his descendants through Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson.

The house, which Jefferson designed, was based on the neoclassical principles described in the books of the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. He reworked it through much of his presidency to include design elements popular in late eighteenth-century Europe. It contains many of his own design solutions. The house is situated on the summit of an 850-foot (260 m)-high peak in the Southwest Mountains south of the Rivanna Gap. Its name comes from the Italian "little mountain." The plantation at full operations included numerous outbuildings for specialized functions, a nailery, and quarters for domestic slaves along Mulberry Row near the house; gardens for flowers, produce and Jefferson's experiments in plant breeding, plus tobacco fields and mixed crops. Cabins for field slaves were located further from the mansion.

After Jefferson's death, his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph sold the property. After other owners, in 1834 it was bought by Uriah P. Levy, a commodore in the US Navy, who admired Jefferson and spent his own money to preserve the property. His nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy took over the property in 1879; he also invested considerable money to restore and preserve it. He held it until 1923, when he sold it to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which operates it as a house museum and educational institution. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark. In 1987 Monticello and the nearby University of Virginia, also designed by Jefferson, were together designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This photo was taken in May, 2009.

www.monticello.org/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 09:02:30 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is a 14,000-acre wildlife preserve operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is primarily located on the Virginia side of Assateague Island with portions (only about 3%) located on the Maryland side of the island as well as Morris Island and Wildcat Marsh. The refuge contains a large variety of wildlife animals and birds including the Chincoteague Pony. The purpose of the refuge is to maintain, regulate and preserve animal and plant species as well as their habitats for present and future generations.

www.fws.gov/northeast/chinco/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chincoteague_National_Wildlife_Refuge

Assateague Light

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 08:57:43 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

Assateague Light is the 142-foot-tall lighthouse located on the southern end of Assateague Island off the coast of the Virginia Eastern Shore, USA. The lighthouse is located within the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and can be accessed by road from Chincoteague Island over the Assateague Channel. It is owned and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and is still used as an active aid in navigation. The keeper's quarters are used as seasonal housing for refuge temporary employees, volunteers, and interns. Constructed in 1867 to replace a shorter lighthouse (45-feet-tall) built in 1833, the lighthouse is conical in shape and is painted in alternating bands of red and white.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assateague_Light

Chesapeake Grill & Virginia Originals

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 08:49:37 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

Chesapeake Grill & Virginia Originals is a restaurant and gift shop located on One Island on the Bay/Sea Gull Island, the southernmost of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel's four man-made islands.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) is a 23-mile (37 km) long fixed link crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and connecting the Delmarva Peninsula's Eastern Shore of Virginia with Virginia Beach and the metropolitan area of Hampton Roads, Virginia. It replaced vehicle ferry services which operated from South Hampton Roads and from the Virginia Peninsula from the 1930s until completion of the bridge-tunnel in 1964.

The bridge-tunnel originally combined 12 miles (19 km) of trestle, two 1-mile (1.6 km) long tunnels, four artificial islands, two high-level bridges, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of causeway, and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of approach roads—crossing the Chesapeake Bay and preserving traffic on the Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake shipping channels. The system remains one of only eight bridge-tunnel systems in the world, three of which are located in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Since it opened, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel has been crossed by more than 100 million vehicles. The CBBT complex carries U.S. Route 13, the main north–south highway on Virginia's Eastern Shore, and, as part of the East Coast's longstanding Ocean Highway, provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and South Hampton Roads regions, as well as an alternate route to link the Northeast and points in between with Norfolk and the Carolinas. The bridge-tunnel saves motorists 95 miles (153 km) and 1½ hours on a trip between Virginia Beach/Norfolk and points north and east of the Delaware Valley without going through the traffic congestion in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. The $12 toll is partially offset by some savings of tolls in Maryland and Delaware on I-95.

Financed by toll revenue bonds, the bridge-tunnel was opened on April 15, 1964. It was officially named the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge-Tunnel in August 1987 after one of the civic leaders who had long worked for its development and operation. However, it continues to be best known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

From 1995 to 1999, at a cost of almost $200 million, the capacity of the above-water portion was increased to four lanes. An upgrade of the two-lane tunnels was proposed but has not been carried out.

