We are in Aruba! Dave and I are going to enjoy this beautiful sunny island for 10 days starting December 12th, while it is pretty cold at home in DC. Aruba is an island with a steady temperature of 82-86 degrees of Fahrenheit (°F) this time of the year with sunny days and delightful breezes every day. Aruba is the southernmost island located just 15 miles from Venezuela surrounded by breathtaking beaches. I am not exaggerating, the beaches there are the best in the Caribbean, only Megan’s Bay in St. Thomas can compete with them, in my opinion. Part of the island is mostly desert where Arikock National park is situated. Here is one of the two most photographed fofoti trees on the Eagle Beach in Aruba.
Tag-Archive for » Lighthouse «
On the way back from the Chesapeake Bridge -Tunnel, we stopped at Fort Story to visit the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse located there. Fort Story is a military base that is home to a variety of U.S. Army and Naval Units in the City of Virginia Beach. Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia and the southern boundary of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. Near the point where the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean meet, Cape Henry was the site of the first landing of the English colonists, who eventually settled in Jamestown, on April 26, 1607.
To visit the lighthouse, you must pass through the security gates of Fort Story, and it is required to show Photo Ids at a military checkpoint to enter. Our car was checked out as well, which makes sense to do, by very personable, polite and helpful security staff. After passing the check point, we drove to the Cape Henry Lighthouse visitor center. There was a good view of both lighthouses right from the visitor’s center parking lot. The Old Cape Henry Lighthouse is on the left and the new Cape Henry Lighthouse is on the right in the picture below.
The current lighthouse was opened in 1848 with a woman as its Keeper; nearly unheard of during the 19th century. The need for a lighthouse became evident almost immediately after the U.S. Navy established a base in Key West in 1823. The U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned the Key West Lighthouse in 1969, since there was no longer a need for a full-time Keeper due to technological advancements. Today, this sentinel of the sea stands as a museum dedicated to Key West’s maritime heritage and to the men and women who bravely kept the light burning through the threats of war and weather according to kwahs.org.