The CBBT was built by and is operated by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia governed by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission. The CBBT's costs are recovered through toll collections. In 2002, a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly concluded that "given the inability of the state to fund future capital requirements of the CBBT, the District and Commission should be retained to operate and maintain the Bridge-Tunnel as a toll facility in perpetuity."

www.cbbt.com/virtualrendering.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay_Bridge-Tunnel

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 08:22:53 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

A view of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel from One Island on the Bay/Sea Gull Island, the southernmost of the Bridge-Tunnel's four man-made islands.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) is a 23-mile (37 km) long fixed link crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and connecting the Delmarva Peninsula's Eastern Shore of Virginia with Virginia Beach and the metropolitan area of Hampton Roads, Virginia. It replaced vehicle ferry services which operated from South Hampton Roads and from the Virginia Peninsula from the 1930s until completion of the bridge-tunnel in 1964.

The bridge-tunnel originally combined 12 miles (19 km) of trestle, two 1-mile (1.6 km) long tunnels, four artificial islands, two high-level bridges, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of causeway, and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of approach roads—crossing the Chesapeake Bay and preserving traffic on the Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake shipping channels. The system remains one of only eight bridge-tunnel systems in the world, three of which are located in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Since it opened, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel has been crossed by more than 100 million vehicles. The CBBT complex carries U.S. Route 13, the main north–south highway on Virginia's Eastern Shore, and, as part of the East Coast's longstanding Ocean Highway, provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and South Hampton Roads regions, as well as an alternate route to link the Northeast and points in between with Norfolk and the Carolinas. The bridge-tunnel saves motorists 95 miles (153 km) and 1½ hours on a trip between Virginia Beach/Norfolk and points north and east of the Delaware Valley without going through the traffic congestion in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. The $12 toll is partially offset by some savings of tolls in Maryland and Delaware on I-95.

Financed by toll revenue bonds, the bridge-tunnel was opened on April 15, 1964. It was officially named the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge-Tunnel in August 1987 after one of the civic leaders who had long worked for its development and operation. However, it continues to be best known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

From 1995 to 1999, at a cost of almost $200 million, the capacity of the above-water portion was increased to four lanes. An upgrade of the two-lane tunnels was proposed but has not been carried out.

The CBBT was built by and is operated by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia governed by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission. The CBBT's costs are recovered through toll collections. In 2002, a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly concluded that "given the inability of the state to fund future capital requirements of the CBBT, the District and Commission should be retained to operate and maintain the Bridge-Tunnel as a toll facility in perpetuity."

www.cbbt.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay_Bridge-Tunnel

Sea Gull Pier

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 08:26:17 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

The fishing pier on One Island on the Bay/Sea Gull Island, the southernmost of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel's four man-made islands.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) is a 23-mile (37 km) long fixed link crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and connecting the Delmarva Peninsula's Eastern Shore of Virginia with Virginia Beach and the metropolitan area of Hampton Roads, Virginia. It replaced vehicle ferry services which operated from South Hampton Roads and from the Virginia Peninsula from the 1930s until completion of the bridge-tunnel in 1964.

The bridge-tunnel originally combined 12 miles (19 km) of trestle, two 1-mile (1.6 km) long tunnels, four artificial islands, two high-level bridges, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of causeway, and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of approach roads—crossing the Chesapeake Bay and preserving traffic on the Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake shipping channels. The system remains one of only eight bridge-tunnel systems in the world, three of which are located in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Since it opened, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel has been crossed by more than 100 million vehicles. The CBBT complex carries U.S. Route 13, the main north–south highway on Virginia's Eastern Shore, and, as part of the East Coast's longstanding Ocean Highway, provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and South Hampton Roads regions, as well as an alternate route to link the Northeast and points in between with Norfolk and the Carolinas. The bridge-tunnel saves motorists 95 miles (153 km) and 1½ hours on a trip between Virginia Beach/Norfolk and points north and east of the Delaware Valley without going through the traffic congestion in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. The $12 toll is partially offset by some savings of tolls in Maryland and Delaware on I-95.

Financed by toll revenue bonds, the bridge-tunnel was opened on April 15, 1964. It was officially named the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge-Tunnel in August 1987 after one of the civic leaders who had long worked for its development and operation. However, it continues to be best known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

From 1995 to 1999, at a cost of almost $200 million, the capacity of the above-water portion was increased to four lanes. An upgrade of the two-lane tunnels was proposed but has not been carried out.

The CBBT was built by and is operated by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia governed by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission. The CBBT's costs are recovered through toll collections. In 2002, a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly concluded that "given the inability of the state to fund future capital requirements of the CBBT, the District and Commission should be retained to operate and maintain the Bridge-Tunnel as a toll facility in perpetuity."

www.cbbt.com/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay_Bridge-Tunnel

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel - Sea Gull Pier

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 08:14:41 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 08:18:54 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

Princess Azalea

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:03:03 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

"Princess Azalea" outside of the Nauticus Museum in Norfolk, Virginia.

www.nauticus.org/

USS Norfolk Bell

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:00:08 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

The ship's bell of USS Norfolk (DL-1) in Wisconsin Square, Norfolk, Virginia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Square
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Norfolk_%28DL-1%29

The Lone Sailor

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:57:08 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

"The Lone Sailor", a statue located in Wisconsin Square, Norfolk, Virginia. This statue is an exact replica of the famous Lone Sailor Statue created by sculptor Stanley Bleifeld to grace the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Lone Sailor is a symbolic figure, a U.S. Navy Bluejacket representing everyone who has served, is serving now, and who is yet to serve in the United States Navy.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Square

USS Wisconsin (BB-64)

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:05:56 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

Tompion, USS Wisconsin

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:03:05 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

A tompion (pronounced tom-kin) is a watertight plug used to keep water (and anything else) out of the gun barrel. It is used at all times that the gun is not required to be ready for use.

Nauticus Museum, Norfolk, Virginia.

www.nauticus.org/

Teak Piece, USS Wisconsin

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:56:20 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

This teak piece from the original deck (1943) of USS Wisconsin was removed during the ship's 1988 reactivation.

Nauticus Museum, Norfolk, Virginia.

www.nauticus.org/

Navy Sword Belonging to Lieutenant Seth Wilson

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:59:19 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

USS Wisconsin veteran Seth Wilson joined the Navy in 1944 at age 16. He served sixteen years as an enlisted man before being commissioned in 1960.

Nauticus Museum, Norfolk, Virginia.

www.nauticus.org/

McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:20:34 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

The Blue Angel plane that is situated on the roof of Nauticus is a McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. More specifically, it is A-4E Bureau Number 150058.

Douglas built 2,960 Skyhawks between 1954 and 1979. Built small to be cost effective and so that more would fit on a carrier, the light-weight, high-speed bombers were nicknamed "Heinemann's Hot Rod", after Ed Heinemann, the Bantam Bomber, Mighty Mite and Scooter. Skyhawks provided the U.S. Navy and Marines and friendly nations with maneuverable, yet powerful, attack bombers that had great altitude and range capabilities, plus an unusual flexibility in armament capacity.

The Skyhawk A4D was roughly half the empty weight of its contemporaries and could fly at 677 mph at sea level. After 1956, it had provisions for in-flight refueling, and it carried anti-radar missiles on its wing racks. After 1966, it included a hump-like avionics pod. Upgraded models had improved engines and a drogue parachute, new avionics displays, larger cockpit canopies, and more ammunition for the two cannons. Two-seat trainer versions included the TA-4F, TA-4J and the TA-4K Series.

Its combat career began with the first American carrier-launched raids on North Vietnam on August 4, 1964. Later, during the Israeli Yom Kippur war in 1973, Sky-hawks provided much of the short-range strikes on the Sinai & Golan Heights fronts.

The Navy's Blue Angels demonstration squadron flew the A-4 Skyhawk II from 1974 to 1986. This A-4 was not flown by the Blue Angels. The Skyhawk was featured in some movies, most notably being the aggressor aircraft used by instructors in the movie Top Gun.

www.nauticus.org/exhibits/mcdonnell-douglas-4-skyhawk

USS Wisconsin (BB-64)

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:14:03 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo:

USS Wisconsin (BB-64)

nobody@flickr.com (Itinerant Wanderer) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:17:46 -0700

Itinerant Wanderer posted a photo: